Matthew Keynes may have been the first person to predict a Fremantle premiership win, while recovering in hospital last year.
Click play to hear Matthew’s story.
The 34-year-old was born at the old Woodside Maternity Hospital in East Fremantle and grew up in a Dockers-mad family, with his local roots inspiring lifelong support for the club.
In 2025, Keynes was struck by a car whose driver ran a red light, resulting in severe spinal injuries. He spent nine weeks in hospital—including eight in a rehabilitation facility—and was forced to lie at a 45-degree angle, leading to a lack of sleep and vivid dreams.
Speaking with Youth Jam’s Isaac Mulcrone, Keynes shared that he experienced a recurring dream of the Dockers winning the 2026 premiership.
“When I was bailed up in the rehab hospital, I was having trouble sleeping and having a lot of interesting dreams,” he told Sportsjam listeners.
“I had this repeated and very vivid dream that Fremantle won the flag in 2026 and it was coming to me most nights and I was waking up sometimes in tears, tears of joy.
“I was so confused by it, [as] it was happening so often that I talked to the psychologists at the hospital, I said ‘what could this be? Why is it happening?’ They told me that that actually makes sense, sometimes when you have a near-death experience you think about things from your past, you think about good memories, you think about things you might have wished you’d seen, but you hadn’t. That was obviously one for me, seeing Freo win their first flag,” he said.
Keynes scored tickets to the match, an opportunity he feels was “lined up” for him and remains optimistic that Fremantle can secure their first premiership this weekend.
“I would love Freo to win, it would be a dream come true, but I’m just so happy to be here, like on the planet, let alone get to be there tomorrow, let alone us winning the flag. It’s all just [a] bonus, I’m just grateful.”
Images: Matthew Keynes / Facebook
