Banners often poke fun at a club’s opposition for the day, but Collingwood decided to go in a different direction this afternoon.

Ahead of their clash with Fremantle at Optus Stadium, the Magpies appealed to the Dockers to unite over a common enemy – West Coast.

Collingwood will have a chance to climb into second spot with a win over Freo and an Eagles loss to Brisbane tomorrow.

So the Pies put up a tongue-in-cheek message to attempt to coax the Dockers into a loss.

“You hate West Coast and we like top two,” the banner read.

“If we win, you win… you know what to do…”

The banner message came amid a packed pre-game schedule ahead of the clash, with Fremantle paying tribute to retiring club greats Michael Johnson, Danyle Pearce and Lee Spurr.

Dockers legend Clive Waterhouse also returned to WA from his native South Australia to boot the game’s ceremonial first goal.