Before commencing official proceedings, the 1300 guests attending Saturday night’s Doig Medal presentation dinner at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre made their way through a picturesque purple carpet.

Some Fremantle players were lucky enough to be interviewed by purple carpet host Jerrie Demasi before entering the BellVue Ballroom.

While many of the boys came arm in arm with their partners or dates for the evening, Paul Duffield walked in by himself.

“I’m obviously not good enough to get myself a date,” Duffield, who will be the sole single person on his table for the second year running, joked.

Curiously, ‘Duff’ made his entrance a good 20 minutes before any teammate arrived at the venue. This may or may not have had something to do with him not having to wait for his date to get ready.

Rolling with a man-date were Lachie Neale and Hayden Crozier, who looked at the bright side of attending the event without any female accompaniment.

The positive is you don’t really have to look after your date,” Crozier joked.

“Lachie can obviously take care of himself and I’m sure he’ll be good company.”

Doig veteran David Mundy was in attendance with his lovely wife Sally.

The 2010 Doig Medallist tipped Michael Johnson to join the exclusive list of club champions at Fremantle.

“He’s had a sensational year, capped off by All Australian selection,” Mundy said.

“I think he would be a deserving winner.”