Alex Pearce leads Fremantle into AFL grand final, Tasmania proud

Fremantle Dockers captain Alex Pearce is on the brink of football immortality as his team prepares to take on Brisbane in the AFL grand final.

Pearce, a key defender known for his spoiling ability, was born in Burnie, Tasmania, and raised in Ulverstone on the state's north-west coast.

A humble beginning

Ruth Forrest, the midwife who delivered Pearce on June 9, 1995, at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie, remembers him as a