Claremont confident of remaining strong in 2014Thursday, March 13, 2014 - 12:16 AM - by Chris Pike

CHANGES are aplenty with Claremont heading into the 2014 WAFL season but the Tigers remain confident of being a power coming off four successive minor premierships.

The Claremont team of 2014 will have a new coach in the form of Michael Broadbridge, play at a new home ground of the Showgrounds and will unveil a vastly new playing group that it hopes can continue its run of playing in the finals.

Claremont is finished the last four WAFL seasons on top of the ladder with a remarkable 64-15 (one draw) win-loss record in the home and away season since a disappointing 2009 season that saw Simon McPhee replace Roger Kerr as coach.

In that four-year run, Claremont lost the 2010 grand final by a point, won the 2011 and 2012 premierships, and then were bundled out of the finals last year in straight-sets losing the second semi-final to West Perth and preliminary final to East Perth.

Those two matches will be the last that Claremont plays at Claremont Oval for some time with the venue now undergoing a multi-million dollar redevelopment with the Tigers to play home matches at the adjacent Claremont Showgrounds in the meantime.

As always, every great playing group has to come apart and the Tigers of 2014 will be without the likes of Ian Richardson, Andrew Browne, Paul Medhurst, Chad Jones, James Thomson, Jesse Laurie, Mitch Andrews, David Crawford and Byron Schammer as well as coach Marc Webb.

Claremont will also be without AFL-listed players Jeremy McGovern, Alex Silvagni and Patrick McGinnity who spent time in Tigers colours last year. 

However, there are still plenty of talented premiership players remaining with Claremont led by new captain Jake Murphy and including Andrew Foster, Mark Seaby, Luke Blackwell, Aaron Holt and Trinity Handley.

And then there are a couple of players returning to Claremont in 2014 with Matt Orzel back after two years with Peel Thunder and Tom Ledger returns from three years in the AFL ranks with St Kilda.

Ledger was drafted out of the Claremont colts at the end of the 2010 season and over the last three years, managed eight appearances at AFL level but he found himself delisted following the 2013 campaign.

The soon-to-be 22-year-old small midfielder is looking forward to returning to help keep Claremont in the mix of a finals appearance in 2014.

"I was pretty disappointed not to play more AFL footy. I think everyone that gets drafted wants to play 200 games but it didn’t happen, or it hasn’t happened yet, so I'll put my best foot forward and the is to get back in the AFL," Ledger said.

"I got drafted from Claremont so I was never going to go anywhere else. I got a couple of calls from other clubs but I was never really that interested. All my mates are here and I grew up with a lot of the boys, so it's a very natural place to come back to.

"I'd expect to hopefully start in the midfield, but I think with a couple of the forwards going, I will spend a bit of time up there as well to try and get some goals for us. Even though we've lost a few forward options, if we can find a couple I think our team is as good as anyone's."

Meanwhile, Orzel is no stranger to Claremont having come through the ranks of the Tigers and playing 99 league matches between 2004 and 2011.

However, in 2010 and 2011, he found himself managing just 23 league matches and missed both the losing grand final of 2010 and premiership win of 2011 even though he did play in the reserves premierships of both years.

Frustrated by his lack of opportunities, Orzel went to Peel Thunder while stuck on 99 matches at Claremont and played some outstanding games in his 38 appearances for the Mandurah-based club over the last two years – most notably in his games against Claremont.

However, he could see that he might be forced out at times of Peel now with the new alignment with Fremantle and he could see the chance to return to Claremont, and he is delighted to be back with his first league game of the year set to be his 100th with the club.

"Being with Peel and having the opportunity to play midfield a bit more, it was a great opportunity to better my footy," Orzel said.

"I felt I was playing good footy when I left, we just had such a dominant team that I couldn’t cement a spot so it was a good change.

"The alignment was a big factor actually. It came in and I didn’t really want to have too much to do with it at this time in my life with only a couple of years in my career to go. I'd rather play with the blokes who I train with each week."

Claremont's captains over the past 10 years have been the elite of the elite leaders in the WAFL with Jaxon Crabb, Anthony Jones, Clancy Rudeforth and Andrew Browne all doing outstanding jobs with Blackwell also stepping up to be a premiership skipper in 2012 in the absence of Browne.

Now, 24-year-old reigning fairest and best winner Murphy has been handed the job for 2014 and coming off a 2013 season that saw him cement himself as one of the very best players in the competition, he is confident that he's ready for the responsibility.

"It's a bit of a dream come true. I've always aspired to be a leader or captain for the footy club and I know I've got big shoes to fill, but it's something I am very excited about," Murphy said.

"Over the last few years I've really tried to work on the vocal side of my leadership so I can help instruct the boys whether that be in a game or at training, but naturally I am more of an action-type leader.

"I've been trying to work on all areas to do the best job that I can and time will tell if I'm ready or not, but I've always thought I've been a bit of a natural leader and it does seem to come easy to me."

Claremont's 2014 season begins on Saturday March 22 with a Round 1 clash against Perth at Lathlain Park.