Retired Handley confident Claremont will be a force in 2015Thursday, September 11, 2014 - 11:21 AM - by Chris Pike

TWO-time Claremont premiership star Trinity Handley is still adjusting to the fact that he has played the last game of his outstanding WAFL career but has no doubt that the giant strides made by the Tigers in the second half of 2014 will hold the club in good stead.

Handley played the last game of his 189-match career alongside the also retiring Luke Blackwell, Andrew Foster and Matt Orzel in Claremont's stirring final round victory over East Perth at Medibank Stadium.

That brings to an end a career that saw Handley take part in five grand finals for two premierships and 17 finals matches overall including an appearance for WA since making his debut in 2004 and he was part of a consistently strong Claremont team that made finals in seven of his 10 seasons.

Along the way, Handley has been outstanding in whatever role asked whether a key defender, half-back, key forward, half-forward, wingman and midfielder or even pinch-hitting ruckman but the 30-year-old has now played the last game of his WAFL career.

That saw him finish in style with three goals, including the match winner, from 19 possessions and seven marks in the victory over the minor premier East Perth and while not sure how to feel about it, he can't help be proud of what he achieved in his career.

"It's really surreal and I still don’t know exactly what to feel," Handley said.

"I feel proud of what I was a part of for so long and what we were able to achieve as a club so I'm obviously happy about that. There's also a sense of sadness as well that the journey has come to an end. I'm equally excited, though, about my own future outside of football."

The win over East Perth was a memorable occasion not only for Handley, but for fellow retiring teammates Blackwell, Foster and Orzel, and he made sure he savoured every bit of it.

"It was great to be honest playing my last game with those guys because most players don't get the opportunity to go out on their own terms, and to celebrate that with other guys in the same position was special. To share that experience with three guys who are close friends of mine is something I feel really fortunate to have been able to do," he said.

"I think afterwards there was a sense of euphoria because we'd won a close game and because we were able to use that as a way to celebrate our careers coming to an end. The feeling in the rooms was fantastic and in a way it kind of felt like we had won a final with the way everyone celebrated. It was a great experience to be part of and finish off my career with."

Claremont's season in 2014 was a remarkable one.

It began poorly with six heavy losses in the opening eight games with a new coaching staff on board and following the departures of premiership stars Ian Richardson, David Crawford, Chad Jones, Andrew Browne, James Thomson, Jesse Laurie and Paul Medhurst.

Handley also had a disappointing start suffering a hamstring injury in Round 1 and then breaking his thumb on return in Round 8, but things then began to click in the second half of the season.

That saw Claremont end up winning eight of its last nine matches of the season including the last six on the trot to make the Tigers the best-performing team in the WAFL.

The Tigers narrowly missed the finals because of the slow start to the season, but Handley gives much of the credit to first-year coach Michael Broadbridge and the strong leaders at the club for the turnaround.

"I think a lot of credit has to go to our coach Broady and the leadership group, and the whole playing group for taking a lot of responsibility for our early performances and working hard identify what wasn’t working on the field," Handley said.

"We also looked at how we were approaching games in terms of our fitness and training standards, and there was enough leadership amongst the playing group to see where we were going wrong and to make the necessary changes.

"It's fantastic that we were able to do that because it's not an easy thing to do inside a season."

The thing to standout to Handley about the Claremont Football Club in his time which began when he played his first colts match in 2000 as a 16-year-old is the culture and the fact that every single player at Tigerland is passionate, loyal and dedicated to the club.

That is why the colts, reserves and league teams are consistently in the running for premierships and have been his whole career.

That again sees the reserves and colts teams vying for a grand final berth in 2014 while the league side could very well have done some damage in the finals, but Handley is a realist enough to realise that they only have themselves to blame for the first half of the year.

"There is a lot of pride amongst every person that pulls on the Claremont jumper and you definitely feel a sense of responsibility to uphold the values and standards that other people have laid the foundations for. Having a strong culture has been a real key to us being able to turn our form around and making something of the season," he said.

"We started the season off horribly and were able to turn our form around, and get enough wins to be competitive against the top teams so there is a sense that had we made the finals who knows how far we could have gone. At the same time, we don’t deserve to be in the finals because we didn’t win enough games. We really only have ourselves to blame for that."

While the loss of himself, Orzel, Blackwell and Foster will be tough to cover in 2015 for Claremont, Handley has full faith that the Tigers can be pushing up for success again after what they were able to do in 2014 after heavy player losses and then a slow start.

"We lost a lot of players from last year as well and no doubt losing a few this year is going to be a challenge for the club and playing group to overcome," Handley said.

"But I think having the experience of what we went through over the pre-season and early this season, we are in a much better position now to make sure that we are able to better overcome the challenges and be competitive.

"I've got absolute faith in the coach and the boys down there that they can have a great year next year."