Handley proud of Claremont career as the ultimate Mr VersatileThursday, September 18, 2014 - 4:40 PM - by Chris Pike

TRINITY Handley put together one of the more remarkable WAFL careers over the past decade as the ultimate versatile player and the 30-year-old retires content having won two premierships, represented WA and being a life member of the Claremont Football Club.

Handley played the final game of his career that began at league level in 2004 in Claremont's Round 23 victory over East Perth in which he kicked three goals including the match-winner on a day when Luke Blackwell, Matt Orzel and Andrew Foster also bid farewell to the WAFL.

That meant that Handley ends his career on 189 matches with Claremont including two premierships, five grand finals and 17 finals matches while kicking 101 goals along the way and representing WA in 2012.

Now with the chance to reflect on his achievements, it means a lot to him everything he was able to be part of over the past decade.

"I think more than just being proud, I feel really honoured and humbled to have been part of what has been a pretty successful era for the club, and to be part of a great club like Claremont," Handley said.

"I'm sure that I will look back on my achievements fondly as the years go by, but I am thankful to have been part of it and to have made some long-lasting friendships along the way."

While physically Handley might have been able to play on in 2015 and still contribute to Claremont and also reach the elusive 200-game milestone, he couldn’t guarantee that he could give 100 per cent and that's something he has prided himself on doing his entire career.

"It was something that took me a bit of time to reach a decision on. Like all WAFL players I have a life outside of footy so there was that to consider, but at the same time my body was telling me that it had really had enough of committing to this level," he said.

"Playing WAFL football really demands absolute commitment to play and to play well, and I think the club deserves that kind of commitment and I don’t know whether or not I could have given that going forward.

"That meant that in a sense the decision to retire was made for me. I might have been able to play on, but I would have hated to be one of those players who retired mid-season and felt like I let my teammates down because I couldn’t see out the year."

Handley stepped into a strong Claremont team in 2004 that made the grand final before losing to Subiaco and then suffered the same fate in 2005 this time against South Fremantle.

It was then a heartbreaking preliminary final loss with an incredibly short final quarter in 2006 against South Fremantle when Claremont had all the momentum before perhaps the toughest loss of all against Subiaco in 2008 after the Tigers won the second semi-final and were raging favourites.

There was every likelihood that after four years of being an outstanding team without a flag that Handley's chance might have passed, and there difficult seasons to endure in 2008 and 2009 before he took a year off to move to Victoria in 2010 when the Tigers suffered more grand final heartbreak.

However, Handley returned to a side desperate to achieve the ultimate and he became again a key part of the team in the premierships of 2011 and 2012.

That made those heartbreaks easier to take for Handley and are the highlights of his career as well as his appearance for WA in 2012 against South Australia in Adelaide when he played a tremendous game as a key forward with four goals.

"One of the main reasons why you play is to have team success and those two grand finals are definitely the real highlights for me. It was a real privilege and a highlight of my career to play for my State. I felt honoured to pull on the State guernsey and it's a nice little compliment to my career to have been able to do that once," he said.

"Having lost in grand finals definitely made it more special once we won that first one. I think there is a sense when you are a young player in a successful team that if you keep going, a premiership will come your way but one of the lessons I learned is that you can reach that last game, but winning it is a whole lot tougher and you have to grab your opportunity."

While there have been other players to have careers including almost 200 games, two premierships and an appearance for their State, very rare in history has there been a player capable of playing in every position on the ground and doing it well.

In the early days of his league career, Handley settled into being a defender, but the longer his career went the more versatile he became.

Over time, he showed that he could go forward and be a dangerous marking threat and goalkicker, spend time as a mobile ruckman, an on-baller, wingman and still with the ability to go back at any moment.

That gave all of his coaches – Ashley Prescott, Roger Kerr, Simon McPhee, Marc Webb and Michael Broadbridge the option of playing him in any position on the field and that's something Handley himself takes great pride in.

"I do take satisfaction in knowing I was able to play in any position on the ground and it's a team sport, and I would do it all again," Handley said.

"It is great to be able to develop that ability to play in multiple positions and increase my value to the team, but there's probably a selfish part of me that thought I might have been able to be a better player in some sense had I just played the one position, and mastered that. If I could have picked one position it would either be centre half-forward or centre half-back.

"I played my juniors as a centre half-forward, but with the strength of our team with guys in those positions meant I had to find other positions to play and thankfully I was able to do that. That's one of the main reasons I could play for so long because I was flexible enough to move around depending on who else was playing and what the team needed."

While Handley has been playing league football with Claremont since 2004 and only missed the 2010 season when he went to Warrnambool in Victoria to work with the Clontarf Foundation, he started playing colts with the Tigers in 2000 and the club means the world to him.

He imagines it will continue to do so and he has made some life-long friends on the long the way as well, but two leaders who he feels helped to ensure the strong culture of Claremont survive and thrive were Jaxon Crabb and Clancy Rudeforth.

"It has been a second home to me for so many years that I think it's impossible for me to separate myself from the club in some sense. I look forward to going back to the club and supporting the boys, and just being another fan or helping out wherever I can," he said.

"There's no doubt that Crabby stands out in terms of my teammates. He was a great leader and someone I really enjoyed playing footy with. Clancy Rudeforth is someone who comes to mind because he was such a strong leader and was able to get the best out of himself, and demand quite a bit from his teammates.

"He was a key reason why we were finally able to win a premiership. It's difficult to single out too many players because there has been so many who have had a profound impact on the club and helped me along the way, and also who are people I'm good friends with."

Handley is currently finishing his Arts degree at the University of WA and at this stage plans on furthering his studies next year while weighing up the next career path he will take.

Not having the commitments of playing in the WAFL could certainly open up some fresh doors and also give him some more time to spend at home with new wife Bree.

"It's exciting for me thinking about what the future holds. I'm really looking forward to the next phase of my life and the adventures that come with that," Handley said.

"At this stage I intend to study further next year and dedicate more time to doing that. In terms of a career, there is a few different options and I'm taking a bit of a wait and see approach at the moment.

"Being married is great. We are renovating our kitchen at the moment so there is a bit going on at home, but I am quite enjoying it."