East Fremantle and senior coach Malaxos part companyMonday, June 8, 2015 - 7:59 PM - by Chris Pike

STEVE Malaxos won't get the chance to live out a rare feat as a premiership captain and coach at the same club with he and East Fremantle deciding on Monday that his time as senior coach would come to an end effective immediately.

Malaxos has done a good job in charge of East Fremantle since 2011 taking the Sharks to the grand final in 2012 and then only narrowly missing out on getting back there in 2014, but on Monday he and the club mutually agreed to part company 11 rounds into the 2015 season.

East Fremantle remains well and truly in contention to play finals again in 2015 sitting on a 5-5 record after 10 games, but two losses in five days to South Fremantle and Subiaco will be the last that Malaxos will oversee.

Former Fremantle, East Fremantle and Claremont midfielder Brad Dodd will now take over as caretaker coach at the Sharks starting this Sunday against Swan Districts at ATOM Stadium.

Dodd has spent time in recent seasons as an assistant WAFL coach with both Claremont and East Fremantle which came on the back of an outstanding playing career that included 116 WAFL games at both East Fremantle and Claremont, and 50 matches in the AFL with Fremantle.

His last game with the Dockers was Round 10, 2001 where he injured a knee and required a knee reconstruction. He returned late in 2002 playing six games with East Fremantle and then upon leaving Fremantle, he signed with Claremont ahead of the 2003 WAFL season.

He went on to play 60 more WAFL games with his last being Claremont's losing grand final to South Fremantle in 2005. He has since moved into various coaching roles and now will be in charge of the Sharks, whom he played 56 games with including the 1997 grand final, for the rest of 2015.

Malaxos, meanwhile, returned to East Fremantle in 2010 coaching the colts team to a premiership before then replacing Shane Woewodin as senior coach in 2011.

Over four and-a-half seasons, Malaxos guided the Sharks to their first grand final since 2002 in 2012 where they did a tremendous job just to make it by winning a preliminary final over Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval, and then to make a spirited comeback in the grand final against Claremont.

Following a disappointing 2013, Malaxos again made the Sharks a genuine contender in 2014 and it was only the poor kicking of 7.26 in the preliminary final against Subiaco that cost them another grand final appearance, and potential premiership given the Lions went on to beat East Perth.

Malaxos finishes having coached East Fremantle for 98 games and to 58 victories. While the exit wasn’t ideal mid-season following him not seeing completely eye-to-eye with members of the playing group and board, he wishes the Sharks all the best for the rest of 2015.

"I've tried my very best for the East Fremantle Football Club, and I wish the club the very best for the future," Malaxos said in a statement released by the club on Monday afternoon.

Prior to returning to East Fremantle in 2010 as colts coach, Malaxos was already one of WA football's all-time great servants firstly as a player and then in a variety of coaching and development roles in the AFL, and was inducted to the WA Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Malaxos began his playing career in 1979 with Claremont and in 151 games with the Tigers he won a Sandover Medal and after nine games with Hawthorn in the VFL, he became an inaugural West Coast Eagles squad member, won a fairest and best there and was All-Australian in 1989.

However, once he left West Coast after 66 games he craved a fresh start and that took him to East Fremantle where he amassed 138 games, was a three-time club champion and captained the Sharks to premierships in 1992 and 1994.

The next decade saw him in coaching and development roles in the AFL firstly with the Sydney Swans and then Fremantle before returning 'home' to East Fremantle, coaching the club to a colts premiership and now been in charge of the league team ever since.