Where the WA-bred Dockers stars have come from

Sep 22, 2026 | Jordan McArdle
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Nearly half of Fremantle’s 41-player squad started their footy journey in Western Australia, including All-Australian trio Shai Bolton, Luke Jackson and Jordan Clark and several more first-choices players like Matthew Johnson, Heath Chapman and Neil Erasmus.

From Albany, Bunbury and Busselton in the south to Broome in the north, Dongara and Geraldton in the Mid West, the Perth hills and all parts of the metropolitan area, there’s a strong WA flavour at the Dockers heading into just their second AFL Grand Final against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday.

Nine of the 20 West Aussies in the Dockers squad are from regional WA, while the other 11 played their junior football in and around Perth.

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Sharpshooter Jye Amiss played at Busselton alongside current Brisbane Lion James Tunstill, with the pair even regularly commuting to Perth together for East Perth Colts training before both realised their AFL dreams at the end of 2021.

Midfield teammates Neil Erasmus and Matthew Johnson played in a Colts flag together at Subiaco, with Erasmus booting four goals in a breakout performance up forward and Johnson also among the Lions’ best in the upset Grand Final victory over Subiaco at Fremantle Community Bank Oval back in 2020.

The majority featured in the AAMI WA Football talent pathways including WA under-16s, under-18s and under-19s during the COVID-affected year back in 2021.

Take a look at where each of the WA Dockers are from below

 

The WA Dockers

PlayerJunior clubWAFL club
Jye AmissBusseltonEast Perth
Jordan ClarkRailways (Albany)Claremont
Jaeger O’MearaDongaraPerth
Heath ChapmanJoondalup-KinrossWest Perth
Jeremy SharpAttadaleEast Fremantle
Judd McVeeRovers (Geraldton)East Fremantle
Luke JacksonBullcreek-LeemingEast Fremantle
Shai BoltonNorth MandurahSouth Fremantle
Bailey BanfieldBroome BullsClaremont
Brandon WalkerKardinyaEast Fremantle
Neil ErasmusSorrento-DuncraigSubiaco
Matthew JohnsonNorth BeachSubiaco
Nathan O’DriscollNortham SaintsPerth
Hugh DaviesClaremont JFCClaremont
Josh DraperRockinghamPeel Thunder
Aiden RiddleNorth BeachClaremont
Jaren CarrFremantle City DockersSouth Fremantle
Toby WhanRoleystoneSouth Fremantle
Ryda LukeMundijong CentralsSouth Fremantle
Leon KickettSouth BunburySwan Districts

 

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