Wrigley embracing new lease on life at SharksWednesday, May 29, 2024 - 10:11 AM - by Chris Pike

A SEASON in Melbourne opened up Chloe Wrigley's eyes to new football prospects and the Peel Thunder premiership star couldn’t be happier with her move to East Fremantle, and to be bringing her trademark tackling and ball winning ability.

Mandurah will always be home to Wrigley and she'll always cherish those memories she had playing with Peel Thunder where she was a key player on the 2020 and 2021 WAFLW premiership teams.

She even won the Lou Knitter Medal as best on ground in that 2020 grand final triumph against Subiaco while also winning the fairest and best award at Peel in that same season.

Wrigley continued to be a key member of the Thunder midfield with the combination of her ability to rack up plenty of the ball but also to be a ferocious tackling force and someone who would always put their body on the line, and do all the physical and one percent things for her team.

That earned her an opportunity to join Carlton for this past AFLW season and that made her have a rethink on where her football future would be on returning home.

While still travelling to and from Mandurah to train and play, she has settled in perfectly at East Fremantle to be having a tremendous season with 20.3 possessions and 7.7 tackles a game in a team now sitting a game and percentage clear in top spot with three rounds remaining.

Combining tackling and winning the ball

What has made Wrigley such a standout player now over six WAFLW seasons has been the fact that she has just as big of an impact on games by winning the football and being an attacking force as she does with her physical attack on the contest, her pressure on the opposition and her fierce tackling.

It's why Wrigley is such a popular teammate because of all the work she does that might not always go noticed from the outside, but inside any club she's been at it has always been held in such a high regard.

To have someone capable of having 20 possessions and 10 tackles almost on a weekly basis is a remarkable weapon for any team to have. Wrigley is coming off 22 touches and 15 tackles in last week's win in the grand final rematch for the Sharks against Claremont as well.

She did have 17 tackles in a game for Peel last year against East Perth and quite simply growing up in a family of male footballers it meant she had no choice but to embrace the physicality if she wanted to play in the backyard with them.

"I do love a good tackle but at the end of the day I absolutely love winning and will do anything I can to help my team get over the line," Wrigley said.

"I'm pretty lucky to have a dad and brother (Chris, six WAFL games for Peel) who played a lot of footy themselves, and they're the ones who taught me how to play the game.

"I think growing up and running around with my brother in the backyard was where all of that started for me, and I had to learn to handle myself pretty well."

Settling in with the Sharks

Wrigley has wasted no time settling into the reigning premier's line-up with East Fremantle and even she has been a little pleasantly surprised with just how seamless the transition has been.

She gives a lot of credit to coach Matt Templeton for that, but also her new teammates whether it be long-time rivals like Beth Beckett, Sharon Wong and Ashleigh Gomes or young guns like Zippy Fish, Mylee Leitch and Tiani Teakle.

"I'm absolutely loving it at East Fremantle. Everyone has been super welcoming and very professional, and it's just a great group to be around," Wrigley said.

"Something we've really focused on building going back to pre-season was connecting with each other and it's something that Tempo is pretty big on as well, and I feel like we're doing a good job with that during games as well.

"We seem to be connecting really well and staying positive with it all definitely helps with that."

Building that chemistry

While there are plenty of new faces at East Fremantle despite coming off the premiership in 2023, and not having access to play or train at East Fremantle Oval hasn’t been ideal, Wrigley has been impressed with how the group has come together.

Obviously winning games of football helps develop that chemistry and the Sharks have done plenty of that with eight wins in-a-row, and 10 of 11 overall for the season.

However, getting to know each other off the field is crucial as far as Wrigley sees it to develop that bond as a playing group, and that's one thing she has loved seeing happen with this East Fremantle group.

"The club has been pretty good with organising after games going to the Left Bank as well to help us connect that little bit more as a group too so that's been pretty good," Wrigley said.

"I've also had a good connection with Tempo even from before he was a coach at East Fremantle through some family connection so that has definitely helped as well."

Decision to join East Fremantle

While Wrigley will always have good memories of her time playing with her hometown club, Peel, and with the two premierships and fairest and best award she won there, she knew in 2023 that she was looking for a fresh start.

The time spent in the AFLW system at Carlton gave Wrigley a chance to be part of a new club environment and then when she was considering a new WAFLW home, East Fremantle soon became the obvious option.

Not only were the Sharks the reigning premiers and a perennial female football powerhouse, but Wrigley has known coach Matt Templeton most of her life.

So for a whole host of reasons it became an obvious choice to join East Fremantle and she's never regretted it for a second.

"I was open up to pretty much anything and even thought of going back to Melbourne and playing some more footy over there. But when I sat down and had the chats with the family, I discussed what I wanted to do and that's when we all came to the decision," Wrigley said.

"Of course it was hard to leave Peel and I've got a lot of friends still there, and I got along with everyone. But in the end I just had to do what I thought was right for my footy. So I made the decision and it wasn’t easy, but I'm happy that I did.

"It was a decision that I worked through thoroughly and had plenty of chats with the family. In the end I felt like it was the best move for my footy and for my development.

"I did have strong connections already with some of the East girls and that strong connection with Tempo so that's what made it feel like it was the right move to make."

Spending AFLW season with the Blues

While Wrigley didn’t quite get to make her AFLW debut during her time with Carlton for the 2023 season, she did embrace the opportunity to be part of a professional environment and to spend a few months as a full-time footballer in Melbourne.

Even though she isn’t still on Carlton's list for the 2024 season, what it did was open up her eyes to being open to another AFLW opportunity should it eventuate although her complete focus is on finishing the season in the WAFLW with East Fremantle.

"I enjoyed my time being at Carlton. It was a great experience in terms of being in the AFLW environment and I learned a lot from quality players," Wrigley said.

"It's very professional there and I met a lot of great people at Carlton but just in Melbourne overall. I walked away with great friendships and I would love the opportunity again to play in the AFLW.

"Right now I'm just focusing on what I can control, and that's enjoying my footy and training to get the best out of myself, and then that is all out of my control in the long run."