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Le Fanu joins the Tigers

Monday, February 6, 2017 - 3:32 PM by By Ken Casellas

Subiaco dual premiership player Charlie Le Fanu has signed to play for Claremont this year and he had his first training run with the Tigers at John XXIII’s playing fields last Friday.

“I’m feeling fit and am ready to give it a real crack,” the 23-year-old utility player said.

“I took it easy in 2016 when I needed to knuckle down to complete my university studies.”

Le Fanu, from the Mines Rovers club in Kalgoorlie, played 37 matches for the Subiaco colts side in 2011-12 before appearing in 15 reserves matches and 44 in league ranks for the Lions. He was a member of Subiaco’s league premiership sides in 2014 and 2015, playing mainly as a small defender.

Then, after a brief rest following Subiaco’s grand final triumph over West Perth in the 2015 grand final, Le Fanu joined the Nightcliff Tigers in mid-season in the Northern Territory League summer competition. Jackson Starcevich, a former Claremont player and a friend of Le Fanu, encouraged his mate to play in Darwin.

“I flew in every weekend and it was good fun, but very hot,” Le Fanu said. “I played eight matches, mainly on a wing, and it was completely different football; it was all running hard and it was really hot. My first game, against the Tiwi Bombers, was a shock to the system. It was 36 degrees and 85 per cent humidity.”

Last year Le Fanu completed his degree in construction management and economics and during the year he played a handful of games for the University amateurs, coached by former Claremont and Fremantle Dockers star Andrew Browne.

“I’ve been working for the past three years with my own gardening company, but now I’m flat out looking for a job in construction management,” he said.

Playing a strong part in his decision to join Claremont was the encouragement of his friend, powerful Tigers defender Matt Davies. Le Fanu also is happy to find familiar faces at training in friend Tom Lee and Keifer Yu and Ryan Lim, who were at Hale School when he was a boarder at that that school where his classmates included former Tigers league players Sam Fong and Lachy Davey.

“It was always going to be a tough decision to leave Subiaco,” Le Fanu said. “I’ve got a lot of mates there, but after speaking to Darcy (Claremont’s football manager Darcy Coffey) and Harro (new coach Darren Harris) as well as some of my friends at the club, like Tommy Lee, I could see that it all was positive and that there was a great environment. This is a great opportunity for me.”