Heath Chapman is one of Fremantle’s biggest enigmas.
Off the field, he’s reserved, laid back and personable - he communicates more with a smile than with words.
Yet on the field, you won’t find a player hungrier to do what it takes to win.
It’s why there was no internal surprise when the then 20-year-old showed maturity beyond his years to single-handedly save Fremantle in round one of the 2022 season with his now-famous spoil against Adelaide.
No-one sees this dichotomy more than his line coach Matthew Boyd, or teammate and good friend Hayden Young.
“I’m not sure how you match those two personalities,” Boyd says.
“White line fever might be an answer to that in some ways.
“It’s internal, it comes from inside and he’s got a real intrinsic motivation to be the best he can be.
“This spills out into how he trains and how he plays. He uses every session to maximise his potential and get the most out of himself.
“The consistency in how he trains helps him with the consistency of his competitiveness, the desperation and the effort that he puts in.”
Young says he gains just as much from the relaxed Chapman off the field as he does from the ferocious on-field version.
“He definitely flicks a switch when he goes onto the field,” Young said.
“He’s quite reserved off the field, very chill, he doesn’t really fuss about much and is pretty relaxed.
“When he gets on the field, he’s the ultimate competitor. It’s great playing alongside him because you know if he has a matchup or a role he has to play, he’s going to bring his all.
“Then he’s got that great balance of switching off from footy, which is why he’s great to hang out with away from the game because he’s relaxed and he brings good energy.”
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In Chapman's sixth game in his debut season, he showed a desire to never give up by playing through a dislocated shoulder injury against West Coast.
Boyd feels as a coach you can’t teach a player this hunger to win.
“It’s something that’s innate, that’s in you to be honest,” Boyd said.
“It’s hard to ingrain competitiveness and sustain it, you can be competitive for a period of time and it can dip away… it’s a bit harder to coach.”
Boyd says Chapman’s spoil is the perfect example of what the dashing defender brings to every training session and game.
“It’s probably the most iconic spoil that we’ve seen for a fair while,” Boyd said.
“That’s just his will to win. He’s got this unbelievable desire to compete and to never get beaten.
“There’s times that he does get beaten but it’s not through lack of want or trying.
“The things that we love about him aren’t the run, dash and creativity with the ball - that’s great and a really important part of his game - but the things we love about him the most are his desperation, his second and third efforts, competitiveness and desire to do whatever he can for the team.”
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