Fremantle have added premiership playing and coaching experience to their ranks with Joel Corey joining the club as a development coach.

A three-time premiership player with Geelong with 276 games’ experience, Corey joined the Western Bulldogs as a development coach following his retirement in 2013.

Corey was the Bulldogs stoppages and set plays coach in their 2016 premiership season and has switched between that role and a midfield coach role at the Bulldogs since then.

He joins former Bulldogs player Matthew Boyd as Fremantle’s coaching additions ahead of the 2021 season, with Boyd taking on the role of assistant coach – defence.

Corey said he was looking forward to making the move to Fremantle and back to his home state of WA.

“As a family, we’re really excited about the adventure of moving west,” Corey said.

“Personally, joining Fremantle will give me the opportunity to meet a whole new group of staff and players and I’m looking forward to building some good relationships.

“Speaking to Justin Longmuir, you can tell how genuine he is.”

Corey said he looked forward to bringing his 14 years of playing and seven years of coaching experience to Fremantle.

“I feel I’ve grown as a coach,” Corey said.

“Sometimes when you’re new in coaching you feel like you’re not aware of a lot of things and as the years go on, all the different experiences you’ve had, your awareness grows and you can react or be proactive in different situations.

“Wherever I’ve been, there’s been a determination to put in the hard work and it’s nice when you get to enjoy the fruits of that, but nothing happens without that hard work.”

Longmuir was pleased to be bringing someone of Corey’s experience into the fold.

“Joel’s skillset is exactly what we need in terms of developing our young players, especially our midfielders as he’s had extensive experience in that area,” Longmuir said.

“He was an outstanding player in his playing days, who was not only talented but a very smart footballer. He’s someone who continuously worked on his game to get better and these are traits that we want to instil in all of our players.”

Longmuir said that both Corey and Boyd would add another dimension to the coaching group.

“Joel will not only help our young players to develop but he’ll also help us as a coaching group,” Longmuir said.

“Both he and Matthew will bring new ideas and bring a new set of eyes on our program, and that’s something that we’re looking forward to benefiting from.”