Former Fremantle forward Matt Taberner has joined WAFL club South Fremantle Bulldogs as an assistant talls coach for the 2025 season.

Taberner kicked 173 goals from his 125 matches in purple, including a 37-goal season from just 16 appearances in 2021.

An interrupted 2022 and 2023 due to hamstring issues and back surgery saw Taberner miss a large chunk of both seasons, playing in just 12 and three games across the respective years.

Taberner quickly moved down the pecking order as current Dockers forwards Jye Amiss and Josh Treacy emerged, with the WA club delisting the 31-year-old in September.

Kicking 32 goals from 14 games at WAFL level for Peel, Taberner considered an AFL lifeline but only for the "right situation", and in the end, was not afforded the opportunity.

Taberner appears to have not continued his playing days at WAFL level, instead jumping across to South Fremantle as an assistant coach.

The Bulldogs' side consists of former AFL players Trey Ruscoe, Matthew Parker and Ethan Hughes.

The club made a post on social media to announce the signing.

"From a Docker to a Dog," the post read.

"Following 125 games with the Fremantle Dockers, Matt Taberner joins the Bulldogs as our new Talls Coach."

The WAFL season gets underway in the first weekend of April, with South Fremantle looking to improve on a sixth-placed finish in 2024.