Image: goldcoastbulletin.com.au

Former Fremantle footballer Quenton Leach has passed away after his battle with cancer at age 47.

Leach, who was a part of Fremantle's first season in the AFL, passed away on Monday afternoon after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016.

Leach appeared for the Dockers 56 times between 1995-1998 and was most remembered in 1997, when he kicked a match-winning goal against Brisbane at Subiaco Oval in which the Dockers won by less than a goal.

Ex-Docker Brad Wira paid tribute to his old teammate on the club website.

“‘Leachey’ would light up the room, he would make everyone laugh and I think that’s what everyone will miss about him,” Wira told fremantlefc.com.au.

“He was a Marist boy, he played at Claremont and he was an inaugural Freo player. He’s touched a lot of football people over his 47 years and everyone will have a Quenton story, that will make them smile and remember him today and into the future.

“He was a gun footy player and probably one that didn’t play at the elite level as long as he should have.

“While we didn’t have a lot of success in those early years, some of the friendships formed over that era are some of the most important friendships of everyone’s lives.

“As we all got older, it was clear he was a great family man and I know everyone who played with him will be thinking of Shannan, his three children, Ella, Oliver and Jackson, his brother Jason and all immediate family.”