WAFL world salutes Brendon Jones on 200 games

Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - 2:29 PM by Alex Paull

BRENDON Jones admits he isn’t the flashiest of players, but the commitment of the tireless midfielder has been a feature of his 200-game career at both Peel Thunder and Perth.

The Peel skipper will celebrate his milestone at Bendigo Bank Stadium against East Fremantle on Saturday, and the following week against East Perth he will carve himself a slice of history when he becomes just the fourth man to play 100 games for two clubs.

Jones’ foray into the WAFL started at the Demons in 2004 as an 18-year-old from Quairading, and after a taste of senior football in his first season, Jones showed rare goal sense in a break-out year in 2005, booting 23 goals from 20 games.

Reflecting on the early part of his career, Jones said he never imagined he would become a 200-game player; however the lack of team success and no finals games are two gaping holes in a glittering resume.

“You play your first games, you find your feet, and after a lot of hard work and as years go by, you find yourself playing 200 games so it’s quite surreal,” Jones said.

“It definitely goes quick. You get used to the training loads and the requirements of WAFL football, and you expect it on a weekly basis, so it’s been a good journey.”

His ball-winning exploits at the Demons soon attracted plenty of attention, and in 2008 he won Perth’s best and fairest as a 22-year-old.

Jones switched to Peel in 2010 and made an immediate impact with consecutive runner-up finishes in the Thunder’s best and fairest, before landing his first Tuckey Medal in 2012.

The sustained consistency has meant that since moving from Perth, Jones has finished in the top two placings for five consecutive seasons.

The time Jones spent at both Perth and Peel outlined two different phases of his career: a youngster finding his feet at Perth and an experienced and hardened leader at the Thunder.

“I learned a lot about my football at Perth and what it took to play at the WAFL level, and then it was at Peel where I took another step in terms of leadership roles,” he said.

Those leadership roles saw Jones first assume the Thunder captaincy from Daniel Haines in 2010 until 2014 when James Flaherty took over.

Having regained the captaincy this season, Jones said he enjoyed the responsibility of leading a young team.

“It’s a big responsibility, and all the younger guys are trying to learn off you, but you try lead in the right way and be there for the young guys to talk to, as well as focusing on performing on a Saturday,” he said.

“When I first took on the captaincy, I was learning [about leadership] as I went along, but now I’m not putting that pressure on myself, and having Eddie Dann, Josh Bootsma and Leroy Jetta in the leadership group as well has been really helpful.”

Remarkably, Jones announced his retirement after the 2013 season, but was soon talked out of it by coach Cam Shepherd.

Jones went on to take out the 2014 Tuckey Medal and cement his status as one of the more professional and hardworking midfielders in the competition.

“After Christmas I sat down with Shep and my family, and I was missing it. The drive to play finals with Peel was a driving factor, and now I feel as fit as ever.”

Jones is yet to miss a game since Round 1 2011, and he puts his durability down to “a bit of luck”.

“I’ve always thought I’ve been lucky to not have any substantial injuries, and I pride myself on my preparation, hard work and rehab throughout the week, so if you get all those things right you give yourself every opportunity to play every week.”

Having looked football mortality in the face, Jones is now happy to take every game as it comes, but believes he has never been fitter, and with the Fremantle alignment in full swing, the lure of a maiden finals berth with Peel remains.

“I think once you finish your career you can reflect on it, but we need to win a few games this year and hopefully finish off by playing finals footy,” he said.

And he is hoping 2015 is the year that will see Peel breakthrough for its first finals appearance.

“If you look at last year, we lost 8-10 games by less than 20 points, we’ve got some new players in but we’re comfortable with the guys from Fremantle, and the young guys we’ve got coming through the development system add another dimension to our list,” Jones said.
And being a country lad at heart, Jones’ career highlights are simple, and it reflects the humble persona that has commanded the respect from the entire competition.

“When we have a win, you sing the song with your mates and really enjoy their company, and that’s what footy’s about for me,” he said.

BRENDON JONES: FACT FILE (as at 1/4/15)