Peel skipper calls it a day

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - 4:41 PM by Alex Paull

Peel skipper calls it a day
Alex Paull

Peel stalwart Brendon Jones has retired after 219 games.

The 29-year-old dual Tuckey Medallist said he wanted to spending more time with his young family away from the pressures of WAFL football.

“Playing WAFL for so many years, I have a young family now and it’s a good time to step away with the club in a good position, spend a bit more time at home with the family,” Jones said.

A tough and prolific midfielder, Jones still strung together an outstanding 2015, averaging 23.6 disposals for the season including a career-best 39 touches against Swan Districts in Round 18.

But finals appearances had eluded him until his final game, when Jones led the Thunder out in the club’s first ever home final.

He said it was one of his proudest moments, despite the 22-point loss to East Perth in the First Semi Final.

“It’s definitely something I will look back on with fond memories; obviously there was a bit of history there, so it was fantastic.”

Jones notched up the 200-game milestone in Round 3 this year, and a week later he carved himself a slice of history, becoming just the fourth man to play 100 games for two clubs.

His 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 innate goal sense in a break-out year in 2005, booting 23 goals from 20 games.

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 meant that since the move from Perth in 2010, Jones had finished in the top two placings for five consecutive seasons, and he was also named the Players Player at the Tuckey Medal count last weekend.

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.

Reflecting on the early part of his career, Jones said he never imagined he would become a 200-game player.

“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, before this year leading his side to the finals as captain for the first time in the club’s history.

“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.

But Jones said there were plenty of emerging leaders at Peel.

“Going forward we have some great young leaders like Corey Morris, who’s just won his third Reserves best and fairest, and he’s a natural leader.

“The likes of Mitch Gill, Dylan Winton, Laine Wilkins, who have played 10-20 league games, if they get an opportunity next year I’m sure the footy club is in good hands.”

While this isn’t his first retirement – Jones famously retired after the 2013 season only to come back and win the 2014 Tuckey Medal – he is adamant that his days as a WAFL footballer are done.

“This is the final hurrah, and I think it’s easier this time knowing that the club is in a much stronger position than it was the last time [I retired].

Despite conceding his WAFL days are finished, Jones said the body still felt ok and he hoped to head back to play in the country.

But although Jones harbours coaching ambitions, his priority is his young family, which means a couple of years away from the WAFL scene.

With 219 games under his belt, Jones bows out in elite company, with the same amount of games as dual Sandover Medallist Peter Spencer and South Fremantle legend Fred Seinor.

While a premiership remained elusive, Jones is content knowing he extracted everything he could out of his career.

“I’ve got basically everything I set out to achieve bar a premiership, which wasn’t meant to be, but when you reflect on it, I got everything I could out of my body and out of my abilities,” he said.

“I reflect on positive memories with both footy clubs, I’ve made life-long friendships at both clubs and I’ll stay in the area and continue the friendships.”

BRENDON JONES: FACT FILE