JONES' FAITH IN FALCONS PAYS OFF WITH PREMIERSHIP

JORDAN Jones virtually had the pick of the lot when his time with West Coast was up and he decided to continue to play in the WAFL, but he felt West Perth had the best culture and was on the verge of success and that decision paid off with him now becoming a premiership player.

Jones was drafted to the West Coast Eagles at the end of 2008 from the Geelong Falcons and managed just the two AFL matches over the next three years while playing his WAFL football with Peel Thunder.

As a Peel player, he couldn’t help but admire West Perth when he played against the Falcons and once he was delisted by the Eagles at the end of 2011 and he made the decision to remain in Western Australia, most WAFL clubs showed an interest in recruiting him.

He wanted to pick a team that he felt were close to some finals success and that had a team culture that he wanted to be part of, and West Perth fit the bill in both aspects and as a result he was only too happy to sign up with the Falcons.

His and the team's 2012 campaign didn’t quite go to plan, but Jones had a terrific 2013 season settling into a role in defence similar to the one that retired star Dion Fleay had played.

He had the ability to be equally effective playing on small or tall forwards from the opposition while being excellent at intercepting kicks coming into the opposition's forward 50 and then also setting up play for the Falcons coming out of defence.

At the end of the 2013 home and away season, the 23-year-old had played 82 WAFL matches without tasting a final but that soon changed with the second semi-final win over Claremont and then grand final victory against East Perth.

Jones always had faith that he made the right decision to come to West Perth and the proof is now in the pudding with a premiership to show for it.

"It is amazing. This is the reason I came to this footy club because I knew the group we had was outstanding and we always had that belief that we could be successful. We were really able to turn it around after last year and had a really good pre-season," Jones said.

"Nobody rated us at all, but we had belief in ourselves and we knew we could get there. It is a surreal feeling to be honest, it's crazy and everyone just went nuts after we won.

"I think what stood out to me was the successful culture of the club. Although they hadn’t won a lot of finals lately, when I played against them when I was at Peel they obviously beat us most of the time and were always around the top of the ladder, and still playing in finals.

"That's what I wanted. I didn’t get any opportunities at Peel to play at finals and that's what I wanted. I got to play finals footy and to top it off now with a premiership is just unbelievable."

The grand final was still up for grabs at three quarter-time with West Perth only 11 points up, but the Falcons then piled on seven goals to one in the final term as Jones enjoyed being out on a football field the most he ever has in his life.

"Bill didn’t give us a spray at three quarter-time, but he did rev us up saying that we just had to keeping put the pressure on them and it would turn our way," he said.

"That's what happened and then with 10 minutes to go we were five goals up and a few of the celebrations started kicking in. I looked over at Luke Tedesco at one point and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. All the boys were just so pumped up. It was just unbelievable."

The West Perth back-line with Michael Pettigrew, Dan Hunt, Andrew Strijk, Steven Browne, Laine Rasmussen and Trent Manzone was outstanding all season, and Jones was a key part of that.

"We've been a tight-knit group all year and we try to say to ourselves that our job is to set the standard from the back-line," Jones said.

"We can generate run, turnovers and set the scene for the game if we are really pressing up and aggressive with the defensive side of our game. It's worked great all year."

Jones always admired the likes of Jason Salecic, Matt Guadagnin, Ray Bartholomew, Chris Keunen and Andrew Strijk when playing against West Perth as a Peel player, and now loves being teammates with them and is thrilled to see them enjoy a premiership.

"Those guys are absolute legends of the footy club and I couldn’t be any more proud to play with them in a premiership," he said.

"They've had some horrific injuries and some tough times along the way, but now they've got a premiership and they are loving it, and it has been great to celebrate with them."

It wouldn’t surprise to see Jones receive another chance in the AFL after his outstanding 2013 season, but if it doesn’t eventuate he's only too happy to keep playing with West Perth.

"I'm loving my footy at West Perth and if that does happen, then it happens," Jones said.

"It's always in the back of my mind, but you play footy to win premierships and that's what I am at West Perth for. Getting drafted again, if it happens then so be it."

BY CHRIS PIKE