Bolton loving life at Claremont, ready to play for WAThursday, June 9, 2016 - 8:21 PM - by Chris Pike

WHEN Jye Bolton was told playing in the WAFL would suit him not even he could have imagined just how true it would turn out to be and now the Claremont midfielder is set to represent Western Australia in Saturday's state match against Tasmania.

Bolton had spent several years with Collingwood and then Werribee playing strong football in the VFL, but when that league's version of Tigers teamed up on a larger basis with the AFL's North Melbourne in 2016 he didn’t think that was something he wanted to be part of.

So he liked what he was told about the way the game was played in the WAFL where running was a key on the larger grounds, but choosing a club became the next quandary and he couldn't have been happier with the choice to join Claremont.

"I'm absolutely loving it at the moment. The club at Claremont is very professional in terms of the way they go about it but at the same time the whole club has welcomed me way better than I could have imagined. I'm loving my time here at the moment," Bolton said on WAFL World on 91.3 SportFM.

"There were a couple of different reasons I came over here. I've always been enticed by what people I take advice off in footy have told me about WA and that it would really suit my game style in terms of the bigger ground.

"Another factor was that Werribee was going to a full alignment with North Melbourne and after being on the other side of that at Collingwood, I just thought it would be a good opportunity to come and try football over here and see if I could have one more crack at potentially going to a higher level as well while I could.

"I love the game style over here. It seems like it's a lot more attacking and it would be a lot more entertaining to watch as well without the amount of congestion on the ground."

The Tigers might have just won three of 10 games so far this year, but six of those seven losses could have easily gone the other way and Bolton has been among the very best players in the WAFL to date.

The 24-year-old is averaging 26.4 possessions a game and has kicked eight goals with his last up showing in the win over Swan Districts of 37 disposals and four goals all but guaranteeing his spot for WA against Tasmania at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

While he is only 10 games into his WAFL career, that is something he is certainly looking forward to having never previously played in a state match.

"I haven't played state football previously and I haven’t obviously been in WA for long, but at the same time I would love the opportunity to represent the league and the state at the same time," he said.

"It's a big honour to be recognised as one of those players who could possibly do that for the league and the state. It would be quite humbling if I'm able to play."

Bolton is also enjoying the midfield teammates at Claremont he is playing alongside so far this year including captain Jake Murphy, Ryan Neates, Tom Ledger, Tom Shanahan, Ryan Lim, Keifer Yu and Jared Hardisty, and ruck pair Mitch Andrews and Darcy Cameron.

"We've been competing pretty well in the midfield as a group and we've got players in there who can play a lot of different roles around the ground, and can roll through wing, half-back and half-forward," Bolton said.

"Then we've got guys who are probably looked at as half forwards or half backs who can go in there and inject something different to our midfield as well. It's good that we can throw heaps of different numbers through there and keep mixing things up.

"I'm really enjoying playing with our players that are going through there at the moment. It will be good to get Murph back in the next couple of weeks as well because he is obviously a contested machine as well and gives us a lot of contested ball, and clearances which is pivotal."