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Rejuvenated Griffin revelling in Sharks' captaincyFriday, April 6, 2018 - 9:44 AM - by Chris Pike
WHILE proud of what he achieved in 13 years at the AFL with Adelaide and Fremantle, new East Fremantle captain Jonathon Griffin is feeling rejuvenated to be back full-time at the Sharks and ready for the new phase of his life.
Griffin led East Fremantle into battle for the first time as captain on Good Friday in a narrow Round 1 loss to reigning premiers Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium as he now prepares for his first match as skipper on home turf this Saturday against Perth.
Griffin certainly has no regrets over the time he was able to spend in the AFL that started way back when he was drafted by the Adelaide Crows from East Fremantle in 2005.
He went on to play 41 games in six seasons with Adelaide before being traded to the Fremantle Dockers in 2011. He went on to play a further 56 matches over the past seven seasons with Fremantle to take his career tally to 97 along with 36 goals.
He didn’t quite get to reach the century mark in the AFL but the ruckman did get to show he was capable of being a quality player when he was up and running across those 13 years.
He also had some success at state league level including playing in a SANFL premiership with Central District in 2007.
Upon returning home, he also played in a grand final with East Fremantle in 2012 and more recently played in a premiership with Fremantle's aligned WAFL side, Peel Thunder, in 2016.
But by the end of 2017, Griffin was ready to move on from the AFL and the 32-year-old has found that getting out of the full-time environment of the AFL has provided him with a whole new lease on life.
Not only did Griffin decide to return to his original WAFL club where he was drafted from and did continue to play until the alignment between Fremantle and Peel was in place, but he has been appointed captain for the 2018 season as well.
That shows the esteem that Griffin is held in at East Fremantle and while he's proud of what he achieved in the AFL and was glad to spend 13 years as a full-time professional, he's enjoying this new stage of life already.
"To be honest, I had a good hit out at it. I had 13 years in the AFL system and I've just turned 32 so I'm incredibly lucky to have been able to spend so many years in the AFL," Griffin told 91.3 SportFM.
"I had a couple of injuries there and with form and things that you get along the way, but I'm very grateful for my opportunity there.
"It has been a bit of a rejuvenation really and a breath of fresh air to head back to East Fremantle. It's a really exciting time down there and I'm excited about the season ahead."
Helping Griffin's excitement ahead of the 2018 season is the fact that not only is he back at East Fremantle from the AFL, but the Sharks have also recruited former AFL-listed players Blaine Boekhorst, Nick Kommer, Jarrad Jansen, Cameron Loersch and Jordan Snadden as well.
After a season in 2017 where the Sharks won just three games, Griffin sees no reason why they can't aim to go all the way in 2018.
"The footy club have done a great deal of work over the last six, seven months to get these guys down to East Fremantle," Griffin said.
"That influx of experience and talent along with the youth and enthusiasm of the young guys is a really great mix at the club. It's really exciting to be part of.
"We haven’t put any limitations on what we can achieve and anything's possible. We are confident in the work we've done in the pre-season and we are ready to attack 2018. It's exciting times."
Prior to leading East Fremantle into battle last Good Friday against Peel in Mandurah, Griffin's last game for the Sharks was the 2012 Grand Final.
He did all he could that afternoon in the ruck for the Sharks with 14 possessions, eight marks, four tackles, 46 hit outs and three goals.
But he couldn’t quite drag them over the line against the Tigers and Griffin now hopes that doesn’t turn out to be his last Grand Final appearance in an East Fremantle jumper.
"Obviously everyone wants to get to a WAFL Grand Final and play in them but for East Fremantle, that was a pretty disappointing day," he said.
"We ended up losing all three grades. It was a disappointing day and I just remember getting really close early in the last quarter but Claremont were able to come back and be too strong and run over us.
"It was disappointing but hopefully we can get back there over the next couple of years and give it another crack. It's exciting to be back at the club aiming to have some success."
As for spending the past several seasons playing his WAFL football with Peel, including being part of the 2016 premiership, Griffin didn’t look forward to it too much initially because of his connection with the Sharks.
But in the end, to be made part of the club at Peel and to get to play alongside his Fremantle teammates made it an experience he will forever cherish and be grateful for experiencing.
"Going into it I wasn’t too sure how it was going to be playing for Peel and I probably wasn’t as positive about it as I should have been," Griffin said.
"But over the first couple of months there at Peel and playing again with 30 or 40 blokes that you spend a lot of time with and build a lot of relationships with, it ended up being a really great place to play football.
"I'm very thankful for Peel Thunder and the opportunity they gave me. They are a great football club winning the past two premierships and I think they are red hot favourites again this year. I'm very thankful for my time there."
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