Courage, perseverance gets Jones to 200 with finals his goalFriday, April 3, 2015 - 7:02 PM - by Chris Pike

THROUGH no fault of his own Peel Thunder captain Brendon Jones will notch his 200th WAFL match on Saturday without a final or State appearance, but he hopes the former will change later in 2015 and the fact he has never played for WA remains bewildering to many.

It has been nothing but bad luck that has meant that Jones' career is without a finals appearance given it has been spread between Perth and Peel Thunder both of whom have not played finals either since 1997, or ever.

Jones' form over his entire 199-game career at the two clubs has seen him win three fairest and best awards, one at Perth and two with Peel Thunder, and his remarkable consistency and professionalism has seen him only miss five matches since making his debut in 2004 at Perth.

Along the way, he has averaged more than 20 disposals a game and without question has been one of the best and most consistent midfielders in the WAFL this century.

It remains bewildering that he has not represented WA considering that in just about any of the last 10 years, he could have easily held his own in the midfield that was selected to represent the State.

Nevertheless, Jones remains one of the great stalwarts of the competition.

He played 101 games with Perth between 2004 and 2009, winning the Butcher Medal in 2008, before joining Peel in 2010.

His consistency has been remarkable with the Thunder with him winning the Tuckey Medal in 2012 and 2014, and being runner-up in 2010 and 2011.

After initially deciding to retire at the end of 2013, he played in 2014 winning the fairest and best award again and now has been appointed captain in 2015.

The 28-year-old will now play his 200th WAFL game this Saturday against East Fremantle at Bendigo Bank Stadium, but all he wants is a win for the occasion.

"At this stage I haven’t really had time to reflect on it," Jones told WAFL World on 91.3 SportFM.

"I guess coming off a loss last week it has been bit business as usual down at the footy club and hopefully we can get the four points on Saturday, and I can enjoy it with some family and friends after the game."

While Jones has every reason to be proud of the way he has gone about his career on a personal level, he admits that the only reason he continues to play is because of that desire for his first taste of finals football in the WAFL. He hopes Peel can get there this year for the first time.

"I probably made the decision to leave a little bit prematurely in 2013 and then having a bit of time away when I didn’t train until after Christmas, I had a good three or months away from footy, and then I sat down with the footy club about what I still wanted to accomplish," he said.

"That was to play finals footy for the club. Obviously being at Perth and Peel, I'm yet to play WAFL finals football so that's definitely a driving factor for me going forward and hopefully it will be this year."

While it might be lucky, the professional way that Jones has approached his recovery, training and preparation throughout his career is a big factor why he has come through unscathed and been able to miss barely any football in his decade-plus WAFL career.

"In some ways it's a little bit of luck that goes with it as well. I have been very fortunate to not get any serious injuries like some players do, but I do pride myself on my rehabilitation, ice baths, getting in to see the trainers and masseuses, and all of that sort of thing," he said.

"Just trying to have that professionalism is something you need to take into account and you need to do everything you can to look after your body so you can get the best out of yourself on a Saturday."

Peel is still searching for its first win of the 2015 season following a seven-point loss to West Perth last Saturday following the Round 1 bye.

The Thunder now host the Sharks on Easter Saturday with East Fremantle coming off a loss to Subiaco, but Jones is confident he can taste victory in game No. 200.

"We played some good footy in the first half and it was a pretty intense game, but our third quarter definitely let us down. They kicked six goals to our one so we need to prevent those lapses and try to play four quarters of footy this week so we can put up a better performance," Jones said.

"After I saw the results on Sunday I was a little bit worried because East Fremantle are obviously a proud club and will be looking to bounce back against us. I watched their game against East Perth and they used the ball very well and they've got a really strong midfield group who run really hard.

"We are going to have to be at our best, but I have no doubt that if we bring four quarters of football and apply the pressure we want to apply that we will be right in the game."