Turner ticks off another goal in State game triumph

There was another career highlight in the growing resume of Swan Districts captain Jesse Turner on Saturday when he took part in his first State game victory for Western Australia on home soil.

Turner was playing his fourth game representing the WAFL against South Australia last year and tasted victory for the first time at Adelaide Oval.

He then earned selection for a fifth time for last Saturday’s game also against the SANFL representative team at Leederville’s Sullivan Logistics Stadium. For the first time in his career he was part of a home State game triumph.

On top of being a triple Swan Medal winner in his 180-game WAFL career with Swan Districts, Turner is now a five-time State representative. He was proud to be part of the home victory where he had 26 possessions, 10 marks and four entries inside the forward 50.

“It was very good to be part of obviously and we got over the hump last year over in South Australia which was really exciting and it was the first time we had won one in a while,” Turner said on 91.3 SportFM.

“But I personally hadn’t won one at home and we hadn’t won at home in quite a few years so to be able to play the way we did in front of the crowd that we had was really exciting.

“Unfortunately, I had lost the first three State games I played so that my first win last year and first win at home this year so it was definitely pretty special to have family and friends there, and to play the way we did capped off a really good day.”

Another teammate who starred

There was one Swan Districts teammate that Turner shared the State game triumph with as well. That was Jiah Reidy who produced two goals from 14 possessions and five marks in the 36-point win.

Turner couldn’t be happier for him to be rewarded for his career-best form and to show what he was capable of.

“He played his 100th game for us last year so he’s been around for a long time and he’s always been a really high pressure player, and impact player for us,” Turner said.

“But he’s having his best year now this season and I think the biggest thing is his goalkicking. He looks so dangerous when we get the ball forward and he’s kicked some tough goals.

“He took probably Mark of the Year against East Fremantle the week before the State game too and even one of his goals against South Australia on the weekend was a pretty special left foot snap.

“He’s got an insane amount of talent and for him to be putting it all together this season is making him a special player and he’s definitely a crucial part of our team, and he was a crucial part of the WA team on the weekend.

“It was just really good to see him get the opportunity to play for WA and you could see by the way he played that he definitely deserved it.”

Standout teammate back at Swans

And now that Turner turns his full attention back to the WAFL season with Swan Districts, there’s another first time teammate that he’s really enjoying sharing the field with.

After being a promising junior footballer at West Perth, Clint Hinchliffe turned his attention to cricket and has been playing professionally for much of the last decade, but he decided to refocus on football in 2026 after a couple of strong seasons in the Perth Football League.

He has now slotted in perfectly with Swans to be averaging 22.5 possessions a game in his first six matches and Turner couldn’t be happier to be calling him a teammate.

“He’s been great and obviously he’s a professional sportsman with cricket over the last decade, but even before that he was a highly talented footballer at West Perth,” Turner said.

“I think from all reports he wasn’t far off getting drafted and he played State 18s and obviously knows how to play footy.

“The last couple of years he’s played A-Grade and been one of the best players in the comp there so we were really excited to get him over.

“In the pre-season he was still balancing cricket and footy, but he works extremely hard and wasn’t able to do all the pre-season sessions, but every one he was at the effort he would give and intensity he would train at you could see that he’d come from professional sport and had played a lot in the past.

“Now that he’s here with us full-time, he is young in terms of not playing a lot of games, but he’s like a leader for us with his wealth of knowledge and he’s got one of the best kicks in the WAFL already.

“With his left foot, we want the ball in his hands and he’s played a variety of roles for us already and he’s getting better by the week. He has been one of our best players and he’s only going to get better and I’m really excited to see what he does for the rest of the year.”

Forward-line starting to look dangerous

Another reason that Turner is excited for how the rest of the 2026 season could pan out for Swan Districts is the way the forward-line has come together.

No longer is it Leigh Kohlmann or bust in attack for the black-and-whites, but he has some lethal teammates around him now including Jovan Petrick and Zach Provest with Turner delighted to have plenty of options for him to get ball down to in attack.

“Unfortunately for Jov he had a bit of an interrupted pre-season,” Turner said.

“He started it and was in-and-out for a while there so it might have taken him a few rounds to get going, but the last two weeks especially he’s really started to look dangerous taking marks and kicking some nice goals.

“Then having Leigh back as well, that makes it a lot harder for the defenders and you can’t get one to sag off to try and help the other defender out.

“Having them two both there plus players like Reidy, Zach Provest and guys like that it’s making our forward-line real potent.

“Where we have struggled in years past is kicking a score but if our midfielders and backs do our job now to get the ball in there, I think we can have a really strong forward-line so I’m excited to see what those boys can do over the next couple of months.”