Jones, Erceg to lead Swan Districts again in 2023

Redemption is front and centre of the minds of Swan Districts coming into the 2023 WAFL season and that's exactly how Chris Jones and Brandon Erceg are feeling having been reappointed as co-captains.

Jones and Erceg were both named co-captains at Swan Districts for the first time in 2022, and there was no hesitation from their teammates to have them continue in the role for 2023 with the black-and-whites determined to return to finals action.

With Erceg the cornerstone of the defence and Jones cementing himself as an impressive forward target, the pair will be leading Swan Districts from either end of the ground once again this season.

The pair will be ably supported in the leadership group with Aidan Clarke and reigning Swan Medallist Jesse Turner named vice-captains for the 2023 WAFL season.

CHRIS JONES

Jones is coming into his third season at Swan Districts having originally been recruited from Victoria and looks set to continue in his role as the spearhead in attack which he settled into in 2022.

There was a lot for Jones to learn in his first season as co-captain last year, and he'll look to implement some of those lesson but more than anything, he's proud his teammates hold him in such high regard.

"It's an honour to be honest. It's something that when I initially came over from Victoria that I ever thought I would be doing but I'm very proud to be leading the Swans. Hopefully they've put their faith in me, and I can deliver what they expect," Jones said.

"It was definitely a learning curve. I've always backed myself in as a bit of a leader but to actually be appointed captain and have the role is something different.

"I suppose you're always questioning whether you're doing the right job and I guess after last year, I'll have a bit more confidence about just backing my leadership in. That will be something that I take into the season."

"I think me and Brandon probably initially because we were new to the role might have tried to overdo things and tried to be too vocal last year early on.

"But because we've got great vice-captains and leadership around the group, we probably learned that less is more sometimes. You just provide guidance where you can be a bit more of a role model, and friend more than anything."

Looking back on 2022 and Swan Districts were looking to build on a finals return in 2021, and for most of the season they did appear on track to get back to September action.

However, it didn’t end up happening and that disappointment has been with the group all summer and with a new coach, Andrew Pruyn, taking over, that hunger created is something Jones will use as motivation with his team.

"It was seriously disappointing not to make finals last year. I think it's hurt a few boys so we've gone back to the drawing board and Andrew has been great for us," he said.

"We've also got a new Sports Scientist who has put us through the ringer with a tough pre-season. I think that will hold us in good stead, but the boys are very driven and want to make amends for last year's disappointing performance."

Originally Jones arrived and was a standout intercept marking key defender in 2021, but Swans needed a marking target in attack last year and that's where Jones made his impact immediately.

He ended up kicking 29 goals for the season and while he's still open to going down back if needed, he expects to settle in attack again in 2023.

"I'm lining up at full-forward at the weekend and I think that's where I'll be starting. I think I'll play mostly forward this year, but I never know to be honest. I tend to be swung to both ends of the ground at times which I don’t mind doing. I am going to start forward though," Jones said.

"I actually played most of my footy forward when I was back home in Victoria. Defending was the thing that I had to learn along the way, and I started to enjoy being a defender to add another string to my bow.

"But going forward again and kicking goals is nice and fun too. Hopefully if I can put a few more on the board this year it will help the team win more games."

BRANDON ERCEG

Erceg is a born and bred Swan Districts product and has had to overcome a horror run with injuries throughout most of his senior career. But he's always bled for the club, always been the ultimate professional and that's why he is such a natural leader.

It would have been a great shame had Erceg's body never allowed him to reach his potential as a WAFL footballer. While you could have understood had it got too much, it's to his everlasting credit that he persevered and is now entering a second season as captain.

Never was Erceg's ability questioned but his body only enabled him to play 16 games up until the end of 2019 after making his league debut back in 2016.

However, the last three years have been much more fruitful, and he has become one of the best and most consistent defenders in the WAFL, and a natural leader at Swan Districts.

The co-captaincy role is something he doesn’t take for granted either.

"Obviously it's a massive honour just to get the responsibility and the title, and to know that you've got that respect from your teammates and are seen that way," Erceg said.

"It's obviously just a big honour and I see it as a big responsibility and something I look forward to in terms of trying to help the group achieve what we want to achievement by sort of leading them from that role."

While Erceg had been an uncapped leader around Swans throughout most of his senior career, being in that captaincy role is something he learned plenty from last year.

"It wasn’t totally expected last year, and I wasn’t thinking about it a whole lot prior to it happening, and you always learn something when you do something new for the first time," Erceg said.

"I definitely learned a bit and talking to Jonesy about it to get a bit of advice, and one of the main things is not changing too much about what you were doing because what you were doing is what got you there in the first place.

"The other thing as well is not thinking you have to do it all yourself. Not only is there Jonesy that I'm sharing the role with, but we've got a lot of good leaders in the group who aren’t captain but are still leaders.

"You can lean on them and work together especially as a senior group to lead the whole team. Not feeling like you have to do everything yourself is definitely an important part and also not trying to change too much from what you're about and what you've been doing."

Looking back on last year and Erceg was disappointed Swan Districts couldn’t capitalise on their best football to play finals.

They did beat finalists West Perth, Claremont, South Fremantle and Peel Thunder through the season, but just fell short of finals. The feeling of not wanting to miss another chance will stick with him and his team throughout 2023.

"Back to 2021 and we had a bit of improvement on where we'd been the couple of years prior to manage to make finals, and probably should have won that first final that we lost against West Perth," Erceg said.

"Then last year was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. We beat four of the top five teams above us during the year and we had a lot of games where it felt like there was a small patch that sort of cost us the game, and probably cost us three or four wins.

"If we had have got those, you're talking about us finishing third or fourth pretty comfortably rather than just missing out. It probably does feel like last year was a bit of a missed opportunity so there's definitely a bit of a drive going into this season to not let another opportunity go by."