Question the West Coast Eagles’ young legion of players as to which teammate sets the finest example with his work ethic and Rowan Jones is almost always at the top of the list.

He’s the consummate professional, methodical in his preparation and with an even temperament. Each of those traits came to the fore in season 2005 when the half-forward, despite scorching the WAFL competition with Claremont, struggled to cement his place in West Coast’s line-up. As disappointed as he may have been with his lack of opportunities, he never let it show. He supported the match committee’s decisions and went about his business.

Despite his absence from West Coast’s best 22, come the 2005 finals series Jones was in calculations and found himself in a preliminary final, his fourth AFL game for the season.

He played well enough in the victory to be considered for the grand final but never made it to the selection table; a medial ligament injury, suffered in an apparently innocuous incident against Adelaide, saw him ruled out. That diagnosis came at around the same time bad news was broken to another experienced campaigner, Michael Braun.

It was a cruel blow and surely felt by the player group. Though Jones hadn’t been a familiar face throughout the season, he’s the type of character peers like to see rewarded.

After his own personal disappointment and that of the club, following a four-point grand final loss, Jones’ focus was on season 2006 and the target of erasing those emotions.

He threw himself into the preparations, started the season proper in exceptional touch and held his hard-running form for the bulk of it.

“Looking back on it, where I’ve  come  from last year having not had a lot of opportunity and only playing four games, to play as many games as I did this year was really satisfying,” he reflected. “I guess it pays off for the hard work, not only this year but the hard work of the previous couple of years.

“It’s more of a two year journey for me this year for what I wanted to achieve. It was great the match committee had faith to give me an opportunity early in the season and I could hang on to it for most of the year.”

He led the club in handballs, was eighth  in total disposals and added another dimension to West Coast’s midfield unit.

That was best on show against  Sydney  in the qualifying final where, for just the fourth time of the season, Jones had more kicks than handballs and continuously bothered the Swans. It was a solid September performance. He was quieter in the finals that followed against the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide though was a worthy contributor, whether in offensive or defensive capacities.

Joining the rest of the non-playing squad in Melbourne for last year’s grand final, it was Jones’ first as a spectator and an experience he found very beneficial with his playing part this year.

“It was a pretty good week,” he said. “It was pretty relaxed, I didn’t really get nervous at all. It was just something I  was  looking  forward to.

“Having missed last year it was something that I did envisage and imagine a little bit, what it would be like to be part of the week. To be part of it was amazing. All of the support and all of the people was one thing that just stood out. Last year was my first grand final that I’d been to and it just hit home how big the actual occasion was – to experience it first-hand this year was great.

“It was good to have Mum and Dad there because they’ve been on  the  whole  journey as well and they were disappointed last year,” he continued. “And it was great to have (wife) Sherie and (daughter) Hayley there as well. It was a bit of hard work for Sherie but in the long-term it will be something we’ll remember.

“It was good to have family there because you’ve got someone to enjoy it with and they’re the people who really live your footy life with you.”

Jones will long remember the late stages of the final quarter and the tug-of-war between the two sides for a result.

“The last five minutes is something that will stand out forever,” he confirmed. “Every time we got a goal to go seven points up, they got a goal… starting at each centre bounce thinking that everyone’s just got to try to do something to stop their man or try to get us forward.

“The thing that stands out is Chicky’s shepherd because I was sort of standing behind and had a pretty good view and I thought Hunts may have got tackled. To see Chicky come through was pretty inspirational.

“It was more of a surprise when the final siren went  because  we  got  a  message  from the runner that suggested that the siren was a little bit further away than it actually was. When it went, it was more of a surprise.

“Because we had so many close games this year, we had experienced it before but not to that level. It was a weird feeling that you can’t describe, not the elation that you imagine when you’re a kid.”

For many of the players, the initial moment of celebration would have merged with a flood of relief. The West Coast Eagles were premiers.

“It’s a good feeling, not so much being a premiership player, but just fulfilling one of your long-term goals,” he said. “It’s always nice to tick things off once you’ve achieved them and you can look back on all of the hard work that’s gone on and feel content and relaxed for a while.”

But while this has been a personal two year journey, Jones sees no reason why it can’t continue.

“It doesn’t make you more hungry but it’s one of those things with footy that it is the be-all and end-all to win a premiership,” he noted. “But once you’ve won one, it doesn’t give you that contented sort of feeling.

“There’s still more to achieve, to improve next year, improve on your  weaknesses  and get better as a side. I think, hopefully for the team, that’s going to be the case and we can move on to bigger things.”

For now, though, the hard work has paid off.