Sport
25 May, 2023
Jono set for 450 game milestone
WARRACK Eagles club game record holder Clinton Jonasson will play his 450th game tomorrow when the Eagles host Stawell at Anzac Park. The former best and fairest and five-time reserves coach will notch the milestone in front of family and friends...
WARRACK Eagles club game record holder Clinton Jonasson will play his 450th game tomorrow when the Eagles host Stawell at Anzac Park.
The former best and fairest and five-time reserves coach will notch the milestone in front of family and friends and a home crowd to help celebrate.
“I’m feeling good but not much excited. It's just another game. Helping out the club and the team and it’s just come up again, another milestone,” Clinton said.
“I had no plans of trying to reach milestones when I started playing football. If they happen, they happen,” he said.
Clinton’s impressive record follows his last milestone of 400 games in 2018, which coincidentally was against Stawell, and has added to his impressive resume with another 50 games that has included a year off through Covid and now the chance to play with son Kynan.
“It’s been really good to play with him because, obviously, not everyone gets a chance to sort of play with their sons,” he said.
“I see him playing so it does help push me along to keep playing.
“It doesn’t put any pressure on me. I hope he can get out there and have the same fun and enjoyment I had in my career.
“This is our second year playing together.”
Clinton said that the Covid period was challenging for him as he missed a year of play.
“Covid was tough, because obviously, we missed a whole season of football, which was a shame, because everyone in the town loves football,” he said.
“It was a stop-and-start season. One day we start training and the other day we had to stop it. We didn’t actually play that first year of Covid.
“Once we were allowed to start again, we had a modified training, like people in groups had to clean hands, clean the balland bring own drink bottles.”
Clinton started his career with Brim in the Southern Mallee Football League as a junior in the minis at the age of seven before graduating to the Under 16s ranks in 1990, a year that started his finals experience with the Eagles finishing runner-up that season.
Graduating to open age football, Clinton made his senior debut in 1994 as a 16 year old and went on to play 101 games with the Eagles, culminating with his last game for Brim in the 2000 grand final where the Eagles lost to Beulah.
In 2001, the merger of Brim and Warracknabeal took place and in 2002, Clinton’s finest honour occurred when he played his part in the Eagles breakthrough premiership victory over Ararat.
Claiming best and fairest honours in 2005, Clinton’s coaching career took off in 2006 when he joined forces with Travis Fisher to guide the Eagles reserves for three seasons before taking the reins in a sole position in 2009.
In 2010, Clinton was joined by Chris Taylor in the coaching position with the pair taking the Eagles into the grand final.
That year was always going to be a big ask against a rampaging Stawell outfit gunning for a fourth straight premiership and ultimately went down by 38 points.
“I had a great time training the team’s players, and I was pleased with myself,” he said.
“I also trained U17s for one year during the Covid in 2021.
“When I was the coach in 2010, we reached the finals, and when I was a player in 2012, we won the premiership,”
Stepping back from coaching in 2010, Clinton played a key role in the reserves campaign in 2011 where the Eagles claimed minor premiership honours before being defeated by Horsham in a shock loss in the grand final.
The following year, Clinton celebrated his second premiership when the Eagles reserves went one step further in an undefeated season to claim premiership honours in 2012.
“The big ups in my career were two premierships with Warrack Eagles. 2002 with seniors and the 2012 reserves premiership.
Clinton works as a full-time director for ‘Jonasson’s Kitchen Solutions’. Zander Jonasson, his younger son, plays football with the Eagles in the U14 division, and his wife frequently attends games to support the family.
In all, Clinton’s imposing record shows 239 senior games and 210 reserves games with 96 senior games and five reserves at Brim and 143 senior and 205 reserves games with the Warrack Eagles.