(228th Eagles player)
Central District (SANFL) 2006-2009
Sturt (SANFL) 2010
GWS Giants (AFL) 2011-2014
Essendon (AFL) 2015
Journeyman ruckman Jonathan Giles joined West Coast in 2015 after stints at three other AFL clubs.
Port Adelaide, GWS and Essendon career[]
Originally from Kapunda near South Australia's famous Barossa Valley, Giles was drafted by Port Adelaide late in the 2005 national draft. He spent four seasons on the Power's list but did not play a senior game. After being delisted, he switched from Central District to Sturt for the 2010 season and won the Double Blues' best and fairest before being picked up by the incoming Greater Western Sydney side in the rookie draft.
Giles spent 2011 with the Giants in the NEAFL before the club joined the AFL in 2012. He was part of the first-ever Giants side to officially take the field in the AFL, and was the first player to reach the 50-game milestone with the club, but fell out of favour in 2014 when Shane Mumford took the number 1 ruck mantle. At the end of 2014 he was traded to Essendon, having played 51 games in the orange and charcoal.
Despite a dearth of ruck stocks at Essendon, coach James Hird showed a reluctance to play Giles in the seniors. He managed just three games late in the 2015 season.
West Coast career[]
With the Eagles looking for a backup ruckman as insurance after the departure of Callum Sinclair to Sydney, Giles was brought in for an exchange of late picks. He spent his first season toiling away in the WAFL awaiting chances, which were few and far between even with Nic Naitanui suffering Achilles and knee injuries and Scott Lycett battling a knee injury for the second half of the year. Giles made four senior appearances for the season, the best of which came in the final round against Adelaide.
Expected to have an increased role in 2017 due to the long term injuries to Naitanui and Lycett, Giles played five senior games early in the season in partnership with newcomer Nathan Vardy but was dropped when that pairing proved too immobile. Hampered by a degenerative knee condition for much of the year, he announced his retirement at the end of the season despite having a year to run on his contract.
Post-AFL career[]
"Joffa" remained with West Coast in 2018 as a part-time ruck coach, a position that became vacant after the departure of Dean Cox.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | Cl | WAFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 10 | 14 | 35 | 10 | 7 | EP | 16 | 22 | 13 | 107 | 57 | 61 | 168 | 54 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 20 | 39 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 68 | 22 | 61 | 129 | 17 | ||
| Tot | 9 | 3 | 3 | 40 | 16 | 34 | 74 | 25 | 19 | ||||||||||
| Avg | 0.3 | 4.4 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 8.2 | 2.8 | 2.1 |
Links[]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Giles
http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/J/Jonathan_Giles.html