WHEN asked how he’d like to be remembered as a player, Tom Jonas, as you might expect, was a bit uncomfortable.

He paused, then said “honest, reliable, hard-working is enough for me”.

Jonas on Tuesday announced to his teammates, coaches and club volunteers and staff that 2023 would be his last season as an AFL player.

So far, his career tally is 215 games, including 94 as captain of Port Adelaide.

For a kid who grew up supporting the Crows and played for Port rival Norwood, Jonas said wearing the iconic number 1 guernsey reserved for club captain was his greatest on-field achievement.

“These moments are a great moment to reflect,” he smiled. “I probably take it for granted a little bit… but it’s been the honour of a lifetime to be able to captain the Port Adelaide Football Club.

“I honestly still don’t feel worthy to have my name up next to the likes of Boaky (Travis Boak), Russell Ebert and Tim Ginever, and all the other people that have represented this club with the number one and had such enduring success.

“It’s been an incredible journey. I said to the boys 15 years ago I just wanted to play one game for Norwood so my son George could potentially be a father-son there.

“15 years later I’m sitting here as a Port Adelaide person for life and I couldn’t be prouder of that.

“For me it’s been about being part of all these great people’s lives across their journeys and watching them grow and mature, become great footballers, great people. We’ve endured some incredible hardships, and some lows, but also some incredible highs but to do it all together, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

A hard-nosed defender renowned for being as honest off the field as he always has been on it, Jonas’s AFL journey started later than most, as a mature-age rookie in the 2011 AFL Rookie Draft.

He admits as a 32-year-old he has slowed down, and as the game evolves and forwards get taller and faster, it is becoming harder to keep up.

Despite knowing his time at the highest level was coming to an end earlier this season, Jonas still believes he has a role to play for the club in September’s finals series.

“We’ve probably been sitting on this for a little while and been waiting for the right time,” he explained.

“I missed a game earlier in the year and we began to have the real conversations then about where I was at. We took everyone down to Tassie for a little excursion just in case it was the last time. I kicked a goal so got picked the next week, but it became a bit more acute as the season went on.

“We didn’t want to put anything in stone but the reality of the situation was I’m 32 going on 33. There’s other people playing great footy and I’ve had a great run.

“There’s a game late in September that I’ll probably hang around for. Where I sit in the scheme of things, I’m just going to continue to try play the best footy I can for the group each week. What happens with selection is out of my control but I’ve got full trust and confidence in Ken making the right call for the club, as he has for 12 years now.

“We’ve been really transparent the whole way through with the conversations we’ve had. There’s never been anything that’s come out of the blue so we’ll wait and see where that sits.”

And whether he is on the park or not, Jonas will be there to support the group however he can.

After three top-four finishes in the last four years, he remains full of belief that his side has what it takes to cap his career with a premiership.

“This is the most connected group we’ve had,” he said. “The most clarity about what works for us and probably the most confident I’ve been with what we have the ability to deliver.

“But we’ve got a bit of fine tuning to do before September rolls around.

“You try and enjoy the journey along the way because the destination is so hard to reach. We’ve finished top four in three of the last four years but haven’t really got anything to show from it so it’s about going a bit further and doing those small things a tiny bit better so we give ourselves that chance on the last day in September.”

While he has a law degree and MBA along with a wine business, as for what comes next remains to be decided.

“It’s probably time to give Mil (wife Millie) a turn to chase her dreams. Next year might be a time of finding out what I don’t want to do as much as what I do want to do.

“We’ll work it out in due course. Maybe a decent holiday before then, a bit of fishing.”