THERE aren’t many teenage draftees who can claim to have won a league premiership before getting their AFL chance, but Port Adelaide can boast three in the last three years including its newest, Lachie Jones.

The well-built 18-year-old was part of the Woodville-West Torrens side which won the 2020 SANFL premiership and he joins his new Port Adelaide teammates Connor Rozee and Boyd Woodcock, who achieved the same feat in 2018 with North Adelaide.

Jones and Woodcock both hail rom a similar part of South Australia on Yorke Peninsula and it is little known that despite a two-year age gap, the pair actually played in a colts premiership together with the Bute/Paskeville Bullants back in 2014.

“Between 2012 and 2015 I played with his older brother Nathan as well, back on Yorke Peninsula with Bute-Paskeville,” Woodcock revealed to portadelaidefc.com.au.

“I was in junior colts then so under 14s and he was under 12s but he came up and played under 14s with us.

“It was pretty easy to tell when guys are handy when they came up. He had a pretty big impact back then.

“He was going on 12 or 13 and still dominating at older levels.

“I think he’s got the choccies over his brother at the moment. I think he’ll be a pretty useful addition to the club once he gets going.”

Sometimes in regional areas, younger players get pushed up the grades because of a lack of numbers.

Woodcock said that was not the case with Jones, who was simply talented.

“He came up because he was good and probably pushed a few guys out of the side,” he said.

“You’re playing junior footy so some of the parents wouldn’t have been too happy about it but he was good.

“He was part of our premiership side as well, back in under 14s.”

While Jones was not the strong-bodied backman he is these days, Woodcock said he was no less fearless on the field as a 12-year-old.

“He was a bit smaller back then but pretty similar to what he is now,” he explained.

“He was just strong and hard at the footy and has always had his head screwed on.

“He’s never been afraid of taking a hit or giving them.”

Jones is currently living with a couple of other Yorke Peninsula products in Port Adelaide SANFL leadership player Cam Sutcliffe and Jake Von Bertouch from the Eagles.

He also trained at Port Adelaide for a week during the last pre-season as part of the AFL’s SA Academy hub, plus he has come through the club’s Next Generation Academy set-up, so he is very familiar with the surrounds at Alberton.

Because of that, Woodcock said he did not expect Jones to rely on his colts premiership teammate to help him settle into life in the AFL system.

“I’m sure he’ll have plenty of blokes taking him under their wings,” Woodcock said.

“He plays a very different role to me so it’ll be interesting if we line up on each other.

“It can get a bit heated so that will be fun for sure.”