JOLLEY, Ben

Ben Jolley came from Calder Cannons where he had played in two Under 18 premierships and also captained Vic Metro in the 2004 Under 18 Championships.

He made his debut late in 2006 and played four games where he showed a willingness to tackle hard.

Jolley was delisted at the end of 2006 but continued with Essendon's VFL affiliate, the Bendigo Bombers. He was one of the Bendigo Bombers most consistent performers and won the team's Best and Fairest in 2006. He attributed his development to Bendigo Bombers coach Matthew Knights.

He joined VFA club, Williamstown in 2008 and became a club legend. At Williamstown, he captained the club from 2012 to 2017, won a record-equalling four best and fairest awards, captained a premiership in 2015 and set a new record of 218 games. The respect that he was held in by the playing group was illustrated by his winning the Ron James Memorial Trophy nine times.

He left Williamstown at the end of the 2018 season and joined their greatest rival, Port Melbourne in 2019.

By the time he returned to Williamstown in 2023, he had played 290 games for those three VFL clubs and sat fourth on the all-time VFA/VFL games record list, only 15 behind Bill Swan, who also played for Port Melbourne and Williamstown.

He was named in the VFL Team of the Year seven times, represented Victoria twice and is a life member of both Williamstown and Port Melbourne.

Jolley returned to Essendon in 2022 as playing assistant coach for the VFL team but only played three games before returning to Williamstown in 2023.