Jones, 31, has taken over the reins from long-serving coach Todd O’Sullivan, who will remain at the club in a playing capacity.

Jones said he was offered the coaching job at the end of last season and declined.

The Swans onballer said he had a change of heart and was ready to help Caramut improve on its seventh-place finish of 2012.

“It is something I have been putting off for a while and wanted to have a crack at before I finished playing,” he said. “I’m getting close to the end of my playing career.

“I have done it before but wanted another challenge.

“They found it hard to attract a coach. Obviously there are not a lot of people out there who want to take on the job because of travel and time commitments but they have tried hard.”

Jones is a past co-coach of fellow MDFL club Woorndoo-Mortlake and has played at Hampden league club Terang Mortlake.

The Mortlake P-12 teacher is preparing for his third season at Caramut. “My aim is to make finals like every other coach and become a bit more professional and disciplined and see where it takes us,” Jones said.

“There are many areas. Fitness is one and basic skills. Get those right and go from there.”

The Swans will start pre-season training next week.

He said Caramut expected to retain the bulk of its 2012 list, with Ben Grinter, who is expected to play cricket overseas, and Tim Barr, who has work commitments in Western Australia, the two key omissions at this stage.

“We have lost two that I know of so it’s fairly stable at this stage,” Jones said.