Jon Croft

Nationality: AUS
Date of Birth: 14/06/80
Place of Birth: Kilsyth (VIC)
Position: G/F
Height (CM): 195
Weight (KG): #N/A
Junior Assoc: VIC - Kilsyth
College: None

NBL CAREER OVERVIEW

NBL DEBUT 16/10/02 Age 22

LAST NBL GAME 24/03/04 Age 23

TEAM HISTORY

2 seasons | 2 teams

2003VIVictoria1 season
2004WRWest Sydney Razorbacks1 season

CHAMPIONSHIPS

None

BIO: Jon Croft was born in Kilsyth (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Kilsyth basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jon Croft made his NBL debut with the Victoria Giants at 22 years of age. He scored four points in his first game.

After the Victoria Titans folded in mid-2002, a group led by businessman Peter Fiddes was granted a license to replace them. With the new ownership primarily made up of former North Melbourne personnel—who were still bitter about the Giants/Magic merger in 1998—they rebranded the team back to the Victoria Giants.

New ownership took over in 2003 and re-branded Victoria to the ‘Giants’. Working with a ‘shoe string’ budget, it was impossible to retain head coach Brian Goorjian or the majority of their top-tier talent. While they managed to re-sign veterans Darryl McDonald and import Jamahl Mosley to reduced deals, they lost Chris Anstey, Jason Smith, and Mark Dickel to lucrative European contracts, while Tony Ronaldson and Brett Wheeler joined the Perth Wildcats.

With a focus on youth development, the Giants re-signed Nathan Crosswell, Darren Smith, and Marcus Wright, committing to giving them expanded roles. The team filled the rest of the roster with state league talent, offering several players their first major NBL opportunity. Nik Mirich (George Mason University), Lindsey Tait (New Zealand NBL), and Miles Pearce (New Zealand NBL) were among those signed. The team also added Rhys Carter (AIS), David Cooper (Dandenong Rangers), and 36-year-old veteran David Biwer (Nunawading).

The Giants were led by first-year head coach Mark Wright, a former North Melbourne backup guard who helped the Giants win a championship in 1989. The new-look budget roster was widely predicted to finish at the bottom of the standings, and the season began with a 95-85 road loss to Perth. However, they surprised the league by upsetting West Sydney (122–106) in their home opener before dominating Melbourne (130–102) in a statement win.

Mosley (21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds), McDonald (14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.4 steals), and Crosswell (15.1 points, 2.9 assists) carried the Giants early, with Crosswell thriving in a larger role.

By Round 9, the team held a 4-5 record, but a seven-game skid sent them tumbling. Import Dusty Rychart (16.5 points, 8.3 rebounds) was released, with the Giants bringing in Pero Vasiljevic (via Canberra) and Adonis Jordan (via Townsville) in a bid to salvage the season. However, Jordan (19.4 points, 4.0 assists) failed to spark a turnaround. Injuries piled up—Darren Smith (13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds) suffered a season-ending knee injury, while Mosley (finger) and Marcus Wright (leg) also missed significant time. With a depleted roster, the Giants finished second-last (9-21).

Jon Croft made his NBL debut as a rookie, backing up Darren Smith off the bench and playing limited minutes. He appeared in nine games, averaging 2.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.2 steals, gaining valuable experience in his first professional season.

WEST SYDNEY RAZORBACKS
2003/04
West Sydney headed into 2003/04 with a bold new direction, opting not to re-sign import Willie Farley and foundation duo Derek Rucker and Bruce Bolden. Instead, the team made history by becoming the first in the modern NBL era to field a full lineup of Australian talent. With John Rillie returning after spending half of the previous season in Greece and Sam MacKinnon back from injury, this was also the first season the roster had a clear “runway” to build continuity and challenge for a title.

The Razorbacks opened the season in dominant fashion, with Simon Dwight (26 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists) and Sam MacKinnon (24 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists) both delivering near triple-doubles in a home victory over Hunter (119-103).

West Sydney started the season 3-1 before suffering a three-game losing streak, including defeats to Sydney (83-97), where Matt Nielsen dominated with 29 points and 8 rebounds, Wollongong (81-90), and Victoria (101-106).

With a losing record (3-4) and the season at a crossroads, the Razorbacks responded with a dominant 10-game winning streak, which included revenge victories over Sydney (97-87), Wollongong (109-105), and Victoria (107-95).

During this stretch, John Rillie (20.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists) solidified himself as the team’s leading scorer, while Sam MacKinnon (17.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks) and Simon Dwight (15 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3.7 blocks) formed one of the strongest local trios in NBL history.

The starting five was rounded out by Aaron Trahair (13.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.6 assists) and Scott McGregor (13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists), while Russell Hinder (9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists), rookie Steven Markovic (8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), and Jon Croft (3.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.4 assists) provided depth off the bench.

Croft played an important role backing up Rillie and Trahair, adding perimeter defense and ball-handling depth. Though his minutes were limited across 32 games, he provided valuable relief when the starting guards needed rest and allowed West Sydney to maintain their offensive structure.

The Razorbacks finished the regular season in third place (22-11), breaking club records for most wins in a season, most home wins, and most road victories. West Sydney carried their strong form into the playoffs, defeating Cairns in the elimination final before sweeping Wollongong in the semifinals to secure a Grand Final berth.

Facing the top-seeded Sydney Kings in the first-ever best-of-five NBL Grand Final series, West Sydney fought valiantly but ultimately fell short, losing Game 5 in front of 9,609 fans at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (90-79). Despite a strong effort from Trahair (20 points) and Dwight (18 points), the Kings’ experience proved too much, with Ebi Ere (25 points) and Matt Nielsen (14 points, 12 rebounds) sealing the win.

Although the season ended in heartbreak, the 2003/04 campaign remains one of the Razorbacks’ most successful. John Rillie and Sam MacKinnon were named to the All-NBL First Team, while Steven Markovic earned NBL Rookie of the Year honours.

Jon Croft played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the West Sydney Razorbacks and the Victoria Giants. He averaged 3.1 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 41 NBL games.

NBL TOTAL STATISTICS

SEASON	AGE	TEAM	TEAM RECORD	GP	MINS	PTS	REB	AST	OR	DR	STL	BLK	TO	PF	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	EFG%	HS
2003-04	23	West Sydney	22-11 (3)	32	355	108	66	12	27	39	4	5	24	33	38	123	31%	10	42	24%	22	42	52%	38%	35%	11
2002-03	22	Victoria	9-21 (10)	9	56	18	17	0	9	8	2	2	3	3	7	25	28%	0	9	0%	4	6	67%	33%	28%	8
Totals				41	411	126	83	12	36	47	6	7	27	36	45	148	30.4%	10	51	19.6%	26	48	54.2%	37%	34%	11

NBL PER GAME STATISTICS

SEASON	AGE	TEAM	TEAM RECORD	GP	MINS	PTS	REB	AST	OR	DR	STL	BLK	TO	PF	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	EFG%	HS
2003-04	23	West Sydney	22-11 (3)	32	11.1	3.4	2.1	0.4	0.8	1.2	0.1	0.2	0.8	1.0	1.2	3.8	31%	0.3	1.3	24%	0.7	1.3	52%	38%	35%	11
2002-03	22	Victoria	9-21 (10)	9	6.2	2.0	1.9	0.0	1.0	0.9	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.8	2.8	28%	0.0	1.0	0%	0.4	0.7	67%	33%	28%	8
Total				41	10.0	3.1	2.0	0.3	0.9	1.1	0.1	0.2	0.7	0.9	1.1	3.6	30.4%	0.2	1.2	19.6%	0.6	1.2	54.2%	37%	34%	11

CAREER HIGHS

POINTS	REBOUNDS	ASSISTS	STEALS	BLOCKS	TURNOVERS	TRIPLE DOUBLES
11	6	2	2	1	4	0

STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE

Bendigo 2003, 2005 | Kilsyth 2007

Croft won Bendigos most valuable player award in 2003.

After a season off basketball he rejoined the Braves as a replacement for injured import Rob Brown, who returned to Detroit, due to family reasons.

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