Sacrificial Senators captain reaches 250 games

Featured image: Madeleine Clark @madeleineclarkmedia

He has celebrated championship success, he's captained his team in an NBL1 West Grand Final at RAC Arena and now popular, respected and selfless Warwick Senators skipper Jay Thwaites celebrates his 250-game milestone this weekend.

When you think of heart and soul players who will give everything to their club and sacrifice whatever they need to for the better of their team,  you won't find a more shining example of that than Thwaites at the Senators.

That's why when his 2020 championship captain Cody Ellis initially retired at the end of 2023 and Caleb Davis had moved to local rivals the Joondalup Wolves, incoming coach Andrew Cooper could think of no one better than Thwaites to be made captain.

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And Thwaites has been an outstanding leader for the Senators ever since even if his minutes on court don't always reflect that and he got to lead Warwick into last year's Grand Final at RAC Arena to play on a stage he never dreamed possible.

He has retained the captaincy for 2026 and now this weekend will celebrate the 250th SBL/NBL1 West game of a career that started back in 2015, saw him play in the 2020 West Coast classic championship, the 2025 Grand Final and be the ultimate team player for the Senators.

His 250th game will be on Friday night away to the East Perth Eagles and then celebrated back at Warwick Stadium on Saturday against the Rockingham Flames.

He is rightfully proud to get to the mark.

"I obviously feel very lucky to be able to play 250 games with Warwick and just to be able to do it for this long with some of the teammates I've had, it's been great," Thwaites said on The Hoop Hour on 91.3 SportFM.

"I probably haven’t had much time to sit back and look back at it, but now you look at it and 250 is pretty special these days."

Celebrating with young family

When Thwaites reached his 200-game milestone back at the start of the 2024 season, it was shared with his long-time teammate and former captain Ellis.

The pair were set to celebrate together their 250-game marks too until Ellis was sidelined for the first three games of 2026 meaning Thwaites can look forward to celebrating with wife Kellie and their soon-to-be one-year-old son Harvey.

"Obviously now with the little one around it's a lot more special and it just depends if he can stay awake or not, but it's definitely different this season having him running around too but it's good to be experiencing that for the first time," Thwaites said.

"The wife brought him down for a test run in the Joondalup game and he did alright, he made it to about half-time and then it got a bit too much for him."

Happy to do the dirty work

Thwaites always will be appreciative of the opportunities he received as a young player going back more than a decade when there were still veterans like Tom Witts and Austin Bruton on the Senators team.

That's why now that he is one of those veterans himself, he would never stand in the way of opportunities for emerging players even if it means sacrificing minutes that he gets on the court himself because ultimately, he puts the team, club and those younger players first.

"I don't mind taking a step back and you get to see the young guys come through and thrive. Part of getting older is enjoying seeing the younger guys come through and seeing their confidence shine through," Thwaites said.

"Like even last year having the likes of Kye Chamberlain and Brody (England) step up, they were great additions for us and played big roles. I'm happy to step back if guys are producing and it's good to see the future of the club is in good hands.

"I'd like to think I'm the guy who did all the little things and I've never been a great scorer, but have been the kind of guy that hustles, plays defence on some of the best players on the other teams and I'd like to think I'm just a guy that works hard and does all the little things.

"You have the guys you recruit to bring the offence and then I'll do the dirty work for them."

Embracing role as captain

That selfless attitude is exactly what makes Thwaites such a natural and inspiring leader at the Senators. And as he reflects on his appointment back in 2024, it was certainly a humbling moment to be asked although it made sense just in terms of seniority.

"It's something I never really put much thought into really because obviously having a lot of the older guys when I was coming through like Cody and Caleb Davis, they were always the leaders and captains," Thwaites said.

"It wasn’t until Cody kinda retired and then I was looking around and I realised I was the oldest one now.

"Coops pulled me aside and told me he wanted me to be captain and I just thought that was pretty special. It didn’t really hit me until he asked me to do it and I just thought it was an unreal honour."

Sharing it with long-time teammates

While a lot of the teammates that Thwaites was around early on in his career and then indeed celebrated the 2020 championship with have moved on, two of the stable faces for him around the Senators are Cody Ellis and Tom Witts.

Ellis is still playing alongside Thwaites and Witts has now been part of the coaching staff ever since retiring following his own 353-game playing career back at the end of 2021.

It's people like that which help Thwaites feel right at home at Warwick Stadium.

"He's (Ellis) always good for a few injuries in pre-season is Cody but you'll be doing well to find a better teammate than the likes of Cody and Tom who I still get to be around all the time," Thwaites said.

"Cody is probably one of the best club people you'll ever play with and for me coming into this team as a young 18-year-old to get to learn from him, and having him as a captain for so many years at the start of my career, that's just helped turn me into the leader and player that I am today.

"To be able to play 250 games alongside him it's pretty special."

Blending in new players

As for the Warwick team of 2026, coming off their 2025 Grand Final appearance last year and Thwaites going so close to being able to call himself a championship captain, there's plenty of changes.

There's no Elijah Pepper, Todd Withers, Cooper Creek or Mitch Clarke, but Marshawn Blackmon and Will Tschetter on board along with Keegan Phillips, Billy McRae and potentially still Ben Henshall.

Thwaites likes the way coach Cooper and the Senators are always able to find that blend right between blooding the local players and finding the right ones to bring in.

"The club and Coops do a great job of recruiting guys that fit into our club and our system, and what we're trying to achieve as a team," Thwaites said.

"Like last year, having Pepper, Todd, Mitch and Cooper, they all came and bought in and fit in and got along with everyone really well.

"Even this year having Marshawn and now Will's in, they all buy in and join in with the culture and get all the young guy involved.

"So it's actually kinda easy with the guys we recruit and obviously having Cody there and even George and Tyler who are even getting to veteran status now, it's quite nice having good teammates around you as well."

Additions of Blackmon, Tschetter

What Blackmon has done so far this season with the Senators has been spectacular with him putting up 32.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.0 steals to build on what he did at Lakeside back in 2024.

Then Warwick welcomed in big man Tschetter who had 25 points and 13 rebounds on debut last weekend against the Joondalup Wolves fresh off winning an NCAA championship with Michigan.

Thwaites couldn’t be happier with how that pair have slotted in especially.

"Having Marshawn and Will here has been great and obviously they're two more professionals and they come in and hold everyone else to a higher standard," Thwaites said.

"Marshawn was in the league two years ago at Lakeside, and I don't know what he did last year, but he's come back and is so much better.

"He's a tough guard, he can shoot the ball and he's solid and strong, and he's great. He's put up two 40 pieces the last two weeks and then even Will, coming off that national championship and he's only been here for a week, but he just helps lift the intensity training and just gets after it."

Getting to be a captain on RAC Arena

Looking back on last year and while the end result meant it wasn't quite a fairytale for Thwaites, in so many ways being captain of a team that made a Grand Final was a dream come true.

While he had teammates like Ellis, Pepper, Withers and Clarke who were no strangers to playing at RAC Arena, it was a first experience for Thwaites.

And for a week at least, in a lot of ways he got to experience what it's like to be a professional basketball with the training at RAC Arena, shootaround there and then arriving for the game.

While not quite the dream finish, it's still an experience he'll always cherish and he has no doubt it has that extra special feel now with the Grand Finals at RAC Arena rather than Bendat Basketball Centre.

"It was good and probably something that I never thought I'd get to achieve just being a local playing basketball, but it was great," Thwaites said.

"Just to get to experience that with all the team and the boys, everyone enjoyed the experience and I've played for 13 years and we've only played in two Grand Finals.

"They're pretty rare and to be able to do it at RAC it was pretty special and we all just tried to enjoy the moment as a team.

"It just brings an extra buzz to it being there and we played the one in 2020 at Perry Lakes and it kinda felt like a regular season game just with sold out stands.

"So you chuck it at RAC Arena and it's just something a bit more special for the players to enjoy."