Nathan Jones opens up on his wild ride to 300 games with Melbourne

Every time a teammate jumped ship and begged Nathan Jones to do the same, he gave them the same answer. This is why he never turned his back on the Demons.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 19: Melbourne players are seen as Nathan Jones of the Demons speaks to the media ahead of his 300th game during the Melbourne Demons media opportunity at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 19, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Every time Nathan Jones hit what he thought must be rock bottom, he got back up.

The Melbourne stalwart vividly remembers many occasions trudging off the MCG with the boos of Demons fans ringing in his ears.

In the first three rounds of 2013, as then coach Mark Neeld’s brief coaching reign wound down, a trio of beltings left mental scars: 79 points against Port Adelaide, 148 points against Essendon, 94 against West Coast.

And even though most details of the infamous 186-point loss at Geelong in 2011 that cost Dean Bailey his job are wiped from Jones’s memory, one ­vision stands out.

He recalls looking through the twilight gloom across GMHBA Stadium and seeing the scoreboard: Geelong 37.11 (233), Melbourne 7.5 (47).

“It was really dark down there, and I just remember looking at the scoreboard and it was like, ‘What just happened? What is going on?’ I have almost wiped it from my memory,” he said.

“I don’t even know what happened that day but I still remember the drive home. I was like, ‘this is just embarrassing’.”

Yet every time a teammate jumped ship and begged him to join them at a rival club, Jones held firm.

Watch the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. Every match of every round Live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

The nightmare scoreboard that still haunts the Demons.

“Even in the darkest days, I had this little light. I could imagine what it would be like to go from absolutely nothing, from being booed off the ground, from ‘this club is irrelevant’, from ‘we are soft’ — all the criticism — (and) imagine if you could turn it around and be part of that.”

Yet last year even Jones’s remarkable well of optimism looked to have run dry.

By the time a nightmarish 2020 season came to an end, he was injured again, pushed out of the midfield and seemingly worn down.

Achilles, quads, hamstrings, calves: he had damaged them all.

He played just eight games through achilles pain, endured a VFL stint, then tore a quad in Round 15. At that point most observers believed footy’s most loyal servant would retire.

On Saturday night Jones will run on to the MCG to become Melbourne’s second 300-gamer, needing only seven more games to break David Neitz’s club record of 306 matches.

As he told the Herald Sun on Monday while sitting in the stands of the MCG where he has run out 169 times, that never-say-die attitude kicked in one more time.

After coach Simon Goodwin told him in his October exit interview that whether he played on was up to him, Jones began a period of self-analysis.

Was he kidding himself if he tried to extract one more season from his body?

“When I did my quad again, I had been a bit sore (beforehand) and then it was the first kick in the Sydney game in Cairns, and I kicked a low, hard ball on the wing. I was getting chased under pressure, and I knew straight away,” he said.

“I had done a bad one before and I knew it was eight weeks and at that point in time, I was like, ‘she might be all over, I reckon’.

“But my mentality was, I had been knocked over so many times and got back up. It has never been an easy road in terms of playing at this club. What I would regret most is if I hung them up and then, ‘what if?’

“I had my exit interview and the club said to me, we want you to stick around, but the decision is in your hands.”

Nathan Jones leaving the field Picture: Colleen Petch

‘I FEEL SOMETHING’

THE run from Hastings Street, Noosa, through the national park to Sunshine Beach is along one Australia’s most picturesque tracks.

For many it is conquered on humid mornings while bleary-eyed after a few too many Noosa cocktails.

For Nathan Jones, though, it was judgement day.

Still recovering from his quad injury, with Goodwin’s words ringing in his ears, he put his motivation to the test.

“Literally the week after the season, I remember running in Noosa after the hub,” he said.

“I was like, I am going to go for a run and see if I can be f---ed. Can I really be bothered?

“I went through the Noosa national park, up and down Sunshine Beach. It was shocking. And I was like, if I am prepared to grind my arse through that … If I had given up and started walking and was like, I cannot be bothered (then I would have quit).

“I could feel it in my own mind — I was like, I can feel something in there.

“From that moment I was three runs a week, and then when I got home I was on a clear program and I spoke to Goody.

“I remember telling Goody, I said if I play on, it’s got nothing to do with me reaching 300 games or breaking the record. If I play on, I am there to try to keep improving as a player and contributing on the field, albeit in a different role, but also bringing that experience and leadership, and an ­element of coaching.”

Nathan Jones had a long think about his future after talking to Simon Goodwin. Picture: AAP Images

TWINS ‘VIBE’

ON Monday this week, while Jones chased children Bobbi and Remy around the MCG, wife Jerri basked on the boundary, 16 weeks pregnant and expecting twins.

She recently came out and courageously spoke about three miscarriages and the toll they had taken.

The couple were living that drama at the very time Jones was contemplating his future.

“The third one came literally the week we got home from the hub,” Jones said.

“We got a scan in Noosa and it didn’t look good. We were going to stay up there for a month but we went from Noosa to Yamba (in northern NSW) and we stayed there for five days, but we had had enough, the kids had had enough, and we knew what was coming so I ended up driving straight home from Yamba. I was a man on a mission. We woke up at 6am and I drove until midnight, and we got home in one 18-hour trip.

“Then the whole process was over in a week when we got home.

“We are very grateful for the beautiful, healthy kids we had. We said, ‘let’s try again in the New Year’. Just have some fun, hang out with friends and family, and we tried again in early January. It was like, ‘wow’, we couldn’t believe it.

“The lady was like, ‘there are two in there’. It was like, ‘You are kidding’.

“But we could never get too excited given our history, and we made it to 12 weeks and there were two heartbeats, and now we are at 16 weeks and telling everyone, and every week is positive so we are just vibing that and riding the highs of that.

“It (miscarriage) was tough but, in saying that, you learn a lot through that, it opened our eyes to what a lot of people do go through, and made us very grateful for what we do have.

“A lot of people reached out to Jerri for sharing her story and they shared theirs, which made us even more aware. Some of the struggles people go through, you have no idea.”

Nathan Jones with his wife Jerri and kids Bobbi and Remy at the MCG. Picture: David Caird

KNOWING YOUR ROLE

JONES is aware of his place in the current Melbourne line-up, the triple Bluey Truscott medallist now a role player at half-forward.

Over summer he dropped 4kg and stripped skinfolds, ramping up his pilates regimen to strengthen his core and try to put an end to the repeated soft-tissue injuries.

“To this point in time, my form has been OK. I had a shocker on Sunday,” he said. “But my form has been reasonable and I actually went into the pre-season with no expectations. I was like, if I play one game, I play one game.

“At the end of last year I was really down, really down on believing what I could offer, so it’s been a steady rebuild. My first goal was to get to Christmas without being injured, and I half treated it like starting my career again but with all the experience.

“I got selected for Round 1 and have put a few games together and I will just see where the year takes me.

“I felt like the whole COVID break was a disadvantage but the hub brought people together and when we missed finals we really galvanised as a team.

“Goody has done an amazing job with the feedback he has received. It was just simplifying some stuff. This isn’t directed at Goody, but in general as a footy club it was about riding the emotion of the win-loss and expectations.

“We just got a clear plan and we continue to back ourselves in. I am not as excited about 2018 (preliminary final) as other people — we just came good at the right time, but this is different.

“Now there is a real ­maturity about the way we play. There is still a long season to go, but it’s a different mentality around the group. And it’s cool to be a part of.”

Nathan Jones leaves the MCG with a smile on his face. Picture: Getty Images

JONES REVEALS WHAT KEPT HIM GOING DURING DEES’ DARKEST HOURS

Melbourne milestone man Nathan Jones admits the dream of retiring as a premiership player has sustained him through the club’s darkest hours.

Jones will hit the magical 300-game milestone against Richmond on Saturday night after long conversations with coach Simon Goodwin over the off-season eventually saw him commit to a 16th AFL season.

Jones overcame achilles soreness during the COVID lockdown and then tore his quad once more in a disastrous 2020 campaign but still the fire burned.

Now he will celebrate the milestone in front of family and friends including children Bobbi and Remy, and wife Jerri, who is 16 weeks pregnant with twins.

She recently came forward about her battle with a trio of miscarriages, so for Jones this is a period full of emotion.

But while the 300-game milestone is a highlight he said on Monday he only played on to help team success, not break the Melbourne games record held by Neitz (306 games).

“When I wanted to play on last year I had a good chat to Goody and it wasn’t about reaching this milestone,” he said.

“It was about playing in a successful team and contributing on and off-field to getting the group into a position where it is now,” he said.

“In the time I have been here, I haven’t even won three in a row and we have won five in a row so I am looking forward to Saturday night.

“I have been dreaming of that (fairytale premiership) my whole career, really.

Melbourne players look on as Nathan Jones speaks to the media ahead of his 300th game.

“People say why do you stick around through difficult times, that dream was the thing that kept me alive, it kept driving me towards wanting to stick around.

“We got a taste of it back in 2018 (with a preliminary final) and I have been pretty bullish.

“I felt like if we got a few things right over summer, and I think we put the work in, and here we are.

“There is still a long way to go, but there are a lot of good vibes going on and we want to keep grabbing hold of it.”

Jones has had eight AFL coaches including three interim coaches after mid-season sackings and almost as many chief executives in those turbulent years.

Jones will play his 300th game against Richmond on Anzac Day Eve. Picture: David Caird

He is still yet to hit 100 victories, with 98 wins, three draws and 198 losses across those seasons.

“I never really considered leaving. But those years sucked,” he said.

“When you get drafted, I was lucky to play finals in my first year and I was thinking, ‘How good is this’, and we finished second bottom the next year and won a handful of wooden spoons after that.

“I have got some good memories and good times and good friendships, but as far as footy every time you get knocked down how often can you get knocked back up.

“The dream was always, ‘can you imagine what it would be like if we turned it around, can you imagine the Melbourne fans, can you imagine it’?”

Originally published as Nathan Jones opens up on his wild ride to 300 games with Melbourne