Chayce Jones looms as a breakout player for the Adelaide Crows in 2020
It was a positional change made in a dead-rubber of a game as the Crows’ second horror season in a row ended without a whimper, but it could be the making of Chayce Jones in 2020.
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Chayce Jones still has no idea who made the decision, but it’s one that could bear some real fruit for the Adelaide Crows in 2020.
Even though the Crows still somehow had a slim chance of making finals in the final round of 2019 against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat, the Crows were effectively out of the top eight race before quarter-time after conceding the first six goals of the match.
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With the Crows’ established stars again not firing, the 19-year-old Tasmanian, who had played as a small forward when he had played at AFL level was thrown into the guts – to go head-to-head with gun midfielders such as Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae and Josh Dunkley.
An Adelaide midfield that had been criticised for being slow and ponderous in a horror second-half of 2019 was given a new look with Jones tough and quick through the middle, finishing with 18 disposals, eight contested possessions and four clearances to go with two goals.
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It sparked hope from Crows fans that Jones’ second year at AFL level could be something special, but perhaps more importantly showed the young Tasmanian he could shine in his favoured midfield position against some of the very best.
“It gives you a bit of confidence for sure being able to do that,” he said.
“But it’s a tough one as well, because it’s the last game of the season. But you know you are capable of it so you try and use it to keep moving forward and get better with everything you do.
“I don’t know who made the decision actually, I think it might have been a bit of structure or something like that but I definitely jumped at it that’s for sure. I loved going in there.”
It finished an intriguing first season at AFL level for the Longford-raised Jones, who went to the Crows at pick No. 9 after bolting into early draft calculations.
His first kick in the AFL was a goal and played the first four matches for a Crows side many had predicted would bounce back from a horror 2018 season.
But he was dropped for the Round 5 clash with Gold Coast and then again after a two-game stint in Round 11.
As pundits and fans called out for now departed coach Don Pyke to inject some pace into the Adelaide midfield, often described as “one-dimensional”, Jones remained in the SANFL until Round 22 as the Crows’ chances of finals fell away after a post-bye horror slump.
“It was definitely a bit frustrating,” Jones told The Advertiser after the squad’s final pre-Christmas training session in 40c heat at West Lakes.
“You always want to be playing at that high level, but you also understand that there is a team structure that is in place.
“You just want whatever’s best for the team and I know at the club now that’s all everyone wants, they just want what’s best for the team.
“At the moment it’s a really good place (at the club).”
Despite being just 19, Jones knows how quickly the footy winds can change.
Tasmania has a proud footy history but arguably the years of 2016 and 2017 were as dark as any.
A state that has produced some of the best players to play VFL/AFL ever only managed one player picked up in the AFL Draft and Pre Season Drafts in those two years.
The duck at the 2016 draft was the first time the football heartland had zero players selected since the model was introduced in 1986.
Rightly so this sounded the alarm bells in Tasmania, and should have had the ones at the AFL ringing far earlier than the eventually did – only really prompted by the withdrawal of historical northwest powerhouses Burnie and Devonport from the TSL in 2018.
But amid the doom and gloom there sat Tasmania’s 2018 Draft class, considered to be one of the most talented in years.
Headlined by Tarryn Thomas, now at North Melbourne through its Next Generation Academy, and Jones it was a ray of positivity the state needed.
The silky smooth Thomas’ efforts as a 16-year-old, winning the state’s best player at the under-18 national championships, meant he got much of the attention.
But those in the know were always quick to talk up Jones, who was playing at the state league level in Tasmania as a teenager and in his final year at Launceston finished second in the club’s best and fairest despite playing just six games.
“He never really flew under the radar,” AFL Tasmania talent manager Mathew Armstrong told The Advertiser.
“They (AFL clubs) new exactly where he would fit in and how good he is.”
Former Essendon and Richmond player Sam Lonergan, who coached Jones at Launceston in 2018, said he could be a 150-200 game player for the Crows.
He also has been touted as a potential future captain option having skippered his state at junior level.
“To have someone say that is pretty amazing to think I have the capabilities to do that and it does drive you to show that you can,” Jones said.
“But I’m taking it just one stage at a time, I just want to get better, help everyone else get better and move forward.”
He is certainly making his mark at West Lakes in his second pre-season.
With three kilos added to his 180cm frame to fuel his bid for midfield action under new coach Matthew Nicks, Jones – who will still be eligible for the Rising Star award this year – has been one of the most impressive Crows on the training track, winning the 2km time trial.
It’s a fair way from 12 months ago with Jones admitting it took him a while to feel like an AFL player.
“Oh 100 per cent, I reckon this time last year I went home for the Christmas break and I though “oh I had a training period with the Crows”,” he said.
“That’s what it felt like and I came back from the break and it still took a couple of days to sink in that you are on the list.”
Fast forward to now and Jones can count Taylor Walker as a mate, with the former Crows skipper finding pleasure in commenting ‘Froggy’ on Jones’ Instagram posts.
“So he just thinks that I have a croaky voice, that I have a frog in my throat all the time. He’s the only one that really runs with it but it’s all good fun,” he said.
“The first time he commented on one of my posts, all my mates were all lapping it up and absolutely giving it to me because I was this big thing or whatever and I was like “I’m not but OK”.
“I’m just mates with him, it’s good banter though.”
In a further example of the professionalism and drive those who have encountered Jones are quick to mention, he has turned his attention to what he may want to do when footy is over.
“I’ll start uni after Christmas as well so I’ll get into that,” he said.
“Applied for sport sciences and exercise science, I’ve got some good resources around here to help with that.
“Football isn’t going to last forever so you need to plan for something.”
Not that he should have to worry that any time soon.
Originally published as Chayce Jones looms as a breakout player for the Adelaide Crows in 2020
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