AFL Covid news: Vaccine hesitant Blues defender Liam Jones announces his retirement
A frustrated Carlton admitted it could do nothing to convince Liam Jones to be jabbed after he sensationally walked away from the game and a big pay day.
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Carlton’s star defender Liam Jones has abandoned more than $1m in future earnings after sensationally walking away from the game because of his refusal to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Jones pulled the pin on his own career and left Carlton’s backline with a major hole after months of talks over his vaccine hesitancy ran aground over the weekend.
Jones is understood to have battled with the decision, which was based around his cultural beliefs but came to the resolution in recent days.
The former Western Bulldog was one of the AFL’s biggest whipping boys before turning his career around in such an incredible manner that he was nicknamed ‘Jesus’ after bringing his career back from the dead.
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But on Sunday he made a plea for privacy as a frustrated Carlton admitted it could do nothing to convince him to be jabbed to play for the Blues.
Jones, 30, was to play in 2022 on the final season of a contract believed to be just over $450,000.
But given his brilliant intercept marking alongside All Australian Jacob Weitering there was no reason he could not have played well into his 30s.
Instead he will join Adelaide AFLW premiership player and registered nurse Deni Varnhagen as the first players in the respective AFL competitions to torch their careers despite the safety of Covid vaccines.
His manager, Shane Casley, would not comment when contacted by the Herald Sun on why Jones had taken his stance.
But Jones said in a statement on Sunday that his 145-game career was over.
“I wish to announce my retirement from AFL football effective immediately,” Jones said.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank all who have supported me throughout my journey, both personally and professionally. I love the game and I’ll miss my teammates”
“I hope that people respect my decision and privacy — neither myself or my management team will be making any further comment on the matter.”
Carlton president Luke Sayers had recently been vocal about his company’s work with the Million Dollar Vax Alliance promoting Australia’s vaccine program but Carlton could do nothing to change Jones’ mind.
Carlton football boss Brad Lloyd told the playing list at 3.30pm on Sunday and admitted the mood was “pretty sombre” given Jones’ popularity as a leadership group member and importance to the backline.
Former teammate and Carlton great Eddie Betts said it was “sad” to hear of news Jones had walked from the game.
“It was pretty sad but I guess it was Liam’s decision to retire, he had a wonderful journey,” Betts told Seven News.
Jones would have had to have had his first vaccine shot by Sunday to ensure he was double-vaccinated by Carlton’s December 6 pre-season start date for veterans.
The Blues had the option of putting him on an inactive list for the entirety of the 2021 season and paying him a portion of his salary.
But the AFL had told Carlton it could not give him an indefinite period of leave without making an official stance through the early months of the pre-season and had to make a decision by December 6.
The league introduced a vaccine mandate for all AFL and AFLW players and staff, but clubs can only terminate a player’s contract without their own approval by May 18, 2022.
With Jones unyielding despite what Carlton admitted were months of discussions, he eventually retired.
Carlton said it expected all of its remaining players and coaches to be vaccinated as they return to pre-season across staggered start times in coming weeks depending on their years of experience.
“Certainly we support the state government and the AFL. We fully support that and encourage all of our players to be vaccinated and look forward to getting into pre-season training in coming weeks,” football boss Brad Lloyd said.
“I will continue to respect the privacy but he has been working through those things with the club for a period now. They are complex reasons so he has worked through those and we have sat down with his manager and Liam and Brian Cook in recent days and he’s made a decision.
Jones’ father Bob played two seasons at St Kilda in the 1980s but Liam was raised in a single-parent home in Hobart by his mother Janine and sisters Jenna and Sarah.
He won a scholarship to Melbourne’s Scotch College and was drafted by the Western Bulldogs at pick 32 but Carlton had considered paying out the final two seasons of his three-year contract after acquiring him from the Dogs.
Then in desperation he was thrown into defence at a suggestion from the recruiter Paul Brodie and he became one of football’s most miserly defenders.
AFL greats have expressed sadness over Jones’s decision to retire from football but believe the Carlton defender’s call was the right one for himself and the game.
Legendary Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said Jones’s retirement may potentially divide the community, but the move was ultimately “a good decision”.
“The AFL and the government are saying to all the people who want to play … ‘we want to protect all of you’ and if the players don’t want to have the needle it is going to be difficult,” Sheedy said.
“(Jones) is probably thinking, ‘I probably don’t have to go through this, I want to get on with the rest of my life’.
“At least he has got his decision in his own hands.”
Three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse said he was “really saddened” by Jones’s decision to hang up his boots over AFL’s mandatory vaccination rule.
“He is such a great kid, he is an absolute ripping kid … I enjoy his company and love him as a player,” Malthouse said.
“I obviously can’t understand (his views on vaccination) and Carlton would have counselled him on this.
“He has got his own opinion and made his own choice, and that choice has come at a high price.”
Malthouse, who had a distinguished coaching career with Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton, believed Jones had the ability to make an AFL comeback if the vaccine mandate was scrapped from the game in 12 months.
“He is not an old player — he is a young player in a 30-year old’s (body),” he said.
“I think his body and playing capabilities are quite right to come back if that rule changes.”
Sheedy said it was difficult to speculate about Jones’s future.
“Anything can bring a person back in the game … the vaccine (mandate) could be over in 12 months,” he said.
“We don’t know what the future holds.”
Former teammate and Carlton great Eddie Betts told Seven News that “it was pretty sad, but I guess it was Liam’s decision to retire”.
“He had a wonderful journey,” he said.
Hawthorn President and former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett said Jones was “exercising his democratic right”.
“It is sad for Liam and his club,” Mr Kennett said.
“That said, Liam has clearly given a great deal of thought to his position, understands the ramifications, but is exercising his democratic right.
“I just hope he does not attract the virus if his retirement is a result of his decision not to get vaccinated as opposed to not wanting to declare whether he has been vaccinated or not.”
Blues defender Jacob Weitering took to Instagram to pay tribute to Jones, writing he was an “awesome player, great teammate and an even better person”.
Collingwood legend and radio commentator Tony Shaw said: “If Liam Jones officially says he retired due to not getting vaccinated it is sad, but the AFL has a greater responsibility to all its constituents at all levels to ensure the sport’s success.”
Where would Blues turn to if they lose Jones?
North Melbourne captain Jack Ziebell says some AFL and AFLW teams will simply have to move on without players who refuse to get vaccinated given the importance of a highly immunised football population.
Carlton is considering its options with vaccine-hesitant star defender Liam Jones as it attempts to convince him to change his mind, despite his refusal to be jabbed.
The Blues’ options include terminating a contract of nearly $500,000 next year with his approval or putting him on an inactive list and paying him a quarter of his contract – which could effectively cost him around $350,000.
Carlton could exercise their options on Jones as early as December 6 — when the defender is officially due back for pre-season training — but might choose to give him an extra month of personal leave, given how critical he is to the Blues’ defensive structure.
That could give the 30-year-old time to reconsider his options and potentially salvage his AFL career.
Jones won’t be able to attend training at Ikon Park next month if he hasn’t had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, in keeping with the state government’s authorised workers’ policies.
North Melbourne’s senior players have until Sunday to get their first shot on a timeline that will mean they have had their second vaccination before their December 6 return date.
But Ziebell said the Roos expected to have every single player vaccinated including Jaidyn Stephenson, who pledged to educate himself after saying the media had overplayed the pandemic.
Ziebell backed the AFL’s approach and said there might be some clubs that had to make tough decisions on players who would not be vaccinated.
“If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate but it’s a different world. It’s not just our industry, it’s a lot of other industries where people are going through similar issues,” he told the Herald Sun as the Roos announced Puma as their new apparel partner on a four-year deal.
“It’s an issue not just facing the AFL, it’s everyone across Australia and Melbourne especially.
“The more we get vaccinated the safer it’s going to be. As far as I know it will all be sorted (at North Melbourne), leading into when everyone comes back. I haven’t seen too many of the boys in off season, there are quite a few interstate but from what I can tell we should be all sweet there.”
“The AFL put us through an education session and post that we were clear on why we were getting a vaccination if we already weren’t, and a few people might have needed that and got that and to the AFL’s credit it was a good education piece and needed it clarified.”
On Stephenson, he said: “I think he’s vaccinated, from what I understand, that’s the case.”
Jones’ career revival at Carlton in recent seasons has seen him forge a great connection with Jacob Weitering in defence.
He remains an important part of the Blues’ 2022 plans with his hesitancy causing an early problem for new coach Michael Voss and new CEO Brian Cook.
Jones finished eighth in the club’s best and fairest this year, after finishing fifth in 2020.
The Blues would need to look at players such as Oscar McDonald – who played three games in attack at the start of this season – or Brodie Kemp as potential defensive replacements for Jones.
Lewis Young was recruited to the Blues from the Bulldogs to add some key defensive cover as well as a ruck back-up, but Jones plays such a specific role that the club is desperate to keep him next season.
Liam Jones, Blues locked in vax talks
Carlton is continuing to work closely with key defender Liam Jones over his reluctance to be vaccinated against Covid-19 ahead of the 2022 season.
Jones, 30, will need to have the double jab to return to training on December 6 at Ikon Park under state government rules and the AFL’s “no jab, no play” mandate.
It comes as the Blues announced on Wednesday that a fully vaccinated member of its AFLW program had tested positive for Covid-19 and had been sent into 14 days’ isolation.
The club said the person had returned a positive after having a rapid antigen test outside the club on Tuesday afternoon.
An additional member of the Blues’ AFLW program was deemed a close contact and will have to self-isolate for the next week, but had so far returned a negative test.
Jones has played 79 games for Carlton since crossing from Whitten Oval in 2015 — where he played 66 matches across five years — and has become a key pillar in defence alongside Jacob Weitering.
He will form a big part of new coach Michael Voss’s plans to restructure the Blues’ defensive game plan.
But Jones’ career will remain in jeopardy if he continues to resist the AFL’s hard line stance that all players be vaccinated by next season.
Players not jabbed by set dates can be transferred to an inactive list at reduced pay.
They then face being cut by their club if still not vaccinated by May 18 next year.
Carlton has refused to comment on his status.
But the club did say that every player and staff member associated with the club’s AFLW program had been fully vaccinated.
On Sunday, Adelaide placed AFLW defender Deni Varnhagen on an inactive list because of her ongoing refusal to be vaccinated.
In the NRL, Melbourne Storm is weighing up the future of front-rower Nelson Asofa-Solomona who has maintained he does not want to get the jab.
It is also a dilemma sweeping world sport with NBA superstar Kyrie Irving being placed on suspension by the Brooklyn Nets until he agrees to be vaccinated.
Sports Minister Martin Pakula said he hoped the Carlton football player had a “change of heart”.
“I think the AFL’s players are very clear — everyone who plays in the AFL will need to be vaccinated,” Pakula said.
“If that player chooses to continue his opposition to getting vaccinated I think that would mean he will be unlikely to take the field.
“As you know, I’m a Carlton supporter but I think it’s absolutely vital that every player in the competition is vaccinated.
“I hope whoever the player is has a change of heart but I think, should he not, the AFL has made the position very, very clear.”
Last month, Melbourne premiership forward Tom McDonald said implementing a vaccine mandate was “ethically wrong”.
“I’m vaccinated and most players would’ve been (by now), but to be honest I think it’s ethically wrong to force people into a medical procedure,” McDonald told Nine.
“I don’t see why we needed to cause such issues and division by forcing people (to get vaccinated) in many jobs where it’s probably not as necessary.”
Asked if he would have any issues playing against non-vaccinated opponents, McDonald said: “No issue at all. That’s why you get vaccinated, you protect yourself. I don’t understand why we need to force other players too.”
Essendon teenager Nik Cox said on Wednesday it was an “easy decision” to get vaccinated.
Cox, who returned to training on Wednesday with Essendon’s first to fourth-year players, said the Bombers had provided their players with information on the vaccine but ultimately left the decision to the individual.
“It was obvious for me that it was the best thing to do, not just to protect myself and my teammates but also my family, friends, anyone, so it was an easy decision for me,” Cox said.
MORE: HAWKS ROCKED BY POSITIVE COVID TEST
Stood-down Crow Deni Varnhagen broke her silence this week, saying she “always stood up for what I believe in and I will continue to do that”.
“Firstly I want to thank the community (near and far), my family and friends for their overwhelming support this past month, it has been so-so incredible and has really helped me through this deeply challenging time,” she posted on Instagram.
“I’ve always stood up for what I believe in and I will continue to do that, no matter how difficult the journey may seem, there will be light and joy at the end of this road.
“Unfortunately I need to step away from the club for now. I will always love my footy and team, I hope that I can join my teammates again soon.”
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Originally published as AFL Covid news: Vaccine hesitant Blues defender Liam Jones announces his retirement
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