How Liam Jones went from AFL whipping boy to star defender
IF you think you know the Liam Jones story, think again. The long-time AFL whipping boy is now an unstoppable force. He spoke to JON RALPH about his remarkable comeback.
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IF Liam Jones’ remarkable story was a documentary it would have an epic Hans Zimmer score and a dramatic title — How Liam Jones’ Love of the Game saved Him from Oblivion.
Jones would probably miss it, because he doesn’t read the papers or watch the football shows ... isn’t interested in that carry-on.
Good thing, because when you have been the most maligned player in the AFL these past years, there is no joy to be found in them.
But to meet Jones is to realise that his love of football itself — not the drama surrounding it — has sustained him through the toughest of times.
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Like when Carlton considered paying out his contract one season into his three-year deal.
Or when his sisters sat in the crowd listening to supporters abuse him as they openly wondered why he had a place on an AFL list.
Through it all, the remarkably unflappable Jones was just happy to be doing what he loved.
Getting paid to follow his AFL dream, as he continued to work on his craft and refused to give up until it was all over.
As Jones wondered this week, why should he define his self-worth by the judgement of others?
He is the story of the season, recently recontracted after lighting up the AFL with a blinding patch of defensive football.
His trajectory has been such that fans call into talkback radio discussing his new nickname “Jesus”, as in back from the dead.
The past few years could have broken Jones, but the indigenous boy from Hobart — via Scotch College and the Western Bulldogs — never fell out of love with the game.
“I have always loved football regardless of the criticism,’’ he told the Herald Sun this week.
“I was fine with it. It was more so for my family and friends that I would feel for. My sisters would read stuff online. My family would cop it and hear things throughout the game watching football. So that’s hard.
“That first year here was quite tough in the AFL and VFL. The criticism comes along with it.
“But I always looked at the big picture. I am doing what I love and even if I am getting some bad comments along the way I am going to try my best all of the time.
“Even when I have played bad AFL football I have enjoyed going back to the VFL. If it was going to be VFL football for me and the dream was over and I had to go back and play footy somewhere else I would have loved it the same.
“I was happy to be given the opportunity to play footy and unfortunately in other peoples’ eyes I was playing to a level and wasn’t deserving of it. But I just wanted to play football.”
Like so many AFL players, Jones arrived in a blaze of glory to instant fanfare, then was found out quickly by the harsh and demanding nature of the game.
His father, Bob Jones, had his two-season career with St Kilda cut short by a torn medial ligament in 1989 after playing 20 games in the ruck and defence.
Now 26, Liam grew up in a single-parent home in Hobart, raised by his mother Janine and with sisters Jenna, 32, and Sarah, 29.
As a junior prodigy he spent his two years at Melbourne’s Scotch College and was drafted by the Western Bulldogs at pick No. 32 in the 2008 draft.
By his third season, as he hauled in 43 contested marks and kicked 19.10 in 20 games, he looked a star in the making.
Then came an inexorable slide down the AFL’s ranks.
“You can go under the radar when you are fresh on the scene and it takes a bit of history for people to know how to play you,’’ Jones said.
“After that year, maybe defenders thought I was dangerous and put more time into me.”
Jones was a one-trick pony, unable to get the ball if he didn’t take a sky-scraping mark in a pack.
“That mark happens maybe one in 10 times, but it wasn’t a tactic that was going to take me to the next level,” he said.
In 2013 he kicked 22 goals from 19 games (35 contested marks) but by 2015 he was traded to Mick Malthouse’s Carlton for pick No. 46.
By then Jones was frustrating fans and coaches in equal measure. His whipping boy status was enhanced when the Dogs used pick No. 46 on a pipsqueak named Caleb Daniel.
Carlton’s 2015 season quickly went to hell and Jones wasn’t spared.
“That was a messy year and I wasn’t playing great footy even at VFL level,” Jones said. “I was disappointed with my form back there. The AFL team were getting beaten every week and there was a new coach coming in and the club needed a big change.
“They looked and me and thought, ‘He is not bringing what we thought he would’.”
The Blues considered whether they could demote Jones to the rookie list or pay him out and cut all ties.
“I am not 100 per cent sure what happened, but from the whispers it must have been spoken about,” Jones said of the possibility of his contract being voided.
“It didn’t give me great confidence to think it could be over when you are in contract.
“Then Bolts (Brendon Bolton) came in and was really optimistic about my strengths and said, ‘Work hard and see where it goes’.”
It didn’t go far — nine goals in eight games last year despite strong VFL form.
At the end of 2016, Jones approached Malthouse again.
“I said, ‘What if it is my last year in footy?’ (and asked) what advice would he have,” Jones said. “Should I give it a go somewhere else? Would anyone else be interested in me? He was good, very reassuring.
“He basically said, ‘Don’t stress too much, do what you can and don’t count yourself out until the fat lady sings’.”
If she was warming her lungs, Jones stayed calm.
If this was to be his last year he wanted to play VFL finals, continue his university course and pursue a career in strength and conditioning.
In other words, hold his head up high.
After yet another mediocre pre-season series, Carlton’s new recruiter Paul “Stooka” Brodie wondered about tossing him into defence.
His experience on the last line consisted of exactly three AIS games and a bit of school footy, but, with only 24 hours notice from Northern Blues coach Josh Fraser — Jones’ first response was disbelief — he had no other choice but to throw himself into the task.
“First week against Port Melbourne I didn’t know what was going on — just try to punch the ball,’’ Jones said of learning on the job.
“Second week I was ruck all day, the third week I started to get more confidence but spent a quarter up forward.
“Then, leading up to the Josh Bruce game, I respected his ability but thought if I could do a good job on him maybe match committee might be interested.
“I really built myself up to keep him as quiet as possible.”
He held St Kilda’s Bruce to a single goal and exploded with 179 rankings points, 30 disposals, 16 contested possessions, 15 marks (four contested), 16 spoils, and eight intercept marks.
There was a setback — a rolled ankle in the last 30 seconds in the same week Sam Rowe’s ACL crumpled.
But after a week of rest the match committee had seen enough and Jones replaced Harrison Macreadie in Round 12 for the clash against GWS.
You know the rest.
When Leigh Matthews, the AFL’s master of understatement, pragmatism and common sense, calls you Alex Rance in a Carlton jumper, any other plaudit is just window dressing.
Against the league’s best forwards — Jon Patton, Tom Lynch, Jack Riewoldt, Taylor Walker, Jesse Hogan — Jones has dominated.
He spoils like Mal Michael, intercept marks likes James Clement, kicks with precision like Matthew Scarlett.
It’s only six games, but they have been glorious.
Asked whether life had changed forever in those six weeks, Jones smiled and shook his head in wonder.
“I know,” he said. “It probably hasn’t sunk in yet, it’s happened so quickly.
“If you had told me when I was doing all the running and all those sessions in the pre-season I would have been playing fullback, it would have been the last thing that came to my mind.”
Mum Janice, still back in Hobart, is chuffed.
As is so often the case, those around you can wear the slings and arrows more deeply.
“She is just proud,” Jones said. “I think people at work are saying, ‘How good is your son going?’.
“She gets a lot out of that. It makes her feel good. She hasn’t come to a game for a while but she watches every week on TV and loves it.
“Mum has been the rock of our family. Growing up, she worked pretty hard to give us every opportunity she could to fulfil our dreams and do what we wanted to do.”
Jones won’t change, even though his new deal gives him financial security until 2020.
He still lives by himself, unless you count french bulldog Remy, and spends his spare time watching movies and messing about on his acoustic guitar and piano.
Ask Jones about “pinch-me” moments these past six week and he tells you how much joy he got from watching Blaine Boekhorst’s goal against the Dogs.
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Wonder at his heroics and he talks about Kade Simpson and Sam Docherty instructing him to move a step here, three metres there, to help his defensive positioning.
And as for those fans who were so vitriolic at times?
Well, why would you hold a grudge when there is another game of footy to be played and more joy to be extracted from every moment?
“I didn’t really notice them being too unhappy with me but I have noticed they have been really supportive,’’ he said. “Everyone is happy with the story. Some people have been quite surprised and happy for me. And it’s nice.”
In six weeks those same fans have bought out his badge twice over in the Carlton merchandise store.
LIAM JONES’ SIX-WEEK BURST
R12 - Played on Jon Patton for 81 miutes and kept him to two goals
R13 - Played on Tom Lynch for 120 minutes and kept him goalless
R14 - Played on Jack Riewoldt for 113 minutes and kept him to two goals
R15 - Played on Taylor Walker for 94 minutes and kep thim to one goal
R16 - Played on Jesse Hogan for 56 minutes and kept him goalless.
R17 - Played on Jack Redpath for 88 minutes and kept him to 4 disposals and no goals
(Based on season averages for key defenders)
Second for spoils
Second for intercept marks
Fourth for intercept possessions
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