How Liam Jones’ QAFL generosity to a young Jed Walter could come back to bite Bulldogs

When Liam Jones was exiled to the QAFL, he told a young key forward how to get under defenders’ skin. Now, that key forward – Jed Walter – is set to play against Jones in the AFL.

Jed Walter at Palm Beach Currumbin Football Club, where he played alongside potential opponent Liam Jones. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

It’s the sliding doors encounter that could come back to bite the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat on Sunday.

Liam Jones’ 12-month football secondment to the Sunshine State due to the AFL’s Covid vaccination rules was well-documented, but the minor details of his time away not so much.

The key defender’s brief AFL retirement landed him at the Palm Beach Currumbin Lions on the Gold Coast, where he took on a dual player-coach role at the club for the 2022 QAFL season.

A star who only months earlier was a crucial cog in the Blues’ back six and playing some of the best footy of his career was suddenly running around in a third tier competition – and dominating.

But beyond his on-field impact, the Lions were just as thrilled with the knowledge he imparted on their playing group.

Jed Walter at Palm Beach Currumbin Football Club, where he played alongside potential opponent Liam Jones. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images.

After all, when do you ever get an in-his-prime AFL player suddenly playing with and coaching at a local level?

One youngster who was more than happy to soak up Jones’ wealth of experience was a promising key forward by the name of Jed Walter.

Yep, the same Jed Walter who will make his Suns debut against Jones’ Bulldogs on Sunday.

“Yeah I love Jonesy, he’s a ripper bloke,” Walter told this masthead days before going pick No. 2 to the Suns in the AFL draft.

“He helped me a lot. I tried to pick his brain as much as I could.”

Hailed as one of the most ready-made key forward prospects to hit the AFL in recent memory, Walter was already an established star of the Suns Academy by the time Jones landed at Palm Beach Currumbin.

With the then 31-year-old Jones holding it down in defensive 50, a 16-year-old Walter was dominating grown men at the other end of the ground.

But it’s their midweek training track rendezvous, where Jones would take Walter aside and share with him the nuances of defending in the AFL, which helped elevate the now-Suns spearhead’s game.

Liam Jones in his QAFL days in 2022 playing for Palm Beach Currumbin. Picture: John Gass

“I would do match sim against him and he’s a freak – he does it out on the field at the top level and he did it back then. You could say he was in his prime playing in the QAFL,” Walter said.

“I learned a lot off him as a forward trying to watch his game – what he didn’t like a forward doing and what got under his skin.

“Even when I was playing against him he was helping me out. He was really supportive (and) shared his knowledge with the whole group.”

Jones’ generosity could come back to bite the Bulldogs on Sunday if Walter helps will the Suns over the line.

The pair will no doubt cross paths on multiple occasions.

In one of the most anticipated debuts of 2024, the 194cm target man is Damien Hardwick’s ideal player.

Capable of clunking monster marks, crashing packs but also – crucially – hunting the ball at ground level unlike any key forward prospect we have perhaps ever seen, Walter has a skill set perfectly suited to Hardwick’s system.

So confident is the Suns coach in his young key forward, Hardwick has thrown Walter straight into the fray after overcoming a collarbone injury that delayed what would have been an imminent AFL start.

“He would have played (Opening Round) if he didn’t have the injury,” Hardwick said.

“He’s just come in and taken training by storm.

“We could sit there and be conservative and put him in at VFL level or just in the cut and thrust of AFL level. (So we said) let’s just get him in there.

“He exudes confidence. Not much puts him on the back foot.

“I said (to Walter), ‘Listen, this will probably be as bad as you’ll be, if that makes sense’. He’s learning the craft and he’ll just get better and better as he goes.”

Originally published as How Liam Jones’ QAFL generosity to a young Jed Walter could come back to bite Bulldogs