Liam Jones: Here's to 2017
- Jul 3, 2017
- 4 min read
We’ve come to expect the unexpected in 2017.
However, of all the unexpected stories none has been as feel-good as the incredible resurrection of Carlton’s Liam Jones as a key defender.
It was just months ago that Jones was not only a bottom-end battler wasting away at VFL but one of those players who had become fashionable to slam over a mediocre eight-season career. The idea of Jones not only reinventing himself as a key defender but claiming some of the AFL’s biggest scalps was a pipe dream. And yet here we are – as Carlton steadily claw their way up the ladder under Brendan Bolton, a player once destined for the scrapheap has been unearthed and unlocked.
Liam Jones was taken as a second-round pick in the 2008 draft by the Western Bulldogs but didn’t debut until late in the 2010 season. The Taswegian was raw and ungainly in his early days, as with many young forwards, but never grew up at the Bulldogs. At the end of a 2014 season in which the Bulldogs finished 14th, Jones was traded. The fact that he hadn’t held down a regular spot in a team that had struggled to score all season was an indictment of the seriousness of the 23-year old’s flaws.
Jones was picked up by Carlton, who needed a supporting target up forward for their own perpetually frustrating forward Levi Casboult. In his first two seasons, Jones played just 17 games and contributed a measly 16 goals. Casboult was still the primary target but was so inconsistent that Carlton were better off relying on small forwards and goalkicking midfielders like Matthew Wright and Bryce Gibbs. Once again, Liam Jones was a discard in a team that badly needed a player of his position. The writing was on the wall.
And it only got bigger when Jones started 2017 in VFL as Carlton seemingly moved on without the struggling forward, who was now in very real danger of being seen as part of the Mick Malthouse-era ashes from which the Blues were trying to rise.
However, Jones was no longer a forward and he was certainly no longer struggling. Northern Blues’ coach Josh Fraser started him off half-back and boom. After six matches, Jones had proved himself as not only an excellent shutdown defender but a prolific intercept and rebound player. He was named in the best five times and averaged 18 touches and 10 marks a game. Following his best-afield 26 disposal, 15 mark performance against Sandringham, Leader reporter Tim Michell rightly declared that the reborn defender had “smashed the AFL selection door off its hinges”.
Which was all well and good but it was telling that a player eight years into his career was being encouraged for VFL performances. When Liam Jones received the call-up to play against GWS in Round 12, his shoulder devil must have been ever-so-softly whispering, “Last chance.”
Jones lined up on Jonathon Patton and shut the big Giant out of the play. He read the ball superbly coming in, repeatedly worked his way to the front of contests and followed up with second and third efforts at ground level. Upfield, his teammates fought tooth and nail against the overwhelming favourites and the country watched agog as the Blues grabbed the lead with minutes to play. The Giants sprayed two chances late and the final siren sealed one of the biggest upsets of the season. Jones’ final stats included 14 touches and eight marks (four intercepted) as he played his newfound role with confidence and intelligence.
Carlton’s victory over GWS was a milestone as significant for the team as it was for Jones. After pre-season predictions that they would win the wooden spoon, the Blues could now build from a base and believe in themselves.
Against all expectations, better was to come next week against the Gold Coast Suns. In for a penny, in for a pound, Bolton showed his faith in Jones by lining him up on superstar Sun Tom Lynch. Lynch had racked up 27 goals going into the match and had bagged seven in Gold Coast’s Round 4 thumping of the Blues. Against Jones, he kicked none and was completely outplayed by a man who had not only completely reinvented himself but had a point that he was desperate to prove. Carlton stormed home in a crucial win that pushed them out of the lower reaches of the ladder.
After two BOG performances, a blip on the radar followed as Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt made the most of limited opportunities to kick three at the MCG but by now the football public was so enamoured with the comeback kid that they only slightly tongue-in-cheek described Riewoldt’s effort as one worth six or seven against a ‘normal’ defender. For a player who was once a figure of fun, it was a staggering PR makeover and one that was only strengthened when Jones added Adelaide captain Taylor Walker to his growing list of scalps in Round 15. While the Crows escaped with a narrow win, they had to do so without a contribution from big ‘Tex’: Walker managed just a solitary goal as Jones recorded six more disposals and three more marks than his direct opponent.
The sturdy infallibility with which Jones has played over the last month means that, after seven listless seasons, we now expect him to maintain his excellent form as Carlton push for a return to the finals. But whatever happens from here – good, bad or ugly – Liam Jones will be one of the key Blues making it happen. Funny game, footy.
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