Austinn Gregg "Aussie" Jones (born 28 September 1976) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with St Kilda in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). The Jones played for the Collingwood reserves in the mid-1990s, but they were afraid to recruit him due to him weighing just 64 kilograms. "Aussie", as he is more commonly known, refused to give up on his dream to play AFL football, and was recruited to St Kilda in the 1994 AFL Draft. He made his debut in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

still weighing in at the high 60s. In

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Jones established himself as one of the league's better wingers/half-back flankers, with his pace and hard running a big advantage for the Saints. Jones played in St Kilda's victorious 1996 pre-season grand final side—the club's first pre-season premiership. Jones played in 22 of 22 matches in the 1997 home-and-away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the 1997 AFL finals, winning the club's second minor premiership. St Kilda would make it to the

1997 AFL Grand Final The 1997 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1997. It was the 101st annual AFL Gran ...

but would lose to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

by 31 points, their first of two successive premierships, although Jones kicked a goal and was among his side's best players. Jones's stellar 1997 season was capped off by earning

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

selection. In fact, Jones put the Saints in a very strong position, kicking a Goal of the Year contender with a magnificent long run and goal. At that stage during that game, the Saints had a comfortable lead, and the Jones goal looked like the team would run away with the game. It was not to be, however, with the Saints forfeiting a half-time lead to lose the match. Jones played in St Kilda's victorious 2004 pre-season grand final side—St Kilda's second pre-season final win. Jones career suffered from inconsistency in the following years; however, in 2004, the first year St Kilda had made the finals since 1998, Jones again won

selection and was back to his best. However, Jones, even then, doubted whether he would be able to cope with the mental pressures of AFL football, and was even considering retirement at just 27 years old. In 2005, he suffered a major setback when he was dropped to the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

midway through the year. Although he regained his form, Jones admitted that he was at his lowest ebb as a player at this stage. He fought his way back into the seniors and performed admirably during the Saints' late-season charge into the top four. Despite hinting at his retirement previously, it was a huge shock when Jones called it quits from the game with one year to run on his contract, having just turned 29. He cited the mental pressures, more than the physical toll, as the reason for his retirement. In 2006, he was the contracted as the

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

at country football club the Narre Warren Magpies. His venture as coach was a successful one; in his first year as coach, the team won the Casey Cardinia Football League grand final. Jones coached Narre Warren again in 2007. Narre Warren, under the guidance of Aussie Jones in his last game as player-coach, secured the second of two back-to-back premierships on 22 September 2007. He coached

Gippsland Power The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. Honours *Premierships (1): 2005 *Runners-up (3): 1999, 2010, 2012 *Minor Premiers (3): 2005, 2007, 2 ...

in the 2008

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

season. In July 2012, Jones was appointed as head coach of the newly formed standalone VFL team Bendigo Gold, with his coaching stint to commence in Gold's inaugural year as a standalone VFL side in 2013.

Statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 19 , , 10 , , 7 , , 134 , , 82 , , 216 , , 33 , , 20 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 7.1 , , 4.3 , , 11.4 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 29 , , 22 , , 25 , , 25 , , 259 , , 129 , , 388 , , 75 , , 22 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , 11.8 , , 5.9 , , 17.6 , , 3.4 , , 1.0 , , 1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 25 , , 22 , , 9 , , 323 , , 167 , , 490 , , 77 , , 32 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 12.9 , , 6.7 , , 19.6 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 23 , , 23 , , 13 , , 238 , , 101 , , 339 , , 63 , , 32 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 10.3 , , 4.4 , , 14.7 , , 2.7 , , 1.4 , , 1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 19 , , 12 , , 18 , , 180 , , 82 , , 262 , , 72 , , 18 , , 0.6 , , 0.9 , , 9.5 , , 4.3 , , 13.8 , , 3.8 , , 0.9 , , 2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 17 , , 9 , , 7 , , 182 , , 60 , , 242 , , 47 , , 18 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 10.7 , , 3.5 , , 14.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.1 , , 1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 16 , , 4 , , 3 , , 206 , , 80 , , 286 , , 46 , , 20 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 12.9 , , 5.0 , , 17.9 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 16 , , 6 , , 2 , , 208 , , 95 , , 303 , , 46 , , 12 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 13.0 , , 5.9 , , 18.9 , , 2.9 , , 0.8 , , 2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 22 , , 7 , , 3 , , 317 , , 108 , , 425 , , 85 , , 30 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 14.4 , , 4.9 , , 19.3 , , 3.9 , , 1.4 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 25 , , 3 , , 6 , , 346 , , 120 , , 466 , , 85 , , 37 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 13.8 , , 4.8 , , 18.6 , , 3.4 , , 1.5 , , 11 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 22 , , 6 , , 3 , , 252 , , 93 , , 345 , , 73 , , 31 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 11.5 , , 4.2 , , 15.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.4 , , 1 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 226 ! 127 ! 96 ! 2645 ! 1117 ! 3762 ! 702 ! 272 ! 0.6 ! 0.4 ! 11.7 ! 4.9 ! 16.6 ! 3.1 ! 1.2 ! 32

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Austinn 1976 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) St Kilda Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) Dandenong Stingrays players Victorian State of Origin players Australia international rules football team players