At the age of 22, Clint Jones was running around in the WAFL for South Fremantle, thinking his dream of playing in the AFL might have passed him by.
But his thirst of playing AFL never dried up and his journey has been one of hard work and determination.
At the end of the 2006 season he finally got his break, drafted by St Kilda in the Rookie Draft. After debuting in 2007 he would go on to play 149 games and become one of the club’s most successful taggers.
“I’m very proud of what I was able to achieve at the Saints. At one point it looked highly likely that I wouldn’t even get drafted. I was lucky enough to play with some of the clubs greatest ever players and got the opportunity to play in 11 finals matches including the three grand finals. But it certainly didn’t come easy,” Jones told True Zebras.
“When I first arrived at St Kilda, I had to work very hard on the defensive side of my game after being told I was to too offensive. This eventually led to me becoming a tagger. I’m extremely grateful for my time at St Kilda and what we were able to achieve.”
Having been lucky enough to play alongside some of the club’s greatest players in Nick Riewoldt, Robert Harvey and Lenny Hayes, he was able to get firsthand experience at what it takes to make it at the elite level.
“The one thing with the players listed above was how hard they trained and how professional they were about their footy. I quickly learnt, how hard you had to train and the professionalism required to play footy at the top level.”
At the end of the 2014 season Jones was delisted by St Kilda and he quickly put pen to paper and signed with the Saints’ VFL aligned club, Sandringham.
“There were a number of reasons I chose to sign with Sandringham this year. Firstly I was lucky enough to work with Paul Hudson at the Saints and had a good relationship with him. I also played a number of games with the Zebras last year and got to know a few players and staff members which made the decision easier,” Jones said.
“I also wanted to play in a strong competition [and] for a club that valued success and after having seen Sandringham play finals last year, the opportunity to be part of this team excited me.”
With Sandringham’s link to St Kilda the opportunity to keep playing alongside his former teammates wasn’t a major factor in his final decision.
“No not really. The Saints have a lot of young and exciting players and it will be interesting to see them improve over the next few years, but my decision to play for Sandringham was not about getting to play alongside the Saints boys. Although, knowing all the Saints boys and the way they play will definitely make it a little easier.”
Having played 149 AFL games including three Grand Finals, Jones will bring a wealth of experience to the club that he hopes will rub off on the young Sandringham list.
“Having spent most of my career playing in the midfield as a tagger, I was lucky enough to play on some of the best players in the AFL. By watching these players every week I learnt what they do around stoppages to win the ball so often, and the amount of concentration and energy required to stop them,” Jones said.
“Hopefully I can pass on what I have learnt to the young Sandringham players over the course of the year.”
Photo: Dave Savell
Last Modified on 02/02/2015 12:28