Celebratory jig as Jones reaches 100 games

THE road to game number 100 has been a long and sometimes bumpy one for East Point’s Vanessa Jones.

But she insists the rollercoaster journey has all been worth it.

Jones will notch up the milestone in the Dragons’ BFLW clash against reigning premier Darley this Sunday.

Each of her 100 games have been at senior level.

The 34-year-old took up football for the first time in 2018 on the encouragement of her partner Darcy Tasker.

“I’d been a dancer my whole life, so I thought, ‘you know what, let’s try something different’. So I tried football,” she said.

“There were no opportunities for girls like me when we were younger. Twelve years (old) was the cut-off back then and I was in that era.

“It (100 games) has been a long time coming, but we’ve got there.

“Back when I started, I didn’t think about playing 100 games or milestones, I just wanted to get through the first season without dying.

“I could barely even kick a ball. I still had my ballet foot on, kicking the ball the opposite way to where it was supposed to go.”

The late conversion to football aside, Jones – who leads the Dragons’ ruck division – has battled plenty of hardship along the way due to health issues.

While that slowed her progression to 100 games, Jones considers herself fortunate to have had an astonishingly free run when it comes to football-related injuries.

Her 100 games have been played at two clubs, the first 73 at Lake Wendouree, where she started in the former AFL Goldfields league and was captain for five years.

Seeking a change of scenery and a chance to further develop her game, she last year switched to East Point, where she became part of the Dragons team that made it to the preliminary final.

“I knew three of the East girls (Rebecca Piper, Gemma Foord and Jess Robertson), as I play cricket with them as well, so it was a good fit,” she said.

“I love East Point … absolutely love the culture and I couldn’t ask for a better coach in Jezza (Jeromy Jones).

“He’s an amazing guy. Always gets right behind the girls, happy with every milestone that is hit, no matter how big or small.

“Jezza is always very encouraging inside and out of football.”

Jones, whose dancing career has taken her to New York and earned her back-up roles with The Wiggles and some famous drag queens, among others, believes her relatively unique background for a footballer has served her well on the field, her game built on agility and endurance.

 

While hit-outs, marks and goals – she’s kicked 26 of them in her career – take over on weekends, Jones is still dancing with a number of companies, including the Australian Irish Dance Company, Curtain Call Performing Arts Studios and Ballarat Scottish Country Dancing.

“When we are waiting for someone to get off the field, I just show the umpires a bit of a jig and it keeps them entertained,” she laughed.

“It’s helped me evade a few opponents … I’m very bendy.

“Touch wood, I’ve never injured myself in footy, so it’s helpful that I am very flexible.

“I’m not one to sit still too long. As a ruck you are always on the ball, always involved and doing a lot of running around, which I love.”

In recent weeks, she has been training with the BFLW interleague team and is hopeful of selection for the clash against the Bendigo-based Central Victorian Football League (CVFL) on 4 July in Ballarat.

Her representative experience has been enhanced by spending time under Darley coach Danyel Waters, who will coach the team and whose background includes stints as Essendon’s AFLW Pathway Program head coach and Calder Cannons under-18 girls assistant coach.

“Danyel has been fantastic; I have learnt so much in the little time,” she said.

“Things that I would never have even thought of that needed correcting, she has corrected and it’s made me a better footballer.”

Waters, a non-playing coach, will be in the opposite camp when Jones runs out for her 100th game, with the clash against Darley coming off the back of a 57-point loss to Bacchus Marsh last week.

A win would all but seal the Dragons’ finals berth with five rounds remaining.

The Dragons have been bolstered by the return of their best player Katie McAloon, who made her return from a knee injury in the Bacchus Marsh game.

“We are in a good position at the moment to be playing finals,” Jones said.

“It’s a tough run in the next few weeks with Darley and Ballarat (and Darley again straight after the interleague bye).

“Ballarat is a bit of rivalry. We didn’t lose by a lot last time – we just fell short and didn’t do as well as we should have.

“But it’s good to see another team in the competition and one on our level.”

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