John Jones 1989 to 1994

Thursday, 23 March 2006 05:00

John Jones went to high school at Christian Bros Manly and was the typical Northern Beaches lad who always dreamed of playing for the Mighty Sea Eagles.

A tall and lean second rower, Jones quickly earned the nickname Jug Head after the cartoon character "JugHead Jones" in the Archie comics however I thought it was due to his receding hair line and massive forehead. After serving his apprenticeship in the lower grades he made his 1st grade debut in 1989 under then Manly coach Alan Thompson.

That season most of John Jones went to high school at Christian Bros Manly and was the typical Northern Beaches lad who always dreamed of playing for the Mighty Sea Eagles.

A tall and lean second rower, Jones quickly earned the nickname Jug Head after the cartoon character "JugHead Jones" in the Archie comics however I thought it was due to his receding hair line and massive forehead. After serving his apprenticeship in the lower grades he made his 1st grade debut in 1989 under then Manly coach Alan Thompson.

That season most of Manlys premiership winning back row of 1987 had left the club or where at the end of their careers. Ron Gibbs was playing for the Gold Coast, Noel Cleal had retired while Fatty Vautin was looking forward to playing with Easts the following year.

Jones grabbed one of the vacant spots in the back row positions and he immediately made an impact due to his tough uncompromising play.

The Jug Head knew only one way to run and that was straight and hard. He was the type of player fans just loved to get behind and support. Not the most talented player but a player with passion and determination who thought bleeding for the maroon and white was a badge of honour.

In those years I was regular in the Jane Try Stand and I still fondly remember his many gallant charges at the defence and the cheers from the crowd as he either busted the line or he sent an opposition player tumbling backwards through his brute force.

Jones was part of Manlys underrated 1990 side that made a gallant charge into the semi finals under Kiwi coach Graham Lowe. They were narrowly beaten by Brisbane in the finals and it was on the back of the forwards like Jones, Adrian Shelford and Ian Roberts that they managed to progress as far as they did.

Jug Head was one of the stalwarts of the club in the early 1990s and he gained a legion of fans as a result. When Bob Fulton returned to coach the club after Graham Lowes demise he felt he needed to boost his forward power to be a genuine premiership threat.

Much to the disgust of many Manly fans the fiercely loyal Jones was shown the door at the end of 1994 and he became one of the newly promoted South Queensland Crushers inaugural players along with Mario Fenech and Bob Lindner

However despite being ungracefully removed from the club after 85 games and 15 tries,he heart was never far away from the Peninsula and he miraculously overcame a serious injury to play one more time at Brookie in 1995, this time however in the colours of the Crushers. A red hot Manly team easily defeated the newcomers and sadly Jones left Brookvale Oval for the last time a loser.

Unfortunately injury hampered his 2 seasons at the Crushers and he play just a further 24 games in the ARL.

John Jones a proud Sea Eagle

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