{"id":350488,"date":"2025-12-15T23:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350488\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T23:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:07:11","slug":"retired-afl-midfielder-signs-with-local-club-afl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350488\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired AFL midfielder signs with local club – AFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mt Eliza Football Netball Club has snared the much-wanted signature of recently retired AFL<\/a> midfielder Zak Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jones played 164 games over 12 seasons in the\u00a0AFL<\/a>; 90 with Sydney, who drafted him with Pick 15 in the 2013 National Draft. He would then request a move home to Victoria in 2019 and played 74 games for St Kilda.<\/p>\n

The hard-nosed midfielder battled injury woes during his time at Moorabbin, playing no more than 16 games in a single season, with that tally achieved in his first year as a Saint in 2020.<\/p>\n

The retirement call comes after St Kilda decided not to offer Jones a new contract for the 2026 season, with the midfielder one of the many players delisted as the Saints as the club’s list undergoes an overhaul.<\/p>\n

The Redlegs were thrilled with their latest addition to the mix, taking to social media to announce the return home of their star footballer.<\/p>\n

“We are incredibly proud and excited to welcome home, full-circle……..Zak Jones<\/a>!<\/p>\n

“A man who needs little introduction, Zak returns to the Redlegs after an outstanding AFL<\/a> career, playing 164 games with both the Sydney Swans<\/a> and St Kilda. Known for his ferocity at the contest, his explosive run and spread, and his uncompromising attitude, Zak has always been a force on the field.<\/p>\n

“Red and Blue are familiar colours, Zak played all his junior footy with us, earning Life Membership after playing over 150 games for our Little Legs. Now, he brings back a wealth of experience, professionalism, and a hardened edge that will lift our club to new heights.<\/p>\n

“Welcome back to the tribe, Zak! We are absolutely thrilled to welcome you, along with your family, Tay & Rocky, back home. Red & Blue never looked better on you!”<\/p>\n

Jones revealed in his retirement post last week that “at times, (the AFL) broke me down, but it also taught me who I am<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Mt Eliza finished fifth in the 2025 MPFNL season and stormed into the grand final after knocking off Langwarrin, Edithvale-Aspendale and Frankston YCW.<\/p>\n

However, the Redlegs fell agonisingly short in the decider, losing by a solitary point to top-of-the-table Rosebud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mt Eliza Football Netball Club has snared the much-wanted signature of recently retired AFL midfielder Zak Jones.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-350488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}