SECOND-year Geelong footballer Jamaine Jones is leaning on Cats great Gary Ablett to help refine his forward craft.
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The Portland export is hoping to make his AFL debut in 2018 after he was retained as a rookie.
Jones, speaking during a visit to Warrnambool Primary School on Tuesday, said Ablett was only too happy to pass on his knowledge.
The 177-centimetre small forward said spending time matched up against the two-time Brownlow Medallist during pre-season training was “a good learning curve”.
“He’s a really nice guy actually,” Jones said.
“I have learned a lot off him so far, just the way he goes about things and just little things he picks up at training that I miss, that everyone misses, and little techniques to make you better.
“Even just (about) the tackle – if I have the ball and I am trying to get out of a tackle just to move your hips, go the opposite way they’re going. He’s been really good value so far.”
Jones, 19, spent his first season in the AFL honing his skills in the VFL after overcoming a foot injury.
The Greater Western Victorian Rebels graduate and Hampden interleague representative said being on the Cats’ list was “still surreal”.
Jones, who grew up in Heywood, said Geelong was the ideal club for him.
”I don’t have to travel that far, it’s only a three-hour drive, and everyone can get down and watch a game and it’s easy for me to come back home, so it’s good,” he said.
Jones, who is working closely with Geelong assistant Shane O’Bree, is aiming for a berth in the JLT Community Series and, ultimately, an AFL debut in 2018.