Ben Jones (born 24 June 1990) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

, he played as a or .

Background

Jones was born in

Orange, New South Wales Orange is a city in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney on a great circle at an altitude of . Orange had an estimated urban population of 40,493 Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Australia.

Playing career

Jones started his first-grade career with the

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

, his NRL debut coming in round 23 of the

2008 NRL season The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, National Rugby League teams, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstr ...

, against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

. In the

2009 NRL season The 2009 NRL season was the 102nd season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the twelfth run by the National Rugby League. For the third consecutive year, sixteen teams competed for the 2009 Telstra Premiership ...

, Jones played 21 games for the club as they finished last on the table for the first time since 1966. In 2010, Jones was called into the Indigenous All Stars representative side for the annual match against the NRL All Stars after first-choice hooker

PJ Marsh Peter-John "PJ" Marsh (born 19 February 1980 in Gladstone, Queensland) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. A Queensland State of Origin representative hooker, he played his club football in the ...

withdrew because of injury. The Roosters qualified the

NRL Grand Final The NRL Grand Final determines the champions of the National Rugby League club competition. It is a major sport event in Australia. Since 1999, it has been contested at Stadium Australia in Sydney. The first year it was held at Stadium Australia ...

in the 2010 season, although Jones was not a member of the Roosters' squad for the match, which lost to the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint- ...

. After 27 NRL matches for the Roosters, Jones joined the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

for the 2011 season. The Roosters had been unable to keep him under the NRL's salary cap. During the

2011 NRL season The 2011 NRL season was the 104th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth and last run by the National Rugby League's partnership committee of the Australian Rugby League and News Ltd. The NRL ...

, he was selected to fill in for the Cowboys' captain

Johnathan Thurston Johnathan Dean Thurston (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the National Rugby League (NRL). Thurston was an Australian international, Queensland State of Origin and Indigenous All ...

in the key halfback position. Jones returned to the

in 2013 via their reserve grade team Newtown. In November 2013, it was announced that he would join the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

on a train and trial basis for the 2014 preseason.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ben 1990 births Living people Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players Sydney Roosters players North Queensland Cowboys players Indigenous All Stars players Prime Minister's XIII players Mackay Cutters players Newtown Jets NSW Cup players Redcliffe Dolphins players Junior Kangaroos players Rugby league centres Wentworthville Magpies players Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league hookers Gamilaraay Rugby league players from Orange, New South Wales