NRL: Jones' return 'stuff of legend' - Aussie media

Stacey Jones has received plenty of praise in Australia after his fairytale return to the NRL yesterday. Photo / Getty Images

Esteemed rugby league commentator Phil "Gus" Gould has lauded over Stacey Jones' miraculous return to the NRL, describing his performance against Manly yesterday as "the stuff of legend".

The 32-year-old Warrior, playing in his first NRL game in over three years, wound back the clock to help craft a last-minute 26-24 victory over the defending premiers in searing heat at Brookvale Oval.

Trailing by eight points with just over 10 minutes left, Jones produced a piece of magic, regathering his own chip kick, dummying the fullback before sending Brent Tate over for a momentum-swinging try.

Then in the dying stages he put a cross-field kick into the Manly in-goal for Jerome Ropati to pounce on, leaving new winger Denan Kemp to land the winning conversion from wide out.

Writing in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald, Gould, a former New South Wales State of Origin coach, said yesterday's performance confirmed Jones as one of the greatest halfbacks of the modern era.

"Stacey Jones, please take a bow," Gould said.

"You provided us with yet another chapter in the list of truly great memories this game has enjoyed over the decades.

"Your little cameo yesterday will be talked about in years to come as the stuff of legend," he said.

Also writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, league reporter Glenn Jackson said Jones' performance yesterday would place pressure on coach Ivan Cleary to make him the starting No 7.

Jones had the rest of the Australian league media in hysterics as well, with most publications going gaga over the little Kiwi's moments of brilliance.

"When Stacey Jones unfurled two plays yesterday to steal an improbable victory, it was like the Warriors veteran had never left the NRL," said Andrew Webster in Sydney's Daily Telegraph.

"Who said the NRL is a young man's domain?" wrote Brent Read in The Australian.

"Stacey Jones, at the ripe old age of 32, made his return to the premiership yesterday and celebrated by sparking a Warriors comeback with an early contender for try of the year."

"Before a packed house at Brookvale Oval yesterday, the old man showed there was still some life in those ageing legs."

Jones' return has further cemented the Warriors' premiership credentials, with Gould issuing a warning to the rest of the competition.

"This Warriors outfit is a seriously good football team," he said.

"What they did yesterday stamps them as genuine premiership material. No doubt we will be talking more about them as the season unfolds."

- NZ HERALD STAFF