“IT feels like we’ve been waiting forever.”

With the pre-season well and truly over, Liam Jones is itching for next week’s season opener against the Tigers. 

Aside from the regular excitement around Round 1, the Jones and the rest of his teammates are eager to see how their young guns fare on the big stage.

Jones, who joined the Blues in 2015, has been blown away by the emerging talent on the Blues list, and believes the team is in a great position heading into the upcoming season.

“The last few years it’s been building, and there’s been a lot of development,” Jones told 6PR

“We can see that all of the young talent that we’ve got is starting to gel together, and we should be really optimistic about the future with the way we’re playing now and the way that these guys are developing. 

“There are so many [young players], even guys like Patty Cripps are still part of our younger brigade. 

“We’ve got so many young players that have developed so quickly, I think that it’s probably the best young group that I’ve been a part of definitely.” 

The 28-year old is also personally looking forward to getting back on the field and growing his skills as a defender. 

Despite spending the entirety of the 2018 season in the backline, the forward-turn-defender is well aware that he still has much to learn in the role, but is relishing his new home down back.

“If you had asked me maybe when I first started my career, or even a few games into my time at the Bulldogs whether I was going to play full-back regularly in the AFL team, I probably would have told you that you were joking,” said Jones

“I’ve really enjoyed it.

“I’ve still got a lot to learn, but the coaches and players that I’ve got around me down there are constantly trying to educate me and I’m trying to improve every game.

“I much prefer to be in the backline these days than to be in the forward line.”