26 Facts About Stacey Jones

Stacey William Jones was born on 7 May 1976 and is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced.

Stacey Jones played as a halfback, but he has briefly played at five-eighth during his distinguished career, which includes 46 Tests for New Zealand.

Stacey Jones is the first and only life member of the New Zealand Warriors club whose records for most appearances, tries and points he held at the time of his retirement.

Stacey Jones was often able to find players with a high bombing kick at either sides of the field or place a sneaky through ball for oncoming players to pounce on.

Stacey Jones played junior grades for the Ponsonby Ponies and Mt Albert Lions before moving to the City-Pt Chev Pirates when he was 9.

Stacey Jones was spotted by the new Auckland Warriors franchise and made his first grade debut in 1995 against the Parramatta Eels in their inaugural year in what is the National Rugby League.

The Warriors' halfback Greg Alexander missed Rounds 10 and 11 through injury which resulted in Stacey Jones taking over at halfback.

Stacey Jones played well enough to retain the position and force Alexander to move to fullback upon his return.

Stacey Jones quickly established his place in the international scene, replacing Gary Freeman as the New Zealand national rugby league team halfback during the 1995 World Cup.

Stacey Jones was the first signing by the new franchise, with owner Eric Watson, and it was his signing that convinced many other players to re-sign with the club.

Stacey Jones was then selected to go on the 2002 New Zealand rugby league tour of Great Britain and France and won the George Smith Medal as player of the series against Great Britain.

Also in 2002, Stacey Jones became only the second New Zealand player to win the Golden Boot Award for the best international rugby league player.

Stacey Jones retired from the national team in 2004 while having a disappointing year at club level.

However, on 15 October 2005 Stacey Jones ended 2 years of international retirement, answering an SOS from Kiwis coach Brian McClennan intending only to play the Australasian section of the Tri Nations series.

Stacey Jones then went on to play the rest of their round robin matches against Great Britain in England.

Stacey Jones was an integral part of the New Zealand Tri Nations campaign.

Stacey Jones then missed the fourth Kiwi game, instead returning to New Zealand to be with his wife for the birth of their son.

Stacey Jones is widely regarded as the best New Zealand player of his generation.

Stacey Jones returned home and rejoined the New Zealand Warriors as their kicking coach for the 2008 season.

On 7 November 2008 it was announced that Stacey Jones had re-signed as a player with the New Zealand Warriors on a one-year contract for 2009.

In early September Stacey Jones announced that his comeback was over and he would not be returning for the 2010 NRL season.

Stacey Jones later worked as the Auckland Rugby League's Development officer.

Stacey Jones was appointed as the New Zealand Warriors Junior Recruitment and Pathways Coach for the 2013 season.

In 2015 Stacey Jones coached the Warriors side in the NSW Cup.

Stacey Jones was an assistant coach for the Warriors in various capacities under coaches; Andrew McFadden, Stephen Kearney, Todd Payten and Nathan Brown.

On June 7,2022 Stacey Jones was named interim head coach of the New Zealand Warriors after the sudden departure of coach Nathan Brown who refused to commit to the club long term.