'Rugby league is within the psyche of Queensland' - Brett Jones

Brett Jones, like most Australians, grew up playing sport.

Cricket and tennis in the summer and Australian rules and basketball in the winter ruled his childhood and developed his love of sport.

It is that love of sport that drives him to see as many people as possible excel in the sporting sphere.

The Queensland Rugby League senior pathways and performance manager, who has been in the new role for about six months now, wants to “see more Queensland players in the NRL and NRLW”.

“Probably like most kids, I grew up playing sport in Perth,” Jones said, adding he and his “more talented, more creative, bit funnier, bit nicer” brother Chad had plenty of “good contests in the backyard”.

“Mum and dad were fairly athletic too. Mum played club squash and dad was a pretty talented sportsperson who ended up playing soccer for his country… so I grew up around soccer fields and squash centres.

“We played a bit of everything… then I found myself in a regular flow of cricket and tennis in summer and AFL and basketball in winter.

“In the end cricket and AFL was the summer, winter routine.”

After high school, and when studying a Bachelor of Commerce at university, cricket become Jones’ focus.

“I really enjoyed cricket. That was quite a good journey. I played state under 17, state under 19 cricket, Second XI cricket for WA, which was great, and held a junior rookie contract there for six months,” Jones said.

“But I found myself back playing some amateur, local footy for seven or eight games one winter to get fit and that quickly led to a few people suggesting I should keep playing and go a bit further.

“So I did and found myself 12 months later having a choice between the AFL draft or my rookie contract with cricket. I decided if I got drafted I'd take that choice to play some AFL. I was 21.

"When it came to the draft, my younger brother Chad got picked up by North Melbourne. Pick 22. And I didn’t get drafted in the main draft.

“I went off to A Grade cricket that afternoon, opened the batting, think I probably made a duck, then West Coast called and asked if I wanted to train with them for two weeks. I thought I'd give it a go and see where it led.”

That decision led to a 102-game AFL career with the Eagles.  

“The Big Bash and T20 weren't around so it was still very much just six state teams and a very strong Australian team. So football seemed a little more achievable at the time,” Jones said.

The highlight for Jones, he said, was being “part of a premiership team with West Coast - that was great. That was a great period”.

“I think coming in a bit older, having my uni degree, it very much just felt like playing sport and I still think it's a challenge for the younger players now - they don't necessarily get that context. They get brought the whole way through and can, at times, lack perspective. I was just very grateful the whole time,” Jones said.  

“For example, grand final day at the MCG, I probably didn't feel too much pressure. It was a really nice experience.”

Jones said West Coast, as a club, were “really fantastic, really professional”, and being there taught him “an awful lot about high performance sport and sustainability of performance”. 

“West Coast, like a few of the best AFL clubs and sporting clubs, have found a way to continually rebuild and not have too many low periods,” Jones said.

“And I think I was really lucky to always be around people who have made it to the top of sport.

“With my dad, we never really talked about how we performed, he was just always about how you handled yourself. The idea that you just go to the next contest and look after others on the field is what we always talked about. 

“He had a completely different background to the sports we played, but he was always there throwing cricket balls or kicking the footy around the best he could, not being a footy player. 

“But that didn't really matter. He let others work on the skills. He very much just helped us with our mindset and our approach to it. 

“Then we were just lucky to always be surrounded by people who made it to the top of sport. Our next door neighbour played Test cricket for Australia - Craig Serjeant.

“We were just lucky, through our circles and clubs, as happens in a lot of Australian clubs, if you're in the first grade competition in your state, there's always players, past players, parents around those clubs who have had experiences they can share.

“So you're just picking up bits and pieces from them along the way.”

During his time at West Coast, Jones met now wife Lauren during a holiday to America;  after “lots of back and forwards, and different holidays at different times of year”, Lauren “took the plunge to move over” in 2009.

Jones hung up his boots in 2011.

“I was very lucky. I came in a bit later, I had a really good run for four or five years. Got a couple of injuries and probably didn't bounce back as well as I could have to find form, and there were some really good players coming through... that is sport,” Jones said.

“I always knew I had other things on the horizon and I had given it all in the AFL.”

Jones, having started his MBA, did nearly one year of accounting with BDO in Perth and spent time as acting as head coach of the University Cricket Club in WA, with people like Ashton Agar starting to come through at the time.

“Then an opportunity came up with WA Cricket when Justin Langer started, so I put my name in the ring for that. JL was a footy fan and luckily I got that gig. That led me on to six-and-a-half years in cricket in talent ID, selection and high performance management,” Jones said.

“It was great. Working with people like Justin Langer day in, day out. Ben Oliver, who is now the Cricket Australia executive general manager, Christina Matthews, a fantastic CEO.”

Jones, in 2015, headed to Queensland to ply his trade at Queensland Cricket.

“The chance to head up Queensland Cricket's high performance, male and female teams, and pathways was the opportunity that brought me to Queensland,” Jones said.

“That was fantastic. Queensland is lucky as a cricket state - there's great weather, some great facilities, and there's always great talent. It was too good of an opportunity not to take.

“Women's growth was a really big passion. To provide equal, if not better, resources to the women's team and I think we've seen some great outcomes for Queensland and the Brisbane Heat. 

“That taught me an awful lot and the opportunity here at QRL is really quite similar.”

Jones, who has “had two Queensland kids”, said he was excited by the opportunity at QRL to “try and support building capability and capacity and resourcing throughout competitions, and knowledge within those people, by exposing them to different opportunities”.

“It is a really challenging and exciting opportunity,” Jones said.  

“The key principle for me is about trying to get people all working in one direction.

“Our remit is to see more Queensland players playing in the NRL and NRLW, along with coaches and referees, and to do that, we need to try and make sure they're getting the best possible support wherever they are in the state.

“And if we can do that, hopefully the Queensland teams selected out of those competitions, are the best they can be.”

Jones, dad to Oliver, 4, and Isabelle, 1, said while he thought every sport was unique, there were consistent traits that lead to performance. 

“Obviously I'm coming from outside rugby league. So for me it's about trying to understand as much as I can around the culture, the 'why' - the aspirations of everyone, and trying to see where the opportunities are,” Jones said.

“But most importantly, just listening to as much as I can and trying to understand where everyone wants to go. And if we can get everyone working together, hopefully we get some momentum. 

Jones said the biggest opportunity for the QRL was “to continue to build upon the great framework we've got and the footprint in the state”.

Rugby league is within the psyche of Queensland

Brett Jones QRL senior pathways and performance manager

“We've got clubs that have great volunteer bases, people turn out on the weekend. It's within communities," Jones said. 

"If we can make sure those people keep feeling supported, and the ones that want to continue that journey beyond and upward are able to access genuine support to be the best version of themselves they can, hopefully that means people interacting on a daily basis within rugby league will be a little bit better each day. 

“There's not too many other sports that can have the sort of footprint we've got at a state level competition. With the investment and the capacity with full-time CEOs and support staff, I think is a wonderful opportunity, for us to continue to be leading the way. 

“I think all of the highest performers - whether they be coaches or players, they're always seeking continuous improvement. They've definitely got that growth mindset. And they're always looking to understand how things can be done a little bit better. 

“And if we can do that as a collective, I believe we can achieve some really positive things."