KEY POINTS:
It's a measure of Stacey Jones that the little man with the big heart should talk so easily about playing for the Vulcans at the same time he announced his return to the Warriors from retirement.
Jones, still only 32, is a star; adrawcard. Surely he'd be
slipped straight into the Warriors first team to plug the halfback gap the club has struggled with for some time now.
Well, no. The Warriors are taking a realistic view of a man who did not play last year and who, before that, was playing for Les Catalans in a lesser competition compared to the NRL.
Then there's Jones' innate sense of modesty and fair play. He might hold Warriors club scoring and playing records but the little guy with the big reputation is going big on caution and small on pulling rank.
"It will be a long, hard process coming back," he says. "I know there's a long way to go. I decided that I would sign with the club but I won't be coming out and going straight back in the team _ there's a lot of hard work to be done first.
"I have to earn that position, same as anyone else, if I get that far, and I know it could all go wrong. I have thought about all that."
The intense physical and mental strain exacted upon NRL players and their week-in, week-out performance can be hard to cope with once a player has waved goodbye to it.
"It's very tough and I know that and I know there's a lot to do," says Jones who was tapped on the shoulder by canny Warriors coach Ivan Cleary after he had watched Jones preparing for the recent All Golds matches by working out at the Warriors.
Asked if he would turn out for the Vulcans as part of his preparation, Jones doesn't hesitate. "If that was what was needed, definitely.
"If I have to go to the Vulcans or even club football, I will certainly do that if it will help me. I'd be keen to do it. Ruben Wiki played for the Vulcans this year and, anyway, I think everyone has to be prepared to do that and I know that it would help me as well."
Jones' return was made all the more surprising because it wasn't generally known that he had a one-year "don't play" condition written into his parting with the Catalans, who play in the UK Super League.
Playing in a competition on the other side of the globe would ordinarily not worry a club like the Catalans. But they had their fingers burned by Parramatta's Ian Hindmarsh.
Like Jones, Hindmarsh wanted out of his contract with Les Catalans.
"But he said he wanted to leave for business reasons and the club let him go. Then they discovered he was playing for Parramatta again and they didn't like it," said Jones.
Hindmarsh played his final season in 2007 and is now retired.
So, when a homesick Jones said he wanted to go with a year left on his three-year contract, the club were happy to let him _ but made sure they applied the 12-month "don't play" condition.
"They were very good about it and said they wouldn't stand in my way and, to be honest, I wsn't thinking of playing again at all," says Jones. "The desire probably wasn't there and I really didn't think about it again _ and the desire didn't surface _ until the All Golds and when Ivan spoke to me."
Jones' presence will help to balance a Warriors side which performed above expectations last year but has long had a problem in the halves in finding consistent playmakers and matchwinners.
Nathan Fien and Grant Rovelli have shared the duties at halfback though Rovelli's form fell away while Fien came on strongly later in the season.
Now Jones will add to the balance and will help promote competition in a position where there has often been gap-plugging rather than a contest for selection.
Similarly, new signing Joel Moon will focus mostly on five-eighths where he will battle with Michael Witt for the starting jersey.
That means the Warriors have now taken large steps to fill the holes that most knowledgeable commentators have said they most needed to _ the creative and calming influence of good halves who can run a game fluently.
Even if Jones does not play every week or maybe even most weeks, his presence will be valuable for a club in the same way that Wiki's has been.
But while the club is being conservative about how often Jones will play, do not bet against it being a lot. He might have been out of the big stuff for a while but there is no doubting Jones' mental toughness and, though small, he is strong.
Most will be watching to see if that scampering speed is still there but one thing is for sure. If Stacey Jones says he wants to play, he wants to play.
