Louisa Wall: Thanks Stacey, you made us proud

Tonight at Brookvale Oval, the home of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Stacey Jones will close the New Zealand Warriors chapter of his life.

The next chapter starts when he begins playing with French club Union Treiziste Catalane (UTC), in the south of France.

Formed through a merger of the famous XIII Catalan and St Esteve clubs, UTC or Les Catalans were selected ahead of Toulouse and Villeneuve to enter the European Super League, and are the only team in the league not based in Britain. It is hoped UTC players will form the backbone of the national team as 75 per cent of them qualify to play for France.

So, it seems our Little General is to become the General of Les Catalans, a team hoping to last longer than Paris Saint Germain, the only other French side to have played in the Super League. They lasted just two seasons.

The other chapter we should all be praying for is Stacey's availability to play for the Kiwis. Let's hope Les Catalans' desire to contribute to a strong national team indicates a sense of nationalism that will see the club support any ambitions he has to play for New Zealand again.

Hopefully, with distance and some reflective time, Stacey may come to the conclusion that playing for his country and his new professional club are not mutually exclusive.

My favourite Stacey Jones moment, in addition to all those matches he played in the Kiwi jersey, was his famous try in the 2002 Grand Final. That could only be topped by a New Zealand-based team actually winning the championship.

That run, six minutes into the second half against the Sydney Roosters, who had led into the break, saw Jones evade what seemed to be almost all of their team to dot down to the left of the posts, putting the Warriors into the lead.

Jones has been responsible for producing so much pride and joy in the Warriors' supporters and Kiwi league fans, so it is truly sad to see him go.

But it is a well-timed move, given the opportunity that has opened up with Les Catalans.

There are 12 teams in the Super League competition and plenty of Kiwi and former Warriors team-mates to lend him a helping hand as he begins this new and exciting chapter of his life.

May his good form continue and may he be as successful at Les Catalans as he has been at the Warriors.

His career to date runs from being an 18-year-old in 1995 through to ending his tenure at the Warriors as the top try-scorer and points-scorer in the history of the club.

As Kiwis, we know for sure that he will continue to do us proud. That's his style.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand netball and rugby representative.