ON THE BACK of a five-game winning streak, Melbourne co-captain Nathan Jones says he has never "had this much fun playing footy" as he approaches his 250-game milestone against the Western Bulldogs this weekend.
The last time Melbourne won five consecutive games was in the first year of Jones' career back in 2006, before he had made his debut in round 17 of that season.
Jones now holds the VFL/AFL's longest streak for the most games (249) before recording five consecutive victories. It eclipses the 246 matches it took former Tiger Chris Newman to achieve that feat.
"I haven't had this much fun playing footy ever, since I was a young kid. The joy that I've had over the last few weeks has been hard to compare to at any stage of my career," Jones said on Wednesday.
"It's just the joy and connection and relationships with the playing group which we've put in place over the last four to five years, there's some pretty strong foundations there.
"To see some reward for that, for someone like me, is very fulfilling but we're well aware of where we're at in our journey."
Melbourne is all of a sudden being talked about as a premiership contender after successive wins over Essendon, St Kilda, Gold Coast, Carlton and Adelaide.
It is a far cry from the mediocre teams Jones has been apart of during his distinguished individual career, with the Demons winning back-to-back wooden spoons in 2008 and 2009.
Jones has played in 74 wins, 172 losses and three draws in his time at Melbourne after being taken with pick No.12 in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft.
He is also a three-time best and fairest winner at the Demons, although you do get a sense he has some unfinished business and that starts with winning a premiership before his career is done and dusted.
"I think there's urgency because I see something special here – nothing more than that really," Jones said.
"We've laid our cards out with our best footy and the challenge is to continue to build strong habits and behaviours around becoming a consistent team.
"If we do that and stay focussed on that and don't get ahead of ourselves, I think anything's possible.
"The last couple of years' premiers have proven that."
Jones has been largely durable over his career, although a serious neck injury – that required surgery in 2015 – and a quad injury that sidelined him for six weeks were challenges he had to overcome.
Nevertheless, Jones still believes he's got a few years left yet.
"I just want to play for as long as I can really. I take heaps of inspiration out of other players in the competition who have been able to play late into their thirties," Jones said.
"I don't see why I wouldn't be able to do that. There is a bit of luck involved in terms of being able to manage your body and stay injury free.
"Hopefully I'm in the right place and the right time … and see some success which is the hope."
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