Retired Carlton defender Liam Jones could make his AFL return through the Western Bulldogs, the club that first drafted the forward-turned-defender in 2008.
Jones is tipped to be in the sights of several clubs this season following the AFL's easing of their vaccine policy, seeing the 31-year-old made available to play next year.
While the Blues and Lions are among the clubs that won't pursue Jones' services, the Bombers, and now Bulldogs, have met with the key defender to discuss his playing future.
As revealed by News Corp, Jones was seen visiting Bulldogs football boss Chris Grant's home in Williamstown on Tuesday, sparking murmurs of a potential Kennel comeback.
It is understood that Bulldogs list manager Sam Power was also present at the meet-up, with Jones having flown down to Melbourne to open talks with multiple clubs.
But despite the reports, Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge called the instance as sheer coincidence.
"You know Liam's manager lives a few doors up from Chris Grant, so someone's obviously seen him walking into his manager's place and assumed it was Granty's place," Beveridge said.
"With any potential acquisition players, I'll always be silent during the year just out of respect for our own playing group.
"Anything that's in the pipeline from a list management perspective I'm always silent on, so I won't give you any confirmation or otherwise on any players we might be thinking about."
The 161-gamer, who joined the Dogs as the 32nd overall pick in the 2008 National Draft, has plied his trade for Palm Beach Currumbin in the QAFL this year after calling time on his AFL career last November due to the competition's vaccine mandate.
Jones has used this season to keep himself fit and ready for a potential recall into the AFL, an outcome that now looks likely following the league's new stance on vaccinations for its players.
Defender
Essendon has been spotted meeting with Jones, who could fill a void at several sides for next season.
The Bombers are currently easing veteran Michael Hurley back into action, while the Bulldogs are pressing for someone to aid the workload of Alex Keath and Ryan Gardner down back.
Essendon coach Ben Rutten told 3AW this week the club were doing their due diligence in holding conversations with Jones.
“It was noted that we caught up with him a couple of weeks ago which was really just part of our due diligence,” Rutten said.
“We’re always looking for opportunities to improve our list and Liam Jones is obviously a quality player.
“Where that goes with us, I’m not sure, it was just a preliminary chat just to see where he’s at.
“At the time that we met him there wasn’t much certainty around whether he was going to be able to play or not.
“Still a fair bit of water to go under the bridge for us and it’s a bit of due diligence for us at the moment.”
Jones played 66 games for the Bulldogs from 2009-2014, mostly as a forward before switching to Princes Park ahead of the 2015 season, where he played 95 games and transformed into a formidable defensive stopper.
The Tasmanian native won't be able to rejoin an AFL list without an exemption until the 2023 Mid-Season Draft, with Carlton likely to gain compensation should he arrive any earlier.
