Former Adelaide wingman Chayce Jones is coming home to Tasmania, signing with the Devils for the 2027 VFL season after 100 AFL games with the Crows.
The 26-year-old from Longford in the Northern Midlands was taken by Adelaide with the ninth pick in the 2018 AFL Draft.
“I’m excited by this opportunity to head back home and play for Tassie,” Jones said.
“I feel like my time in the AFL has taught me a lot and I’m excited to bring some of those experiences back to the Devils.”
“I’m still driven to play AFL and felt this opportunity was the best chance for me to showcase that, so I’m fit and ready to get stuck in with the program and get to work.”
Before being drafted, Jones played senior football for Launceston in the Tasmanian State League and captained Tasmania to an Academy Series premiership in 2018.
That year he was also named All-Australian at the AFL Under-18 Championships, averaging 21.5 disposals and 6.8 tackles a game for the Allies.
After debuting in the opening round of 2019, he won Adelaide’s Mark Bickley Emerging Talent Award in his first season. His best year came in 2023, when he averaged a career-high 17.4 disposals across 18 games.
Tasmania’s head of list management and strategy, Todd Patterson, said bringing Jones home was a significant moment as the club prepared for its second VFL campaign.
“To have Chayce come home and pull on a Tasmania jumper again is a big moment for our club and our state,” Patterson said.
“He’s spent eight years in an AFL program and our younger players will get to see firsthand how he prepares and goes about his football.”
Under a program outlined this week by the club’s head of development, Nigel Lappin, the Devils’ young players will train with the VFL squad on Monday nights and Fridays.
Lappin, a three-time Brisbane premiership player, said the club had a chance to “unite a whole state” ahead of its AFL debut in 2028.
The signing of Jones follows former Collingwood-listed defender Joel Cochran signing for the Devils for 2027. The 20-year-old played 28 VFL games for the Magpies after being taken with pick 47 in the 2024 AFL Draft.
They join fellow former AFL-listed recruits Jack Williams, George Stevens and Xavier Walsh at the club.
