FATE would’ve dealt a cruel hand if Liam Jones’ AFL career was called at the hands of doctors, but it was a very real possibility.

It’s quite fitting that it’s this weekend that will mark Jones’ 150th game: Wednesday marked two years since what could have very well been his last moment on a football field.

Especially considering the last two years have arguably been the most consistent of his career, it would have been the most unfortunate of circumstances if a concussion sustained in Round 7 of 2019 would sideline Jones.

For someone who worked so hard to give himself an AFL lifeline, it was nearly gone in an instant.

It’s something which Jones has rarely spoken about since that game against North Melbourne, but the danger was very real.

“There were discussions about whether it might be the end of my career,” Jones told Carlton Media.

“I had to fly my dad down for what we called ‘D Day’: it was the big decision day with the AFL, catching up and doing a lot of tests, reviewing my hour-and-a-half brain scan and reviewing me.

“There were four or five specialists and there was going to be a decision on whether I could continue to play AFL or not.

“They put me through all of these tests and I was going ‘gee, I don’t know how I went in that one’. But then they gave me the green light.”

It was eight weeks after the incident before Jones finally returned to action, with the defender praising both the AFL and Carlton for the way in which the issue was handled.

Then, it was a fortnight after his return game when Jones signed on the dotted line at IKON Park, officially extending his stay at the Blues until at least the end of 2022.

The competition as a whole is continuing to put measures in place to appropriately deal with concussion, having brought in protocols this year which prevents players from featuring in games in the 12 days following any incident resulting in concussion.

It was his personal experience which Jones couldn’t help but reflect on the week of his milestone, and he maintains it continues to shape the way he goes about his football business.

“I’ll never lose that perspective of what it’s like to be taken away, not for a second,” he said.

“It’s another area that I reflect upon and think how grateful I am to be fit and healthy and running around, but also mindful that something might happen unfortunately and it might be my last game one day — or anyone’s last game.

“I’m trying to play every game like it’s my last and give everything I can, because you never know when you might get a head knock off someone.”

After the incident, Jones admitted “he couldn’t do anything” for three weeks, bed-ridden and simply waiting for the time to pass before his symptoms would subside.

Now ready to run out against the side where he made his start for his 150th game, his sheer gratitude to still be playing the game he loves as a kid continues to shine through.

“It was really stressful, first of all for my health: I couldn’t get up off the couch without my head spinning,” he said.

“As soon as I would get up from laying down or sitting down, my head would spin like it was in a washing machine. I couldn’t really do anything, I just felt so out of it.

“[After getting the all clear], I was just like ‘thank goodness’. To come back in, to be so happy and build back up to play against Fremantle in my first game back from concussion was an amazing feeling.”

For the full interview with Liam Jones, listen to the complete audio in the Whoooshka player embedded in this article.