By Robert Lowe
October 10th 2008 @ 2:05am
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Jones happy to feel the pain for Wiki
Stacey Jones admits the body will struggle a bit when he comes out of retirement to play one last game of rugby league in honour of good mate Ruben Wiki.
Jones will be the starting halfback for the All Golds against the New Zealand Maori in New Plymouth on Sunday.
The All Golds are drawn primarily from the Kiwi squad preparing for the World Cup, with the addition of Jones, Wiki and another former international in Logan Swann.
For Wiki and Swann, the match will be their final one in New Zealand now that their time in the NRL has come to an end.
Wiki asked Jones to be part of the All Golds a couple of months ago and the “Little General” went back into training in preparation.
“But I don’t expect to be out there for the whole game, and I wouldn’t be able to anyway,” he said.
“I’ll just duck and dive wherever I can and have a small involvement.”
Wiki and Jones’ Kiwi careers virtually overlap.
Wiki, 35, made his debut in 1994 and went on to amass a world record 55 Test caps. Jones, 32, played 46 Tests from 1995.
The pair, who spent one season together at club level with the New Zealand Warriors in 2005, retired from international football after the 2006 Tri-Nations.
Jones went on to complete a Super League season with French club Les Catalans before a swansong appearance with the All Golds against the Northern Union in England last October.
He said he had to think twice when Wiki sounded him out about putting his boots back on because he hadn’t played for so long.
But Jones felt honoured to have been asked to be part of a special occasion for someone who had given so much to the game in New Zealand.
“He puts pride in the New Zealand jersey and is so passionate about it,” he said.
“He puts his team-mates first. That’s the sort of bloke he is. If we can repay him in a small way, then that’s good. He’s a great mate of mine and what he has done for New Zealand rugby league has been outstanding.”
Jones said was looking forward to running with the likes of Kiwi five-eighth Benji Marshall for the All Golds.
“It’s going to be great to be out there with them, even though they’ll be halfway up the field and I’ll be at the back,” he said.
“This is the start of the campaign for the Kiwis. It’s a serious game for all of us and we want to kick things off on the right foot.”
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