MELBOURNE captain Nathan Jones says his life membership award is the ultimate honour.

Jones, who was drafted to Melbourne in the 2005 NAB AFL Draft at pick No.12, has so far notched up 201 games for the club. He played his 200^th game in round 22 of the 2015 season.

Describing the life membership as a “huge achievement,” Jones said that the award wasn’t likely to sink in until further down the track.

“It’s hard to put into words at this stage; it’s probably something I’ll reflect on more deeply when my career ends,” he told melbournefc.com.au.  

“Ever since the day I got here, I’ve always said that that I’ll be Melbourne through and through.

“I really love the place and I’ll definitely be making it worthwhile once my career ends.”

Casting his mind back to the early days of his career, Jones said he still has distinct memories of his first season at Melbourne.

“I still remember being at the AFL draft over at Etihad Stadium that day and being called out which was a real relief,” he said.

“I was pretty nervous about potentially moving interstate, away from my family, but it couldn’t have worked out any better for me being a young kid from down the Peninsula.

“My debut was in Adem Yze’s 250^th game and we played in a couple of finals that first year. I was a massive St Kilda fan and lining up on Robert Harvey in my eighth game [of AFL] in front of almost 70,000 on a Friday night in a final was another memory I’ll never forget.”

Still very much at the peak of his career, Jones said despite many ups and downs over his 10 years at Melbourne, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I’ve always been grateful for the opportunity and every time that I’ve negotiated a contract, I’ve never wanted to look beyond here because I absolutely love the place,” he said.

“Experiencing some success and playing with some of the great names early in my career has always driven me to get back to that level.

“I think it would have been easy to jump ship, but I’m hoping that when success does come, it’ll all be worth it.”

Jones said that when the time does come to reflect on his life membership, he hopes it will be the culmination of all his achievements at Melbourne.

“I think that [the life membership] is the cherry on top; it’s an acknowledgement to loyalty and persistence. I think that the guys who have been named before with an honour like this, they’ve had a significant contribution to the Melbourne Football Club and where it stands in history.

“For a club that is steeped in so much history, it’s an honour to be recognised as a life member.”