IT’S been a big year and a bit for Matt Jones.

Roughly 15 months ago, Jones was not on an AFL list.

Fast forward to today and the midfielder has 22 AFL matches to his name, a fourth placing in Melbourne’s best and fairest and a contract extension until the end of 2016.

It’s a fair effort from the 26-year-old, who was overlooked in umpteen drafts, before gaining an opportunity at No.52 in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft.

“I learned heaps in my first AFL season,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“There are not too many guys who have two coaches in their first season, so I learned a lot there too, but it was a pretty bad season for the club.”

“Now we’ve got all of the new coaches and all of the new players, I think the club’s in a good place to go forward, so I think it’s exciting times ahead.”

Jones said the mood of the club was upbeat this pre-season and the players were relishing the freshness.

“This time last year, I felt the boys were up and about, but I just feel this year that all of the boys are coming into training and enjoying all the new coaches and all of the new faces as well,” he said.

Despite the rigours of pre-season, Jones said he found this year easier simply because he didn’t complete his first one.

“I didn’t come to the club until around November 24 [2012], so in terms of the pre-season training, I didn’t do heaps,” he said.

“This year, it’s stepped up for me, [Dean] Terlich and [Jimmy] Toumpas.

“I’m finding it a fair bit easier now, because I’m getting used to it, but it has stepped up a bit this pre-season. Last year, I didn’t do too much of the running until the middle of January.”