SCG mirrors backyard for Jones boys

FORGET the drop-in pitch, the SCG is about to become a drop-in backyard.

Sydney Swans star Zak Jones says a childhood spent “copping the brunt of all the beat downs” has him ready for anything in tonight’s mouthwatering AFL match-up against Melbourne co-captain and elder brother Nathan.

The SCG centre square might as well be the cement driveway that ran through the Jones family’s yard, and the goalsquare all those windows that shattered from kicking the ball inside.

Zak, 24, and Nathan, 31, have matched-up against each other once before, and if there’s one thing the younger brother has learnt, it’s that the primal sibling instincts will return.

“To be honest, I didn’t really think about it at the time until he kneed me in the back of the head in our forward line and I was like, ‘who was that?’ I looked up and Nathan was giving me a cheeky grin as he was running off,” Zak said.