Tony Jones

Nine News sports presenter Tony Jones studied at a radio school before beginning his career in radio newsrooms in country Victoria and Melbourne's 3AW. He joined GTV Channel 9 in May 1986, making the move from news into sport.

Tony began reading weekend sports bulletins in 1988 and moved to weeknight sports presenting in 1990. He has also presented Nine News on numerous occasions.

Tony has always been sports minded, with what he describes as "an overall interest and knowledge of most sports, with an emphasis on football". Tony did play football, but admits his footy career was not one of "great notoriety".

Tony received enormous critical acclaim for his one-hour special tribute to Victorian football legend, EJ Whitten. The former Footscray champion was close to death when the special went to air in 1995 and Tony was moved when family members told him Ted Whitten watched the program twice and loved it.

In the past 18 years, Tony has covered all Australia's major sporting events. During 1994 Tony covered the historic tour of South Africa by the Australian cricket team and received the Victorian Cricket Association's Best Television Story Award for his exclusive story of Dean Jones' retirement from international cricket.

During the tour, Tony witnessed history as South Africa was heading towards its first open elections. He met future president, Nelson Mandela. Tony took the opportunity to ask him several pertinent questions about the South African team's chances against the Australians.

In 1995, Tony combined his Nine News commitments with a breakfast radio program on Gold FM with Greg Evans during the week. On Saturdays he presented The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a one-hour show with Lou Richards and Jason Dunstall. In 1997, this show aired on Fridays without Dunstall.

In 1998, Tony joined former Melbourne coach Neil Balme and sports journalist Linda Pearce to present a sports show on GOLD FM called The Curtain Raisers.

Tony also hosted Sports Sunday in 1998, a live weekly program renowned for its quality reporting, for breaking major sports stories and winning numerous prestigious awards.

2001 saw Tony take on the role of producer on the Sunday Footy Show, as well as presenter of the regular "Just a Minute" segment for 5.30 with Jennifer Keyte.

2002 was an especially busy year for Tony. Along with his news commitments, he joined Nine's Friday Night Football team, produced the Allan Border Medal telecast, and continued producing the Sunday Footy Show.

In 2003, Tony hosted Nine's Sunday afternoon AFL coverage, including Nine's Sunday Football and Nine's Sunday Football Live. He also made headlines when he was able to retrieve Lauren Burns's Olympic gold medal in a National Nine News exclusive.

In 2004, Tony continues to spread his talents, reporting for Nine's Today program and presenting on Melbourne sports radio station SEN.

Tony and his wife Annette live in Melbourne with their eight-year-old son Mitchell and four-year-old daughter Lauren.