The New Zealand Warriors have announced that the Little General, Stacey Jones, is coming out of retirement, and has signed a one year deal with the club.

Jones has not played for the Warriors in three years, although he did play a couple of seasons for Les Catalans in the Super League. More recently, he played in the one-off All Golds Test against the New Zealand Maori.

This decision has come completely out of the blue. To be completely honest, we thought it was a joke when we first heard it announced. The more we think about it, though, the more we think this could be a brilliant move by Ivan Cleary. It's no secret that Grant Rovelli has struggled to play consistent footy at halfback, but with someone like the Little General looking for game time, Rovelli may be forced to make a drastic improvement. Either that, or face the scrap heap.

Cleary has said that Jones is not guaranteed a starting position, and will have to prove to the coaching staff that he is capable of playing the high level of footy he is known for - but someone with the class he has should have no problem adjusting to the daily grind of the NRL.

At 32 years of age his comeback is unlikely to be a lengthy one, but with the form the Warriors showed in the back end of this season, he may only have to play one more year to gain that elusive NRL Premiership.

(The season hasn't even started, and we already think the Warriors can win...OK, maybe we're thinking too far ahead...)

No doubt many people will think he's too old to make an impact, but just remember the year that Ruben Wiki had. Sometimes age can be an advantage, especially when you've been around as long as Stacey has.

The only bad part about this news? It makes us wish the 2009 season was starting next weekend. Five months is a long time to wait...