In an exclusive column for Code Sports, Jong revealed he wasn’t ready for the “whirlwind” that followed after he entered the Magpies’ Olympic Park headquarters under the cover of darkness days before a clash with Sydney in 2016.

Just 22-years-old and 29 games into his AFL career, Jong met with then Magpies coach Nathan Buckley, list manager Derek Hine and football boss Geoff Walsh for a “casual” 45-minute conversation about this future and the two-year contract the Bulldogs had presented.

But the night took a turn with a tour of the club’s facilities.

“In my head I thought, ‘That’s not good’,” Jong said after being spotted by what he assumed were four VFL players in for a late-night gym session.

“I’d already seen the facilities before I got drafted five years earlier, but I didn’t want to be rude and decline the offer.

“That moment kicked off a whirlwind few days which I wasn’t quite prepared for.”

Despite his attempts to keep it a secret, a week later news had got around and the story broke.

“I was out at dinner with a few other teammates when my phone lit up,” Jong said.

“I answered the call but didn’t do much talking myself.

“Bevo was clearly quite emotional, having just read the Herald Sun story which had broken online that evening about my meeting with the Magpies.

“His message was around trust: ‘How can I trust you and how can the players trust you?’

“In my head, I’m immediately thinking, ‘I’ve screwed up, my career’s done and the Bulldogs will probably pull the contract offer off the table now’.”

And that was just the beginning.