Without doubt, Jones is a better player with Moloney, McDonald and McLean around him.

There is no doubt that absence of the 3 Ms puts more pressure on Jones.

However, the across the board poor disposal and turnover errors by MFC is just going to kill us in games.

Until we can learn to execute by hand and foot correctly, we will struggle.

The MFC coaching department need to make an assessment of which players they believe can step and consistently achieve these standards.

Those that dont pass the criteria need to be moved on as soon as possible.

There is no doubt that absence of the 3 Ms puts more pressure on Jones.

For me, Jones continually looked rushed yesterday whereas Valenti (despite getting caught a couple of times) looked more controlled. Jones had around 60% disposal efficiency which is far too low.

For me, Jones continually looked rushed yesterday whereas Valenti (despite getting caught a couple of times) looked more controlled. Jones had around 60% disposal efficiency which is far too low.

I think Jones is our lead midfielder at the moment and is copping a fair bit of pressure which is causing his disposal problems to exacerbate. At 20, he can improve his decision making. It would be interesting if Valenti was played in a similar role how he will go. He needs to be good by hand and foot to cover a lack of pace.

FWIW, I thought the pressure on the ball carrier was the only bright spot for WB in a lack lustre performance.

I think Jones is our lead midfielder at the moment and is copping a fair bit of pressure which is causing his disposal problems to exacerbate. At 20, he can improve his decision making. It would be interesting if Valenti was played in a similar role how he will go. He needs to be good by hand and foot to cover a lack of pace.

FWIW, I thought the pressure on the ball carrier was the only bright spot for WB in a lack lustre performance.

Agreed on all fronts.

Now off to the doctor!

I thought the real concern was that he played on Matthew Boyd (33 possies) and never laid a tackle on the bloke. 0 tackles for the game and a heap of turnovers.

Martin was one of the big plusses today IMO. Played on Hahn who has a much bigger body and consistently spoiled him. Good signs

martin is listed at 198cm and 97kg.

mitch hahn is listed at 188cm and 99kg (which seems wrong to me...)

minson who he actually played on is listed as 199cm and 106kg...

I think Jones is our lead midfielder at the moment and is copping a fair bit of pressure which is causing his disposal problems to exacerbate. At 20, he can improve his decision making. It would be interesting if Valenti was played in a similar role how he will go. He needs to be good by hand and foot to cover a lack of pace.

FWIW, I thought the pressure on the ball carrier was the only bright spot for WB in a lack lustre performance.

i think what you've said about jones is correct. he has limitations and when he is asked to be our number one they are exposed. i think there is a spot for him in a fully fit melbourne midfield but he will always struggle when getting the attention. at least he works hard to try and break the tags.

I think Valenti is coming on ok. He seems to have that ability to stand up..is a little slippery and when he has the ball you tend to expect he'll do something intelligent with it. He has easily amongst the best vision in the team ( oh that some others could be so infected !! ) . I think he is still coming to terms with the pace of AFL and as a result some of his diposals arent quite there yet. But have you noticed what he is trying to do with them ; often releasing the loose player back into the forward thrust or line up a corridor player. Happy to persist with him for the moment

FWIW, I thought the pressure on the ball carrier was the only bright spot for WB in a lack lustre performance.

I haven't seen a top 2 side play such roundabout football, or bomb it inside 50 in hope, as the Bulldogs did yesterday. Maybe in our ineptitude with disposal errors, we still managed to apply some pressure ourselves.

The fact that they were still able to cruise past us by a lacklustre 31 points makes all those turnovers even more annoying.

Its a fair call there ML. I see teh Pups are saying they under-played yesterday...or some such ort. You can only play the team that faces you on the day. I think much of that stuffing around on their part was a direct result of our offensive pressure. That was encouraging..

That they got away stil by 31 was I feel as much to do with OUR inability to maximise our chances as it was with any real superiority on their part.

We dont seem able to put the two sides of a game together quite yet..but its getting better in little steps

I haven't seen a top 2 side play such roundabout football, or bomb it inside 50 in hope, as the Bulldogs did yesterday. Maybe in our ineptitude with disposal errors, we still managed to apply some pressure ourselves.

The fact that they were still able to cruise past us by a lacklustre 31 points makes all those turnovers even more annoying.

Its nice when your side "did not come to play" and still wins by 5 goals.

The result and the effort of WB belies that at most times our work rate was commendable but our turnovers crucified us and let the WB punish us on the rebound even though their efforts were lazy.

I would at least like to think we gave it our best shot and we pushed a top team to a close victory. But this was not the case yesterday.

this thread is frustrating

shane valenti was born on 29/01/1987

nathan jones was born on 20/01/1988

DO PEOPLE NOT REALISE Nathan Jones is actually YOUNGER than Valenti

I'm definately a fan of both players but even though Jones has had more experiance, they are both developing

jones is younger than martin and only a couple of months older than garland

jones is much younger than chris johnson, moloney, brock mclean

yet people are suggesting him as trade bait??

he is one of our best developing midfielders

yes he makes some bad decisions but all young players do

give the YOUNG man some time...i know he has played a lot of games but he is still a fricken kid

valenti has played four games and he's one of my favourites atm...

however jones as trade bait????!!! are you crazy?

he works his arse off, is a future leader and is only 20

he was basically our number 1 midfielder yesterday which is a bloddy tough ask for a 20 year old

so what? he made some bad mistakes...but he takes the game on

he often gets caught but it is all a part of his learning

with mclean and mcdonald in the side, he looks a lot better

also, he is 20, he might struggle shaking tags (ie crowley who has played rough tactics all year on many players) but he has time on his hands

this thread is frustrating

yet people are suggesting him as trade bait??

What people are saying is even if Valenti isn't as good as Jones, if Valenti can cover Jone's output and we can get a good draft pick for Jones, it's only logical to have a think about it.

I'll still stick with Jones as he'll develop into a fine player and just hope Valenti can keep punching. I'm well and truly in Valenti's corner.

but a draft pick will only be a couple of months younger than jones and their is a much higher risk on them

jones was taken at pick 12: we would not get that for him through trade so quite frankly i think we would be taking a step backwards to get rid of him

What people are saying is even if Valenti isn't as good as Jones, if Valenti can cover Jone's output and we can get a good draft pick for Jones, it's only logical to have a think about it.

I'll still stick with Jones as he'll develop into a fine player and just hope Valenti can keep punching. I'm well and truly in Valenti's corner.

I thought Valenti and Martin both showed positive signs yesterday...Jones struggled with his disposal, but I'm certain he's a long-term player for us...there are some on this site who are very quick to jump on the negatives

Jones finished 2nd B & F last year in his first full season,what more do you guys want,name me any AFL footballer in any era who won the B & F in their first season? There's probably a couple and i know we had our worst injury riddled season i can remember last year but it's still a great effort.I love Jones because he is hard and tough and loves it that way,For about 3 minutes yesterday there was about 5 ballups on the spot and Jones was at the bottom of each pack trying to feed our receivers,he has the biggest balls in the team which is what we need.You won't see the best of Jones until he's 23-27.Our top 2 mids last year were McLean at 21 and Jones at 19,playing against the mature mids of West Coast and Geelong,we are going to get smashed more often than not in this situation,wait until McLean is 25 and Jones is 23,then you'll see them competing against mids their own size and experience with more support than they've had the last 18 months.

To say Jones should be trade bait,WOW,i can't begin to tell you how stupid that is.

To say Jones should be trade bait,WOW,i can't begin to tell you how stupid that is.

It's not stupid, we should jump at an appropriate trade. WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT BEING MEDIOCRE. We must keep pushing harder and harder until we win a premiership

but would you call jones mediocre??

i think he could become elite if he continues to develop well?

BETTER than the draft pick that we could possibly get for him

i think he could become elite if he continues to develop well

I doubt it.

It's not stupid, we should jump at an appropriate trade. WE CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT BEING MEDIOCRE. We must keep pushing harder and harder until we win a premiership

I have heard him being compared to Chapman, and not just in the the way he looks. If he's half as good as Chapman he'll be anything but Mediocre.

I THINK JONES WAS AWSOME \..

he's only young and he's running our midfield ..

so what his disposle effectivness isn't right up there give the young guy a break..

he works so hard and does such a good job getting us on the move..

I LOVE THIS GUY..

Keep in mind Jonesy is carrying a larger than fair expectaion and work load. Hes getting a bit frustrated and at times sloppy ( innacurate..call it what you like ) With more support next year..he'll settle further

We were due to get something from Sandy. Valenti and Martin really look the goods. The problem with Jones is he can't kick, he makes players like Godfrey and Bruce look like brilliant kicks until he can hit a target he will never improve.

I'm going to keep inserting this every time I come across one of these stupid threads:

Week after week you call for blood.

Over the past ten weeks it feels as though I’ve read it all:

SACK Bailey, TRADE Sylvia, DROP Brock, DELIST Dunn, FORGET Meesen, USELESS Bruce, OVERHYPED Morton, OVERATED Jones, MISSING Mc Namee, NAÏVE Stynes. NO Game plan, STUPID game plan, game plan too HARD, Etc, etc, etc…

Too many supporters have such incredibly high expectations of our club, it’s players and coaches. Expectations that no club in this competition, in this circumstance, would possibly try to adhere to.

All the clichés are true, we’re a fickle bunch. We want it all and we all want it NOW. Well I’m proposing to suggest we decide to get behind the club and support what is a difficult time in our history. To rethink our expectations and show a bit of respect.

Please Demonlander’s be patient. We are experiencing a cleansing of the mediocrity that has held us half way there for decades. Hell, be generous give Sylvia a SECOND pre-season, don’t be so hard give Dean Bailey a season (3 actually but I’m trying to be sarcastic), let the coaches settle on a position for young Dunn, then concoct your pathetic ultimatums. Now that DB knows Millers a forward, lets let him get some continuity in developing as one, give Morton time to eat steak, Give 21 YO Meesen the same time that every other club gives their talls. Stop, shower and shake yourself before you ever write off the two greatest players this club has in Brock and Jones Boy. Consider that Bell might be lacking a bit of confidence (now why might that be?)

Remember that awful thing you wrote about Garland all that TIME ago?

I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m in it for the long haul, not just this year and maybe next. As long as this heart beats it will beat RED and BLUE.

SUPPORT OUR CLUB. GO YOU BLOODY DEMONS.