2008 Player Review - #2 Nathan Jones

[beelzebub 22,225]

Many salient points.. some realistic others..a bit too Demon-centric

Whenever we are ajudicating the whys and wherefores of any of our players, it probably makes sense to compare against hte AFL benchmark players.. not our own team. People..we finished 16th..its hardly the yardstick is it ??

[QueenC 74]

Many salient points.. some realistic others..a bit too Demon-centric

Whenever we are ajudicating the whys and wherefores of any of our players, it probably makes sense to compare against hte AFL benchmark players.. not our own team. People..we finished 16th..its hardly the yardstick is it ??

Nope, just the unfortunate reality ......

As for young Nathan I agree with Rhino, he was the guy having to shoulder a massive and fairly singular burden in a staggeringly sub-par midfield.

There are pros and cons for every player but I am never one to throw people away in reckless trades that may or may not benefit the side (and I honestly believe very few clubs will be trading worthy picks anyway) at any time, and it seems especially silly to trade away young players with this much up side.

Work needs to be done on his game no question, his kicking and decision making not to mention some improvement in his speed would be nice, but with a few other stronger bodies and more mature heads around him (like in other mid-fields in the comp) I would hope that we will see a massive improvement in him.

[beelzebub 22,225]

The essential thing about al this is..there are TWO issues.

1) is he any good and can he become better

and

2) is he tradable ?

to 1) yes he is ..and hopefully does

to 2) of course he can..anybody can!!

[Guest unstable punt]

That might be a reasaonable direction to put him. He does ok to initiate the rebounds..just comes undone in the linking. many will suggest thats the result of the extra attention...but if that IS the result of the extra attention it does us no good to have that as the effect.

he needs to refind ..."something"

disposal is not good enough for back flank, he is an in and under midfielder who needs to get it out to others who can kick

[Lord Travis 10,176]

Excellent post then, Excellent post now.

Thanks :D

Hopefully Jones will have a better year next year with alot more support around him in the midfield.

[gOLLy 401]

Many salient points.. some realistic others..a bit too Demon-centric

Whenever we are ajudicating the whys and wherefores of any of our players, it probably makes sense to compare against hte AFL benchmark players.. not our own team. People..we finished 16th..its hardly the yardstick is it ??

Spot on.

[H_T 2,941]

Nathan Jones - A pretty good midfielder at 20 years of age. Gives his all. Showed some signs of wear and tear in a depleted midfield, was shown respect by opposition assigning taggers to him. Not available for trade.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

The essential thing about al this is..there are TWO issues.

1) is he any good and can he become better

and

2) is he tradable ?

to 1) yes he is ..and hopefully does

to 2) of course he can..anybody can!!

You missed out on the third question.

3) Will MFC receive better value by retaining him and improving his skills or trade him with no market value based on assessed mediocre performances in a 16th side?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

3.33 clearances a game.

For a 20 year old.

The most in our team.

You guys want to trade him.

Correct.

Yes take something while we can.

And given your low opinion of him, what would a smart well researched team offer for an "obviously" NQR player in the market? At best he is a low second round pick possibly third round pick? And what gems would you expect to find at that level in the draft?

Commander Picard is right on this one.

[gOLLy 401]

Correct.

And given your low opinion of him, what would a smart well researched team offer for an "obviously" NQR player in the market? At best he is a low second round pick possibly third round pick? And what gems would you expect to find at that level in the draft?

Commander Picard is right on this one.

But you wouldn't take Cousins or Kerr would ya?

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

But you wouldn't take Cousins or Kerr would ya?

Nahh!

The retention of Jones is not dependent nor a factor if we did go for either Cousins or Kerr. MFC wont be interested and I bet you neither Kerr or Cousins is interested in MFC either.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,237]

Jones played his worst footy after round 14, when McLean went down. Interesting correlation there.

I'm still clinging hope from his round 6 game against Brisbane when he was outstanding with 4 goals.

[deanox 8,630]

Jones played his worst footy after round 14, when McLean went down. Interesting correlation there.

I'm still clinging hope from his round 6 game against Brisbane when he was outstanding with 4 goals.

interesting point actually. while he doesnt seem to run to places to get loose kicks around the ground, early in the year when we had a fit midfield, he was able to push forward and kick a few goals, a trait our midfielders have been lacking recently.perhaps that can become his niche when the rest of the team is around, allowing moloney and mclean to get the kicks while jones drifts forward to snare a few.

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

Valenti > Jones.

[H_T 2,941]

Valenti > Jones.

I don't think so.

[Bring-Back-Powell 13,237]

interesting point actually. while he doesnt seem to run to places to get loose kicks around the ground, early in the year when we had a fit midfield, he was able to push forward and kick a few goals, a trait our midfielders have been lacking recently.perhaps that can become his niche when the rest of the team is around, allowing moloney and mclean to get the kicks while jones drifts forward to snare a few.

Point in case being the second Hawthorn game where he kicked a couple of critical goals, while McLean was racking up the touches in the centre.

If you looked at the best players in the first 14 weeks, you'll find that Jones featured heavily and l reckon he'll be leading the B & F at the half-way point.

[beelzebub 22,225]

Valenti > Jones.

Cant quite agree.. but Valenti has better vision and ability to do something with it, he's cleverer by foot. Now if we could just merge these two !!

[deanox 8,630]

he had 9 goals 4 behinds by round 11 (kicked goals in 5 games), played 10 more games and only kicked 2 behinds...

perhaps there is a correlation here?

it will be interesting to see if he kicks a few goals next year when mclean is back. he doesnt have to kick 4 each week, just 1 or 2 so that we have goals coming from the midfield.

[jacey 333]

Cant quite agree.. but Valenti has better vision and ability to do something with it, he's cleverer by foot. Now if we could just merge these two !!

Ahh.. the old merging players talents.

Valenti into Buckley's body.

Sylvia into Newton's body.

Rivers into anyone else's body.

and the old chestnut. Merging TJ's skills with Godfrey's heart.

[Mono 454]

Valenti > Jones.

Yep. Agree

[deanox 8,630]

if you throw carrolls brain in godfreys head on hollands body it could become like frankenstein...

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

if you throw carrolls brain in godfreys head on hollands body it could become like frankenstein...

He still couldn't kick...

[Tatu 416]

Wow... Lol... Maybe some demonlanders should consider how wrong they were here, and then consider their judgements of our current group...

[Green Machine 63]

QUOTE(Clint Bizkit @ Sep 9 2008, 11:46 AM) ←Valenti > Jones.Yep. Agree

I didn't mind Valenti, was odd that we got rid of him I thought. Didn't he play 4 or 5 games and get a bit of the ball in all of them ?

Edit: I in no way think he is better then Nate the Great !!

Edited September 16, 2014 by Green Machine

[jabberwocky 2,301]

I like Jones he wins the hard ball more than any other demon. He does need to be reprogrammed to fire out the quick handball to a team-mate in a better position. He should practice this skill till he wears callouses on his hands. The other issue is that he needs team-mates in the right position to be able to get it to.

Jones and Buckley to a lesser extent have the right mindset in that they are attacking and attempt to take the game on. This needs to be tempered with commonsense and an awareness of their ability level at senior level. Hopefully they have learnt a lot about this this season. I also don't believe that they have problems with their skills. The problem is with a lack of suitable targets and decision making.

Jones in a good side would feel a less responsibility to take the game on and more inclined to play within his limitations and perfect the extraction of the hard ball.

Kinda sorta thereabouts.

Edited September 16, 2014 by jabberwocky