People on these sites are so fickle. Yes, Jones had a mediocre year in '08. He was recognised by the opposition as our main midfield ball winner and tagged mercilessly. Think back to that game against Freo where we came back from 51 points down (I have this recorded and watch every few weeks). Crowley was almost carnal in his close attention. The fact is that Jones had a cr*p year in '08 and this year he will be back. He is one of our most desperate hard at it ball winners and you can't teach this instinct. There'll come a time when you are all singing his praises again. Mark my words!

People on these sites are so fickle. Yes, Jones had a mediocre year in '08. He was recognised by the opposition as our main midfield ball winner and tagged mercilessly. Think back to that game against Freo where we came back from 51 points down (I have this recorded and watch every few weeks). Crowley was almost carnal in his close attention. The fact is that Jones had a cr*p year in '08 and this year he will be back. He is one of our most desperate hard at it ball winners and you can't teach this instinct. There'll come a time when you are all singing his praises again. Mark my words!

I rate Mr Jones quiet highly - and I agree that he had a tough 2008 and will learn a lot from the close attention he copped. On another note I do recall hearing that he has a famous sporting mother - any idea who?

I rate Mr Jones quiet highly - and I agree that he had a tough 2008 and will learn a lot from the close attention he copped. On another note I do recall hearing that he has a famous sporting mother - any idea who?

Marion ... ?

People on these sites are so fickle. Yes, Jones had a mediocre year in '08. He was recognised by the opposition as our main midfield ball winner and tagged mercilessly. Think back to that game against Freo where we came back from 51 points down (I have this recorded and watch every few weeks). Crowley was almost carnal in his close attention. The fact is that Jones had a cr*p year in '08 and this year he will be back. He is one of our most desperate hard at it ball winners and you can't teach this instinct. There'll come a time when you are all singing his praises again. Mark my words!

You sound like yze magic with mark my words .

You sound like yze magic with mark my words .

Oh dear!!

Marion ... ?

Considering she is black - Gold

Yes i am with you on this one. Nathan Had that Bad year. I hope he has learnt over the last 4-5 months how to negate those tags for effectively. Jones is Tough & Hard. We need him Firing if we are to rise up the ladder.

I didnt post here in 2006, but occasionally came here to read what people had to say. At the end of the year, McLean was coming off a great season (topped off by his inspirational second-half effort in that elimination final against the Saints) and people here were hailing him as a future champion of the game, and even suggesting that he be made captain in 2007. It was pure hyperbole, mostly. For his part, Jones, in his first season, had adapted quickly to AFL football and, in general, was showing all the right signs. People went into 2007 expecting McLean to set the world on fire and possibly even lead us to a premiership, while any kind of improvement from Jones would be a positive.

In 2007, opposition coaches started taking McLean seriously and recognizing him as one of, if not our best midfielder- as a result he was heavily tagged throughout the year, and he struggled with form, injury and with carrying the midfield and copping the oppositions number one tagger at 21 years of age. By the end of the year, a lot of people jumped off the bandwagon (with some people even suggesting we trade him if he doesn't drastically improve in '08). In a nutshell, some people here saw that McLean wasn't superman (or Chris Judd for that matter) and seemed to lose sight of the fact that he was still a very good footballer with plenty of improvement left in him; they jumped from one silly extreme to the other, deciding that if he wasnt the once-in-a-generation freak they'd hoped for, then he wasn't even a good player. On the other hand, Jones was consistently good in 2007 (and occasionally very good) but was not heavily tagged by the opposition. Jones became the new golden boy; from what I recall there was a thread asking who was better between Jones and McLean and the opinion that Jones was better was quite mainstream at the time, if not the view of the majority. Although McLean obviously had more natural talent than Jones, and although it should have been obvious that McLean was receiving more attention from the opposition than Jones, people still started rating Jones higher, apparently purely because he got more frequent clean possessions. The reality was, and is, that McLean will be at least a good player, possibly a great one, while Jones will be at least a decent player, possibly a good one.

Early last year, McLean's form was pretty good and I think most of us are now quite confident that as he matures, he'll start to beat taggers more often than not. We had alot of key players hard-hit by injuries though, including McLean, and by the middle of the year Jones suddenly found himself as our number one midfielder. He was suddenly coping with all the same pressures which McLean had had to deal with the year before: copping the oppositions number one tagger and carrying a shambles of a midfield (if anything, he had to carry an even weaker midfield than McLean), and naturally he struggled with the task. Meanwhile we rookied a player, in Valenti, who is smaller, slower and a less penetrating kick than Jones, but who occasionally outplayed Jones because he was not subject to anywhere near the same opposition pressure. As a result the same sort of thing has happened: people have jumped off the Jones bandwagon in droves, and some have even ignored the fact that Jones has been subject to far more attention than Valenti argued that Valenti is actually better than Jones. The reality is that Jones will be at least a decent player, possibly a good one, while Valenti will at best be a decent player, but probably wont make it at all.

My gut feeling is that in a few years time, Jones will mature both physically and mentally, making him much harder to tag out of a game. He will also hopefully be our third or fourth best midfielder instead of our #1, meaning the opposition wont be able to afford him the same kind of attention they did last year. He'll be a fearsome player as a result, and alot of the people criticizing him now will be singing his praises.

Who's anti Jones?

Not me!

Does anyone else think this thread has popped up out of nowhere?

I haven't read many comments 'laying into' Jones of late.

Shirley Jones?

No wait, she was a singer and actress.

Is she bald?

Id be assuming her name wasn't Jones then.

Cant think of any chunky, tree trunk shaped, bald, famous sportswomen.

grace

Jones will be nothing more than a good toiler in the midfield. That is not necessarily a bad thing if he learns to play to his abilities ie: handball rather than kick, give off first option rather than try and run with).

Personally, I'm not sure what Jones will become. He has to hit more targets with his feet, it's a non-issue with me that he can't kick 40m, he needs to lower his eyes or hand it off to someone with a better kick.

Bottom line is that can get the footy, which is great. But he had an awful 2008, due in part to close tagging and his own decision making.

Hoping for a solid 2009.

Chunk is just fine as far as I'm concerned. He's not scared to get dirty and seems to do the best he can. He's easily in my best 22.

... 

My gut feeling is that in a few years time, Jones will mature both physically and mentally, making him much harder to tag out of a game.  He will also hopefully be our third or fourth best midfielder instead of our #1, meaning the opposition wont be able to afford him the same kind of attention they did last year.  He'll be a fearsome player as a result, and alot of the people criticizing him now will be singing his praises.

What a wonderfully insightful post.

To echo your sentiments, I have long suspected that the harsh/fickle/shallow criticism doled out to some of our less experienced players is rooted in the desperate wish for an on-field messiah.

Unfortunately I can empathise with the frustration and despondency that underlies this thinking.

With any luck they will both have a good season in 2009.

I expect Brock in particular to assert himself this year, and hopefully Jones will benefit from having more people to share the load/handball to (in the midfield).

What a wonderfully insightful post.

To echo your sentiments, I have long suspected that the harsh/fickle/shallow criticism doled out to some of our less experienced players is rooted in the desperate wish for an on-field messiah.

Unfortunately I can empathise with the frustration and despondency that underlies this thinking.

With any luck they will both have a good season in 2009.

I expect Brock in particular to assert himself this year, and hopefully Jones will benefit from having more people to share the load/handball to (in the midfield).

Completely agree. Well done 2 sheds. Its food for thought but will be missed by those that need to heed it the most.

... 

My gut feeling is that in a few years time, Jones will mature both physically and mentally, making him much harder to tag out of a game.  He will also hopefully be our third or fourth best midfielder instead of our #1, meaning the opposition wont be able to afford him the same kind of attention they did last year.  He'll be a fearsome player as a result, and alot of the people criticizing him now will be singing his praises.

That's a good summary and I'm probably guilty of some of the things you mention.

Jones will become a very important part of our midfielder, although he's probably already in that bracket. I doubt that he'll ever win a brownlow or anything like that but my expecations (barring injury) are a long consistent career.

I've been critical of some of CAC's first round picks but both the Jones and McLean picks were great choices.

People on these sites are so fickle. Yes, Jones had a mediocre year in '08. He was recognised by the opposition as our main midfield ball winner and tagged mercilessly. Think back to that game against Freo where we came back from 51 points down (I have this recorded and watch every few weeks). Crowley was almost carnal in his close attention. The fact is that Jones had a cr*p year in '08 and this year he will be back. He is one of our most desperate hard at it ball winners and you can't teach this instinct. There'll come a time when you are all singing his praises again. Mark my words!

Hope so!

No Baldy knocking here, opps i just knocked him, what i meant to say is no Jones knocking here.

His mother was one of the gladiators in the tv show of the same name.

His mother was one of the gladiators in the tv show of the same name.

Joan Jones?

Indiana?

Christmas?

Jones will be nothing more than a good toiler in the midfield. That is not necessarily a bad thing if he learns to play to his abilities ie: handball rather than kick, give off first option rather than try and run with).

Noticed Jones went 3-12 in the Hawks match. If anyone can benefit from Scott West it's NJ. I reckon he can be a lot better than a good toiler.