Nathan Jones - Big Steps

[jabberwocky 2,301]

Still hitting the ball hard, still getting his hands on it in the contests but is now consistently hitting targets with sure, sharp disposal. He has made big improvements. Some of his kicking in recent weeks has been better than good.

Lowering his eyes, looking inboard and settling himself has made all the difference. I have always believed that he is a good kick of the footy and that it was the subtleties that he needed to work on. He is such a determined character I always believed he could work it out.

He has been flying under the radar a little bit but will be an extremely important player going forward.

Edited August 30, 2009 by dandeeman

[demon_king 13]

I think you have summed it up well.

[Old Gregg 1]

He hit some huge torps today...played very well.

[MrMoose 316]

Totally agree - honest, tough player who is not scared to have a crack - a very important one for our future.

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

Still hitting the ball hard, still getting his hands on it in the contests but is now consistently hitting targets with sure, sharp disposal. He has made big improvements. Some of his kicking in recent weeks has been better than good.

Lowering his eyes, looking inboard and settling himself has made all the difference. I have always believed that he is a good kick of the footy and that it was the subtleties that he needed to work on. He is such a determined character I always believed he could work it out.

He has been flying under the radar a little bit but will be an extremely important player going forward.

Great post. I had been thinking along similar lines of late, especially with his kicking which i had been very critical of at times. He also may have increased his strength through his core, because he appears to be breaknig tackles he was once getting caught in.

[Sir Why You Little 37,245]

The Jones Boy is alright. He has a huge heart. He wears the no. 2 with pride.

[Adam286 0]

Great game Nathan!

I thought that he has progressed really well all year. Lots of grunt and now seems to be finding a lot more space through increased work rate. Hitting targets confidently and with beutiful low delivery, his kicking has really rounded out his game. As our midfield continues to get stronger, I expect Nathan Jones' game to go up to another level. Exciting times ahead.

[Deeoldfart 8,090]

Still hitting the ball hard, still getting his hands on it in the contests but is now consistently hitting targets with sure, sharp disposal. He has made big improvements. Some of his kicking in recent weeks has been better than good.

Lowering his eyes, looking inboard and settling himself has made all the difference. I have always believed that he is a good kick of the footy and that it was the subtleties that he needed to work on. He is such a determined character I always believed he could work it out.

He has been flying under the radar a little bit but will be an extremely important player going forward.

...................... especially with a couple of top-flite midfielders around him!

[Jaded No More 68,975]

The last few weeks he has improved his kicking dramatically, and is making better decisions.

I love that he is lowering those eyes when passing the footy. Great to see.

We forget how young he is, or at least I do.

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

Still hitting the ball hard, still getting his hands on it in the contests but is now consistently hitting targets with sure, sharp disposal. He has made big improvements. Some of his kicking in recent weeks has been better than good.

Lowering his eyes, looking inboard and settling himself has made all the difference. I have always believed that he is a good kick of the footy and that it was the subtleties that he needed to work on. He is such a determined character I always believed he could work it out.

He has been flying under the radar a little bit but will be an extremely important player going forward.

Thank God a thread that looks a little deeper at how a player has progressed, to see how much potential someone has and how much they have developed.

When Melbourne is challenging for a premiership, Jones will be instrumental in how important people will think Scully and Trengove are to our success.

I reckon Jonesy has been super this year, and has a lot of development left in him. Can't wait for next year

[Akum 2,660]

The last few weeks he has improved his kicking dramatically, and is making better decisions.

I love that he is lowering those eyes when passing the footy. Great to see.

We forget how young he is, or at least I do.

Thought he got caught a few times today, but I see this as a matter of fine tuning. If he's going to take a fraction more time with his disposal, he's probably going to get tackled, especially against such a good tackling side as St Kilda. But on the whole, I'd rather see him take the game on and get caught a few times, than rush his disposal or kick it as soon as he gets it.

It's good to see him working to improve his game. That's the other effect of Scully and Trengove - our current mids are all going to have to lift it a notch to be sure of a spot in our A-team next year.

I tend to forget how young Jones is, too. It seems that there might still be a fair bit of upside to come with him though.

[Redleg 41,791]

Still hitting the ball hard, still getting his hands on it in the contests but is now consistently hitting targets with sure, sharp disposal. He has made big improvements. Some of his kicking in recent weeks has been better than good.

Lowering his eyes, looking inboard and settling himself has made all the difference. I have always believed that he is a good kick of the footy and that it was the subtleties that he needed to work on. He is such a determined character I always believed he could work it out.

He has been flying under the radar a little bit but will be an extremely important player going forward.

As with a few others, he will keep getting better when surrounded by better players.

[beelzebub 23,389]

As with a few others, he will keep getting better when surrounded by better players.

That ought to prove quite prophetic there Red.

He was good today and yet still makes some ugly stuff ups.I too think he'll lift when complemented.

[titan_uranus 25,059]

I certainly have noticed improvement in the kicking department, but yesterday I just thought he was a bit off with his deiciosn making. A lot of times he took a bit too long to dispose of it. But overall not as much to worry about as there might have been.

[Brayshaws' Helmet 143]

Jones is a pretty good and tough player, in fact i am pretty happy with all of the midfielders generally, and i can't imagine changing much moving into the future, as they are all beginning to play with more consistency, with the almost certain addition of Tom Scully, if they keep the midfield together as much as they can, they will become pretty threatening.