Nathan Jones

[DemonDan... 77]

There's a reason why he piggy backs four opponents each week on his way to 'holding the ball'.

To include Moloney and Trengove a midfielder had to make way. If it wasn't Jones then who would people omit ?

And that reason is, when theres 10 arms around the ball/player (4 opponents and his 2 arms) its pretty hard to do much yeah?

Go back and watch his last few weeks work in and under the packs. It really stood out to me, im amazed his head is still intact.. and he's covered missing 'beamer' perfectly.

..and he's only been pinged probably 1% of the time he takes on the tackler.. so your 'holding the ball' comment is an exaggeration.

Who would i omit?

Id send back Jurrah or bennell to Casey to work on a few things - before i would start thinking about dumping Jones.. (unless he is sore, which is my/some posters guess) ..and he's been kicking great goals, when LJ and benny havent..

LJ needs to brush up on his bread and butter stuff and benny needs to learn composure, they need to dominate a game - and i think they'd be best served doing that at casey.

Even PJ, who probably wont be needed as much this week with Jamar contesting 2 inexperienced ruckmen, could be another.

Theres 3.

[Inner Demon 1]

Been going in really hard lately and has had a great year..

me thinks it may just be a rest - him not playing for casey might be a clue.

Did we notice B.Miller not playing for either the Dees OR Casey - now that Bleasme has moved up to the seniors??

Great move by the Dees -stick him in as a 3rd emergency where he cant disappoint anyone- but to the opposition (and for trade-bait reasons) he's technically 'just outside our best 22'..

Nice.

If Miller doesn't play for Casey my pulse will quicken. Been a rumour floating around that Jamar will miss with a foot injury. Miller would be the obvious replacement as a 2nd ruckman.

[TheDevilsAdvocate 1]

yeah with Maloney in for Jones I'm looking foward to watching Baloney puffing his chest out and trying to run thru opponents then getting caught and giving a handball to put a team mate under pressure or kicking a long bomb to nobody. Jones started playing better as soon as Maloney left Suby' cause he was released from his tagging duties. Yes he needs to improve aspects of his game like giving away dumb free kicks but take off your rose coloured glasses when watching the captain and maloney. I don't think either are in our best 22. "moving foward".

[Jaded No More 68,867]

If Miller doesn't play for Casey my pulse will quicken. Been a rumour floating around that Jamar will miss with a foot injury. Miller would be the obvious replacement as a 2nd ruckman.

That's my thinking too. Can't think of another reason why Miller would be the designated emergency.

Although I suppose better give Jamar a rest this week, against weaker rucking opponents, than next week when we really need his help in the midfield.

[DemonDan... 77]

If Miller doesn't play for Casey my pulse will quicken.

Been a rumour floating around that Jamar will miss with a foot injury.

Miller would be the obvious replacement as a 2nd ruckman.

Oh really??

FFS.

Cant get a break with injuries this year!

Keep us informed if you hear anything else - (if you can)

[big tuna 0]

I have noticed occasionally Moloney giving a dangerous handball in tight (2 against Adelaide which cost us goals) but I would argue he breaks more tackles than actually stick... whereas Jones seems to get buried everytime.

FFS do not rest Jamar this week in the 1st week of supercoach finals... my team is fragile enough.

[Al`s DEMONS 0]

Certainly is. He had 25 possessions against Brisbane = - the same number as Jurrah, Bennell, and Wonnaeamirri combined! You can hardly say that Jones gets a lot of cheap easy kicks. Looks like Bailey wants more pace in the team.

Maric was also stiff to go out, and we now have a reserves team with Morton, Bate, Jones, and Warnock - 4 guys who were probably in our top 22 at the start of the year.

Things will only get tougher next year when Tapscott, Blease, Grimes, and Gysberts are pushing for places.

bruce and junior wont be there ,so there`s two spots

[Al`s DEMONS 0]

Certainly is. He had 25 possessions against Brisbane = - the same number as Jurrah, Bennell, and Wonnaeamirri combined! You can hardly say that Jones gets a lot of cheap easy kicks. Looks like Bailey wants more pace in the team.

Maric was also stiff to go out, and we now have a reserves team with Morton, Bate, Jones, and Warnock - 4 guys who were probably in our top 22 at the start of the year.

Things will only get tougher next year when Tapscott, Blease, Grimes, and Gysberts are pushing for places.

dont forget Pettard

[binman 42,669]

No problems with rotating Jones, of course unlucky and i'm in no doubt in our best 22, but i think Malthouse has given us a glimpse of the future with his selection policy this year - ie moving players back and forward from VFL and AFL and picking "horses for courses". In some ways it is an exstension of the philsophy behind how the bench is currently being used and in this era of incedible demand on players in terms of fitness (how often do you hear a plyers "tank" discussed theses days compared to even 10 years ago)will become standard practice, particulary for mid field players/runners.

We don't have the same need for a hard grunt player, particularly with Maloney and Tregove back in,aginst the young tiger midfield that we did agianst the more hardened Brisbane and Swans team, so makes perfect sense. Of course this policy is easier to pull off when you don't have too many injuries, again particularly to your midfield brigade, as is the case for the dees at presnt (and Collingwood for that matter).

Bailey has stressed time and again his forward and back half units need to bank significant playing time together (50 - 60 games) and whilst it is also true of the midfield it is less of an imperative. If you look at our drafting over the last few years (eg taking Gysberst at 11 rather than a key postion player) the club has placed great empahsis on building a large number of potential midfielders with big "tanks" and good hands. In addition to those already in the midfield (Trengove, Scully, Maloney< McDonald, Sylvia, Jones etc) you can add Blease, Strauss, Morton, Grimes, Gysberts, Maric who will all be a chance of being on ballers and coming oin as rotations.

As i've noted previously about young players going back to Casey Bailey will ensure they understand the reasons and that it isn't a knock on their ablity or comment about future opportunities. Good work Jonesy, he'll go back and go hard and be back soon. He is only 22 and will be 200 gamer at the dees. If we make the finals i'll bet he'll be one of the first picked.

As for Maloney and McDonald not being in our best 22, no offence but that is a silly comment. Both are are in our best 5, with Maloney having his best year, working beautifully with Kareem, number 1 in clearances and inside 50's and McDonald just a ripper. Not in our best 22? Please

[TheDevilsAdvocate 1]

No 1 for clearances cause he gets the job each week to rove to Jamar. He's a long way from No 1 with effective disposals. Shows how far we are from mixing it with the best when our perceived best onballer couldn't get a gig at the cats.

[Carn dees 108]

No 1 for clearances cause he gets the job each week to rove to Jamar. He's a long way from No 1 with effective disposals. Shows how far we are from mixing it with the best when our perceived best onballer couldn't get a gig at the cats.

Getting a gig at the cats, are you serious? That was 6 years ago he would of been 20. And with players like Ablett, Bartel, Ling, Corey etc good luck getting in. And on top of that he had a number of injury's.

[Hannabal 4]

And that reason is, when theres 10 arms around the ball/player (4 opponents and his 2 arms) its pretty hard to do much yeah?

Go back and watch his last few weeks work in and under the packs. It really stood out to me, im amazed his head is still intact.. and he's covered missing 'beamer' perfectly.

..and he's only been pinged probably 1% of the time he takes on the tackler.. so your 'holding the ball' comment is an exaggeration.

He's not good at making quick decisions and his executing under pressure isn't as clean as some. And when he's not pinged for 'holding the ball' it results in a ball-up, as opposed to a great give-off.

Btw, I have watched him and he's been ok, but that doesn't mean he warrants a place in the team. And he may well be sore, but he's also border line best. Thankfully.

When he struggles for a game next year you can keep scratching your head.

[Chook 15,012]

No 1 for clearances cause he gets the job each week to rove to Jamar. He's a long way from No 1 with effective disposals. Shows how far we are from mixing it with the best when our perceived best onballer couldn't get a gig at the cats.

Can we stop wih the "so-and-so couldn't get a game with so-and-so." It's spurious reasoning at best, and is totally irrelevant. Jones is not as good as Moloney, and isn't as fast as Trengove. Someone had to go out, and replacing a forward (Jurrah or Bennell) with a midfielder just screams "I don't know who to drop, so I'll just fark with team balance instead!"

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

No 1 for clearances cause he gets the job each week to rove to Jamar. He's a long way from No 1 with effective disposals. Shows how far we are from mixing it with the best when our perceived best onballer couldn't get a gig at the cats.

what a stupid call

Moloney has been awesome this year, they had a surplus of midfielders and needed to trade a quality one to get ottens to the club so they did. It's exactly saying Kennedy couldnt get a gig at carlton cos they traded him as part of the Judd deal

get a clue mate you fail

[Friday 71]

jones will be back.

hard at it nude nut. Love his work.

someone has to get the footy, we can't all be classy receivers.

[TheDevilsAdvocate 1]

Getting a gig at the cats, are you serious? That was 6 years ago he would of been 20. And with players like Ablett, Bartel, Ling, Corey etc good luck getting in. And on top of that he had a number of injury's.

yes, and all those players you've mentioned are better now than they were then. Maloney isn't in and never has been in the same league. Re best 22 I stated a la Julia, moving foward. Don't care bout this year, next year or the one after. Near 50 years of mediocrity or worse. Hope we're building towards a winning a premiership not a repeat of 2000.

[two sheds jackson 3]

Who would i omit?

Id send back Jurrah or bennell to Casey to work on a few things - before i would start thinking about dumping Jones.. (unless he is sore, which is my/some posters guess) ..and he's been kicking great goals, when LJ and benny havent..

LJ needs to brush up on his bread and butter stuff and benny needs to learn composure, they need to dominate a game - and i think they'd be best served doing that at casey.

Even PJ, who probably wont be needed as much this week with Jamar contesting 2 inexperienced ruckmen, could be another.

Theres 3.

This isn't really relavent. You might well argue that we should drop Jurrah for Bate, or Bennel for Maric, but you wouldn't drop either of them for Jones, because they're not competing for the same spot.

Jones has been in pretty good form this year. Problem is, we can only use so many people who play Jones' role, and we currently have a surplus of people who are playing the role better than he is. As Hannabal said, it is symptomatic of how much our list is improving that a footballer in decent form, who would get a game for most teams, cannot get into our side despite not doing alot wrong.

[DeezMan 4]

Those that have called for Jones' head (and there were a fair few of them) should be quite happy right about now...

[Gorgoroth 12,924]

I think this will be more to do with injury than dropped.

Jones has his problems and disposal is one, but still in our best 22.

[olgreydingo 51]

In every great side - every spot is up for grabs. However, Jones is very stiff. His performance has been better than Jurrah , Aussie and JB combined over many weeks. I hope the MFC never gets political. Jurrah and Aussie have averaged less than 5 disposals a game whilst Jones average is just under 20. I know you compare mids with forwards is apples and pears however Jurrah and Aussie need to have a better return to be elite forwards. In my opinion we need a better forward line and the coguar, the mozzie and JB are not the level of Geelong, Hawthorne, Saints, doggies & Collingwood top 3.

[DemonDan... 77]

He's not good at making quick decisions and his executing under pressure isn't as clean as some.

And when he's not pinged for 'holding the ball' it results in a ball-up, as opposed to a great give-off.

Yeah but its not as bad as some either and possibly every player has had trouble with quick decisions, decision making and execution - it comes with learning/developing a game style.

'As opposed to a great give off'? With as you put it 'four opponents hanging off his back'? He's a person, not a magician.

..and hey, a ball up (which gives us a chance, at least, to reset) is better than a dinky handball or hit an hope possie that lands in the lap of the opposition - have you already forgotton the last 3 years??

Keep trying, youre bound to make sense sooner or later..

[DemonDan... 77]

This isn't really relavent.

You might well argue that we should drop Jurrah for Bate, or Bennel for Maric, but you wouldn't drop either of them for Jones, because they're not competing for the same spot.

Well, H asked a question, i was on the thread so i answered..

I think it is relevant. Jones can play across half-forward and would do it better than JB or Maric atm, imo - and the fact that he's been kicking goals, good goals recently kind of backs that up.

..and the 'we have others that can play his role' thing doesnt sit well with me either. He's pretty versatile, he can play up forward, on ball and he can tag.. and he's the hard nut, only 2nd to Beamer imo.

I really think and hope he just has a niggle.. his 22 now, imagine how good he can be once he gets to Slyvias age and (hopefully) level in a few years time?

[Hannabal 4]

'As opposed to a great give off'? With as you put it 'four opponents hanging off his back'? He's a person, not a magician.

..and hey, a ball up (which gives us a chance, at least, to reset) is better than a dinky handball or hit an hope possie that lands in the lap of the opposition - have you already forgotton the last 3 years??

Keep trying, youre bound to make sense sooner or later..

There's a reason why he has 4 people hanging off his back.

It will dawn on you one day.

[Red Sox 2]

If Miller doesn't play for Casey my pulse will quicken. Been a rumour floating around that Jamar will miss with a foot injury. Miller would be the obvious replacement as a 2nd ruckman.

Any truth here?

[DemonDan... 77]

There's a reason why he has 4 people hanging off his back.

Yeah, because he's an inside mid.. and he's generally at the bottom of the pack where a good inside mid should be.

Der.

Maybe you reassess what you expect/hope Nath Jones to be?

He's never going to be an Ablett jr, Juddy or Goddard.. he'll be a Ling, Todd viney, J-Mac type (imo right now, a better disposal than any of the 3 - which is a bonus) and he's a type that every team needs at least a few of.

Not everyone is going to be 'elite' in our next eventual premiership side. He'll be more than needed.