Mr Consistency ---The Forgotten Man

[jayceebee31 687]

I was just thinking earlier today and asking myself whom has let us down this year and whom has excelled and when I came across Jones..he made me sit up and have a real think..

When one realises he has played 107 matches since he started in Round 17, 2006 therefore 110 possible matches, one has to realise how good he has been.He has played in several positions now but has never really been recognised for his personal acheivements. Along with Beamer he has been the shining light this year in his consistency with 348 disposals -running second only to Beamer whom is up there in the award stakes this year.Leads the handballs at the club.Second in the amount of kicks and fourth in marks. HE HAS AVERAGED 11.6 KICKS AND ALSO AVERAGED THE SAME IN HANDBALLS per game this year..Whilst we all look to the stars of the future sometimes we forget the performances of the likes of Jones whom have held this young team together and he is only 23 himself .Keep the great work YOUNG man.

[biggestred 4,377]

completely agree. gets criticized on here unfairly as he can sometimes get caught with the ball - but he only ever does that when he has no options.

will be a 200+ gamer and is def best 22

[Chook 14,613]

Forgotten? Not by me. There are some people on this board who are not in the Nathan Jones camp, but I am. Most tend to unfairly put him in the "not a Premiership player" pile, seemingly unaware that some pretty spudley players have won Premiership medallions.

REASON FOR EDIT: My "garbage" opinion was corrected by Nasher.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Chook

[jayceebee31 687]

Forgotten? Not by me. There are very few people on this board who are in the Nathan Jones camp, but I'm one. Most tend to unfairly put him in the "not a Premiership player" pile, seemingly unaware that some pretty spudley players have won Premiership medallions.

I probably wrongly discribed Jones as the forgotten man..I possibly should have said the unrecognised man...and furthermore when one looks as Sylvia who has played 117 games since Rd 9, 2004 just shows how resilliant and consistent he has been..Good on him..

[Nasher 33,166]

There are very few people on this board who are in the Nathan Jones camp, but I'm one. Most tend to unfairly put him in the "not a Premiership player" pile

Hyperbole. There's no doubt opinion on Jones as a player have been polarised, but to say that "very few people" are in his camp is complete garbage. A few months ago when I thought he was struggling, I remember being surprised at the amount of love he was getting in the POTY votes etc.

FWIW right now I reckon he's currently playing the best footy in his career.

[Chook 14,613]

Hyperbole. There's no doubt opinion on Jones as a player have been polarised, but to say that "very few people" are in his camp is complete garbage. A few months ago when I thought he was struggling, I remember being surprised at the amount of love he was getting in the POTY votes etc.

FWIW right now I reckon he's currently playing the best footy in his career.

I changed my post to reflect your opinion. Thank you for pulling me up on it.

[Nasher 33,166]

I changed my post to reflect your opinion. Thank you for pulling me up on it.

Wasn't correcting your opinion buddy, I was correcting your incorrect assertion of the facts. Thanks anyway.

[jnrmac 19,323]

Blanketed Pearce on the weekend.

Great job.

[BAMF 3,809]

Here are his stats from last year compared to the season so far.

2010 vs 2011

Here are his comparison stats from 2009 vs 2011 so far.

2009 vs 2011

Was last year just a bad year for Jonesy?

Regardless, he is playing his best footy at the moment. Last year I thought he had reached his ceiling.

[rpfc 27,637]

He is a tough consistent footy player, and until Moloney brings his worst games up a bit, is the most reliable senior player.

Good on him.

There are always spots in Premiership sides for tough, neat players like Jones. And his decision making is getting better which has always been his major drawback IMO.

[Bang Bang Bang 5,559]

I remember this guy was worshipped on here in his early years (2006-2007), then hit a bit of a lull and everyone jumped off. In recent times most have started to re-join the bandwagon.

There's not much to dislike about Jones of late. He's tough, he's consistent, he kicks goals and he has sorted out his kicking and decision making to the point where he's now an automatic selection. Well done Jonesy. Hard to believe he's only 23, looks about 30.

[hardtack 10,149]

I think a lot of people underrate Jones due to the fact he is not flashy, but he is most often doing the grunt work that helps make others look flashy as they race off with the ball he has worked his guts out to get to them. The other thing is that stats can be very deceiving... I notice someone above mentioning last year maybe having been an off year for him, but as I recall, his performances last year where very very good and a vast improvement on the season before that - now he has taken his game to another level again this year. Jones is often shutting down an opponent and not necessarily accumulating a lot of statistics.

Another thing I noticed, in particular last Saturday, is how good his hands are. While everyone else was fumbling as if they were trying to grab a wet bar of soap, Jones was very clean with his hands and very very rarely fumbled at all. Also, his delivery is improving in leaps and bounds.

Edited July 20, 2011 by hardtack

[titan_uranus 22,753]

Plays his role, probably better now than ever.

Still is an iffy kick.

[jayceebee31 687]

I think a lot of people underrate Jones due to the fact he is not flashy, but he is most often doing the grunt work that helps make others look flashy as they race off with the ball he has worked his guts out to get to them. The other thing is that stats can be very deceiving... I notice someone above mentioning last year maybe having been an off year for him, but as I recall, his performances last year where very very good and a vast improvement on the season before that - now he has taken his game to another level again this year. Jones is often shutting down an opponent and not necessarily accumulating a lot of statistics.

Another thing I noticed, in particular last Saturday, is how good his hands are. While everyone else was fumbling as if they were trying to grab a wet bar of soap, Jones was very clean with his hands and very very rarely fumbled at all. Also, his delivery is improving in leaps and bounds.

Very good point- shuts them down and still gets plenty of disposals- WIN/WIN

[binman 39,083]

What i like most about Jones is that he has really worked on his deficiencies. He isn't getting caught near as much, not barging through packs to the same extent, does not cough it up as much (though still could work on this), has added distance to his kicks, makes better decisions and is now kicking some goals (and is a good set shot). To me that sort of improvement refelcts lots of hard work and a great attitude. It also means at 22 there might still be upside.

Edited July 20, 2011 by binman

[Deeoldfart 7,820]

I don't have the numbers, but I reckon his clanger count and poor decisions are well down over the last couple of months, and therein lies the difference between the Jonesy we love, and the one who has sometimes frustrated the hell out of some of us. Well done Chunk, and keep up the good work!

[dee-luded 2,958]

I was just thinking earlier today and asking myself whom has let us down this year and whom has excelled and when I came across Jones..he made me sit up and have a real think..

When one realises he has played 107 matches since he started in Round 17, 2006 therefore 110 possible matches, one has to realise how good he has been.He has played in several positions now but has never really been recognised for his personal acheivements. Along with Beamer he has been the shining light this year in his consistency with 348 disposals -running second only to Beamer whom is up there in the award stakes this year.Leads the handballs at the club.Second in the amount of kicks and fourth in marks. HE HAS AVERAGED 11.6 KICKS AND ALSO AVERAGED THE SAME IN HANDBALLS per game this year..Whilst we all look to the stars of the future sometimes we forget the performances of the likes of Jones whom have held this young team together and he is only 23 himself .Keep the great work YOUNG man.

Who - MR Grit, true...

[dee-luded 2,958]

I remember this guy was worshipped on here in his early years (2006-2007), then hit a bit of a lull and everyone jumped off. In recent times most have started to re-join the bandwagon.

There's not much to dislike about Jones of late. He's tough, he's consistent, he kicks goals and he has sorted out his kicking and decision making to the point where he's now an automatic selection. Well done Jonesy. Hard to believe he's only 23, looks about 30.

Look @ the No's SS. 2006 2007, prior to the "Cleanout"...

After we bottomed out and started a radical rebuild... Now we are starting to get a collection of talented players together and some have games under their belts now. His decisions were off but are improving, maybe a sign he was too concerned of how we were faring last year. As the team improves it takes pressure off the experienced players who can play their normal type games.

As the other 23Yr olds + keep improving, we'll all step up.

[Kento80 83]

I was just thinking earlier today and asking myself whom has let us down this year and whom has excelled and when I came across Jones..he made me sit up and have a real think..When one realises he has played 107 matches since he started in Round 17, 2006 therefore 110 possible matches, one has to realise how good he has been.He has played in several positions now but has never really been recognised for his personal acheivements. Along with Beamer he has been the shining light this year in his consistency with 348 disposals -running second only to Beamer whom is up there in the award stakes this year.Leads the handballs at the club.Second in the amount of kicks and fourth in marks. HE HAS AVERAGED 11.6 KICKS AND ALSO AVERAGED THE SAME IN HANDBALLS per game this year..Whilst we all look to the stars of the future sometimes we forget the performances of the likes of Jones whom have held this young team together and he is only 23 himself .Keep the great work YOUNG man.

Bang on JCB, and thanks for giving us those stats. Didn't realise he was second on disposals to Beamer. I have loved Jonesy since I watched him chase down and earn a free kick for HTB on a Brisbane player (can't remember who) in the 1pt win over them at the G rd 14, 2008. He chased the unknown player down over a good 50mtrs from memory, and I was so impressed with the fact that he just kept running hard at it until he got the rewards. One of my absolute faves, and he's not letting me down this year. Keep up the good work Chunk.

What i like most about Jones is that he has really worked on his deficiencies. He isn't getting caught near as much, not barging through packs to the same extent, does not cough it up as much (though still could work on this), has added distance to his kicks, makes better decisions and is now kicking some goals (and is a good set shot). To me that sort of improvement refelcts lots of hard work and a great attitude. It also means at 22 there might still be upside.

Agreed binman, he trains so hard, week in week out and it obviously pays off. I do think that it is a bit unfair though all the focus on him getting caught with the ball. Through the last few years, he has (due to our "clean out") been hit with some terrible delivery, quite often getting "caught" not long at all after receiving the ball. Other than that, I reckon you are bang on.

[The Big Ticket 94]

I still think there's a role for Nathan to play in our side in the future.

He's getting better at standing up in a tackle and absorbing contact. As some have already mentioned, he does the dirty work for us. He'll hold his spot if he keeps his current form up.

Also seems popular amongst the boys and DB says he's the best trainer.

[Webber 10,181]

He gets better year to year in a very even way......an absolutely essential player to this team, and just doesn't get injured. Go Jonesy, you are becoming the heart of this team.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

The Jones boy.

Having a very good year. Been solid... but I am actually more disappointed in him at the moment than I have ever been. I really thought his career would stall around the 21-24 age... and then rocket to Nathan Burke-style reliability by the time he was 28, since he would by then be one of the BIGGER bodies going round.

At the moment though, it looks like Hannabal (who has fallen off the edge of the planet) might have been right. In a gun midfield, he'll be one of your second rotation of mids, and will get squeezed out of a premiership midfield.

[Kento80 83]

The Jones boy.

Having a very good year. Been solid... but I am actually more disappointed in him at the moment than I have ever been. I really thought his career would stall around the 21-24 age... and then rocket to Nathan Burke-style reliability by the time he was 28, since he would by then be one of the BIGGER bodies going round.

At the moment though, it looks like Hannabal (who has fallen off the edge of the planet) might have been right. In a gun midfield, he'll be one of your second rotation of mids, and will get squeezed out of a premiership midfield.

Given that he is currently 23, your assessment may be right, but I would suggest that his career hasn't stalled (although a little bit last year). This year would so far have to be his best year. But as he is not yet 28, there is plenty more time for that rocket you speak of.

[hardtack 10,149]

Given that he is currently 23, your assessment may be right, but I would suggest that his career hasn't stalled (although a little bit last year). This year would so far have to be his best year. But as he is not yet 28, there is plenty more time for that rocket you speak of.

You're the second person (UTAH was the other) in this thread to say he was a bit off last year. It's funny, because as I recall it, everyone was calling for his head the year before last (2009) and then we were all impressed with the big step up he made last year... it was no coincidence that he was promoted to the leadership group this year.

Then again, maybe senile dementia is finally catching up with me.

[JACKATTACK 17]

The Jones boy.

Having a very good year. Been solid... but I am actually more disappointed in him at the moment than I have ever been. I really thought his career would stall around the 21-24 age... and then rocket to Nathan Burke-style reliability by the time he was 28, since he would by then be one of the BIGGER bodies going round.

At the moment though, it looks like Hannabal (who has fallen off the edge of the planet) might have been right. In a gun midfield, he'll be one of your second rotation of mids, and will get squeezed out of a premiership midfield.

If Jones gets squeezed out of the team then we'll have one hell of a midfield.