Nathan Jones

[nutbean 8,838]

He suffers from a lack of outside feeders who he can distribute to.

This.

[Gippy Dee 48]

I personally think its time we get ourselves a proper midfield coach.

Brian Royal, whilst having been a good stalwart as an assistant coach for the past 10 - 15 years, has had the game pass him and I beleive that we need someone new with game changing approaches to midfield setups. He isn't doing that with Melbourne. I'm not saying that it is all his fault but I don't see him lighting the game up in this regard.

Just my thoughts,

Gippy

[Dinosaur Rover 197]

Winning contested ball and kicking goals showing tremendous courage and commitment is not a midfield problem.

[H_T 3,032]

I personally think its time we get ourselves a proper midfield coach.

Brian Royal, whilst having been a good stalwart as an assistant coach for the past 10 - 15 years, has had the game pass him and I beleive that we need someone new with game changing approaches to midfield setups. He isn't doing that with Melbourne. I'm not saying that it is all his fault but I don't see him lighting the game up in this regard.

Just my thoughts,

Gippy

Royal is contracted next year I believe. There are two midfield coaches one being an assistant. You've also got to take into consideration a variety of factors such as the players at his disposal, age, size, experience and improvement with younger mids.

[H_T 3,032]

Winning contested ball and kicking goals showing tremendous courage and commitment is not a midfield problem.

If you're getting smashed at contested ball and clearances in the middle and at stoppages, it is.

[jnrmac 19,890]

Jones is 24yo and has played 119 games. Should be coming into his prime and with some help around him will be a rock in our midfield for some years ahead. Our past problems have been around players that have good games and then go missing, COnsistent mids have been in short supply around the Dees. This criticising him have rocks in their head. Committed, dedicated, fearless, tough, professional and someone you would want in the trenches.

Just think we gave brad Miller 130 games and he is not a patch on this kid

[H_T 3,032]

Jones is 24yo and has played 119 games. Should be coming into his prime.....

I

Absolutely.

He's on 300+ pace. Strengthening the midfield will be a good thing. He's work ethic and focus on improving will be a good thing for the youngsters and any new draftees to come of the quality variety. Fingers crossed.

[hardtack 10,400]

Jones is 24yo and has played 119 games. Should be coming into his prime and with some help around him will be a rock in our midfield for some years ahead. Our past problems have been around players that have good games and then go missing, COnsistent mids have been in short supply around the Dees. This criticising him have rocks in their head. Committed, dedicated, fearless, tough, professional and someone you would want in the trenches.

Just think we gave brad Miller 130 games and he is not a patch on this kid

I have said it once, have said it twice and will say it again, Jones will be our Chapman (and not just in the "eggshell blond" stakes)... in fact, he may turn out to be even better given the rate of his improvement over the past 2 and a bit seasons.

[Guest Jackie]

Did anyone notice? We actually won the clearances for the first time in who knows when. And Jones was rarely seen at the ruck contests despite playing a great game. There is no player beyond criticism no matter how good they currently are considering our very poor recent performances. There are areas that everyone has to improve at. If he is going to be a great inside midfielder he has to change some of his ways.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Jackie

[hardtack 10,400]

Praise...

Interestingly enough he was more of an outside/forward player this week with few appearances in Jamar's shadow and far more creative and damaging with his disposal. He is well on the way to becoming a complete footballer. His field and goal kicking is becoming more reliable than it ever was.

Bucket of cold water...

Did anyone notice? We actually won the clearances for the first time in who knows when. And Jones was rarely seen at the ruck contests despite playing a great game. There is no player beyond criticism no matter how good they currently are considering our very poor recent performances. There are areas that everyone has to improve at. If he is going to be a great inside midfielder he has to change some of his ways.

You appear to be a regular one-man good cop/bad cop routine.

[Guest Jackie]

Praise...

Bucket of cold water...

You appear to be a regular one-man good cop/bad cop routine.

Typical head the head in the sand type you are. Always attack the poster and not the argument.

[hardtack 10,400]

Typical head the head in the sand type you are. Always attack the poster and not the argument.

How is that attacking the poster? I am attacking your contradictory statements made within two and a half hours of each other.

[daisycutter 29,308]

I thought when Jones was in the forward 50 he was a great crumbing forward. Anticipated well and hit the packs at speed.

Not saying he should be a permanent crumbing forward but he just showed the value of a good crumbing forward, something we have missed for some time.

[nutbean 8,838]

Anticipated well and hit the packs at speed.

Jones is not particularly quick but what you have said is key - anticipation means you are already moving to position and he did indeed hit the contests at pace. He has come on in leaps and bounds.

[Guest Jackie]

How is that attacking the poster? I am attacking your contradictory statements made within two and a half hours of each other.

So please explain where the contradiction is?

Edited April 30, 2012 by Jackie

[Pates 9,625]

Best half of footy I've seen from him (first half), second was still good but last quarter definitely tapered off (understandable given his workload). If he can start to produce this consistently he will be on his way to being an A grader, which will be a great help to the likes of Moloney and in particular Trengove.

[hardtack 10,400]

So please explain where the contradiction is?

Well...

he was more of an outside/forward player this week with few appearances in Jamar's shadow and far more creative and damaging with his disposal. He is well on the way to becoming a complete footballer. His field and goal kicking is becoming more reliable than it ever was.

We actually won the clearances for the first time in who knows when. And Jones was rarely seen at the ruck contests despite playing a great game....There are areas that everyone has to improve at. If he is going to be a great inside midfielder he has to change some of his ways.

So, you compliment him on his performance away from the ruck on the one hand and appear to criticise him for not being at the ruck contest on the other.

Edited April 30, 2012 by hardtack

[Bingo 268]

I thought when Jones was in the forward 50 he was a great crumbing forward. Anticipated well and hit the packs at speed.

Not saying he should be a permanent crumbing forward but he just showed the value of a good crumbing forward, something we have missed for some time.

This is spot on.

I kept on saying to my girlfriend on Saturday night that Jones kept hitting the pack at speed!

Something that i haven't seen a Melbourne player do for quite a while.

It's not only important in the forward line, we also need to see this in the centre square. Then we may start seeing some meaningful centre clearances!

[Guest Jackie]

Well...

So, you compliment him on his performance away from the ruck on the one hand and appear to criticise him for not being at the ruck contest on the other.

So you call that a contradiction.Where do I criticise him for not being at the ruck contests? It only "appears" to you. It was good he wasn't there and the coaching staff seemed to think the same way. Anyone with any footy smarts could see that he was getting the ball often at stoppages for weeks now and not being able to do anything with it, getting gang tackled and neutralised. His strength at getting the ball too much became a liability. If you read my first post that was clearly explained. For once we were actually able to clear the ball. And thus he became a far more potent and damaging player when he had freedom to move and attack the ball. Who can honestly say they have seen a better game from him recently or ever? There is too much of heroes and villains mentality around here.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Jackie

[hardtack 10,400]

So you call that a contradiction.Where do I criticise him for not being at the ruck contests? It only "appears" to you. It was good he wasn't there and the coaching staff seemed to think the same way. Anyone with any footy smarts could see that he was getting the ball often at stoppages for weeks now and not being able to do anything with it, gang tackled and neutralised. His strength at getting the ball too much became a liability. If you read my first post that was clearly explained. For once we were actually able to clear the ball. And thus he became a far more potent and damaging player when he had freedom to move and attack the ball.. Who can honestly say they have seen a better game from him recently or ever. There is too much of heroes and villains mentality around here.

Perhaps it's your wording, perhaps it's my interpretation: "There are areas that everyone has to improve at. If he is going to be a great inside midfielder he has to change some of his ways." The good cop/bad cop reference was to your first post lavishing him with praise, only to have your second post taking a negative tack.

And for what it's worth, I believe the reason we were able to clear the ball was more because players were getting to the contest more efficiently and therefore able to get those clearances we are usually so poor at... and I believe that was the reason your initial criticism of Jones was unwarranted... he would get the ball often enough but have no-one running past to take the clearance.

[Guest Jackie]

Perhaps it's your wording, perhaps it's my interpretation: "There are areas that everyone has to improve at. If he is going to be a great inside midfielder he has to change some of his ways." The good cop/bad cop reference was to your first post lavishing him with praise, only to have your second post taking a negative tack.

And for what it's worth, I believe the reason we were able to clear the ball was more because players were getting to the contest more efficiently and therefore able to get those clearances we are usually so poor at... and I believe that was the reason your initial criticism of Jones was unwarranted... he would get the ball often enough but have no-one running past to take the clearance.

And its telling that its finally happening without him there. In those situations he never lifts his head to look for an option first so how can he see where they are. I wouldn't just blame his support. Look at the likes of Judd, Ablett and just about every other great clearance player. They keep their chin up , hands ready to fire and use their vision. They're not worried too much about getting the ball knocked out of their hands. If so they have a second dip.They are proactive and committed to getting the ball out quickly and their support know what they are going to do.

Edited April 30, 2012 by Jackie

[jnrmac 19,890]

Yawn....

Now kiddies...

[Guest Jackie]

Yawn....

Now kiddies...

Since you brought up the subject of yawn, isn 't it about time you retired your GWS player avatar. He's long gone so get over it.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

i also think Beyonce was the problem with Destiny's Child, Eddie was the weak link in Van Halen, John Lennon in the Beatles and Mark Knopfler in Dire Straits.

Edited April 30, 2012 by dandeeman

[jayceebee31 697]

This guy should be captain IMO.Trengove has done nothing this year, lucky to be holding his spot.Grimes is just injury prone and should just concentrate on his game.