What to do with Nathan Jones

[Chook 14,389]

Stern learnings the stalwarts of my generation learned from the callous retiring of James McDonald (IMO the worst decision ever made in my years of supporting Melbourne, though one I naively supported when it happened) are now more apt than ever:

Retire a club stalwart who has also served as captain at your peril.

Ergo, Nathan Jones gets to be a Melbourne player for as long as he wants. Any less would destroy the fabric of the club, just as it did when McDonald was forced to wear a franchise jumper while his real team continued to fester in his absence.

[KLV 1,623]

23 hours ago, olisik said:

Wow, Mahoney rolls over again at the negotiating table. Guess Jones is our leading goal scorer at the club now after all.

Do you actually like anything about the club?

[Skin Deeamond 339]

All that BS about “Junior” McDonald was BS. His time was over. Move on. Jones is way way way worse than he ever was as a player. In fact he’s now a joke. Get rid of him.

[Superunknown 3,307]

It is a fine line between making a meaningful contribution and sullying your legacy. I hope NJ knows where the line is.

 

good comment on only 1 player over 300 though 

[Demon Dude 425]

phasing out year for Jones coming up. just like Vince, and Lewis before him. and just like those 2 guys he will play on for 1 year too many.

[Foopy on the telly 468]

16 minutes ago, Skin Deeamond said:

All that BS about “Junior” McDonald was BS. His time was over. Move on. Jones is way way way worse than he ever was as a player. In fact he’s now a joke. Get rid of him.

@Nuffies on AFL Pages

 

...oh wait this isn’t facebook 

[John Crow Batty 8,221]

We are the only amateur club in a league of professionals.

[Pates 9,536]

I have no problem with him being given another year, he had an awful year but in such a horrific year with players around him his abilities were found to have significantly dropped.

My hopes are that the club has told him in no uncertain terms that he will not be captain next year or have a position in the leadership group, and he is not guaranteed of a spot week to week. Basically exactly what we did with Bernie and Lewis. 

At worst he will be valuable as a bottom 18th to 25th player, and at best (if used well) he could provide a us with a useful senior head on the field.

This has started to become a lot more the norm nowadays, we've done it to success with Bernie and Lewis, while the Hawks did it with Roughy this year. And really using one position in the squad is not much for someone who has been a great clubman, no matter how poorly you rate his 2019.

[Pennant St Dee 11,241]

2 hours ago, KLV said:

Do you actually like anything about the club?

No!

a troll and not a very good one 

[Smokey 4,112]

Look, he's gonna be on low coin, happy for him to play another year - but that has to include a lot of time in Casey because if we are to bounce back and do any sort of damage next year, Jonesy cant be in our best 22 every single week. A great clubman, I have nothing but admiration and respect for what hes achieved (not a huge amount of talent, a hell of a lot of hard work, determination and dedication), but he must be considered a depth player if we're being serious next year. 

He sets a good example to the younger guys that you can work hard and get the most out of yourself if you want to, even without god gifted talent. 

Jones to Casey, and to play up 10 games in various roles filling in for injuries. These roles can include small forward, high half forward or in the guts. 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Smokey

[doc roet 1,198]

He ain't no Chunk anymore, he's a Chook.

Can always be found at the bottom of the pack laying on the ball.

[Demons11 6,404]

11 hours ago, KLV said:

Do you actually like anything about the club?

 

8 hours ago, Pennant St Dee said:

No!

a troll and not a very good one 

?

[chookrat 3,774]

1 hour ago, Smokey said:

Look, he's gonna be on low coin, happy for him to play another year - but that has to include a lot of time in Casey because if we are to bounce back and do any sort of damage next year, Jonesy cant be in our best 22 every single week. A great clubman, I have nothing but admiration and respect for what hes achieved (not a huge amount of talent, a hell of a lot of hard work, determination and dedication), but he must be considered a depth player if we're being serious next year. 

He sets a good example to the younger guys that you can work hard and get the most out of yourself if you want to, even without god gifted talent. 

Jones to Casey, and to play up 10 games in various roles filling in for injuries. These roles can include small forward, high half forward or in the guts. 

I can see Jones playing another couple of seasons as a half forward on a year by year contract.  I think the club is approaching his contract in the right way, where depending on Jones form and how the team is playing he may play 10 or less games or may play 20+ games, so the club isn't paying big $ for him to run around in the VFL. Would love for Jones to play 300 games and win a flag with us in the next 1-2 seasons and while alot has to go right he won't get that at GCS. 

[Binmans PA 25,892]

I would have kept Lewis for one more year and retired Jones. At least Lewis played a decent role as a reinvented forward this year. Jones offered very little.

Edited August 28, 2019 by A F

[Kent 2,574]

No disrespect to Jonesy but if he were to go i believe there would be an immediate uplift in the team performance

He unfortunately has developed a losers mentality not his fault but it is there unquestionably. He forces the team to play his style and is not good for the group.

I hope he goes for the sake of the team and I will always be a fan of his time at the Dees.

His time is up in my opinion.

[Moonshadow 16,109]

Damned if he signs, damned if he doesn't. 

We supporters are a fickle bunch 

[ArtificialWisdom 3,844]

2 minutes ago, Moonshadow said:

Damned if he signs, damned if he doesn't. 

We supporters are a fickle bunch 

Maybe the fans should meet half way. Delist then be redrafted in the mid season draft. That way we're all equally unhappy.

On a more serious note, of course he should be given another year, former captain or not, we need depth and maturity at Casey that can step up in an emergency. Lewis did it perfectly in 2019, I hope that Jones will do the same.

[beelzebub 22,225]

what would a successful club do ??

then do opposite.

Neil said it...there comes a time.

[Smokey 4,112]

2 hours ago, Kent said:

No disrespect to Jonesy but if he were to go i believe there would be an immediate uplift in the team performance

He unfortunately has developed a losers mentality not his fault but it is there unquestionably. He forces the team to play his style and is not good for the group.

I hope he goes for the sake of the team and I will always be a fan of his time at the Dees.

His time is up in my opinion.

I think you are completely overstating his ability to lead/influence the team like that. He ain't no field General, never was. 

[Kent 2,574]

Just now, Smokey said:

I think you are completely overstating his ability to lead/influence the team like that. He ain't no field General, never was. 

Mate you watch the games and see how many times he calls for the pill when he is in a worse position.

It does by head in. Then having demanded the ball he gets caught HTB ,panics and shoots off a poor close in hand ball or throws it on the boot for one of those wonderful up and unders that gives us little chance.

The team will be much better without him. He has done all he is going to do for this team . Never said he was a general, just not a good player or decision maker.

[Smokey 4,112]

29 minutes ago, Kent said:

Mate you watch the games and see how many times he calls for the pill when he is in a worse position.

It does by head in. Then having demanded the ball he gets caught HTB ,panics and shoots off a poor close in hand ball or throws it on the boot for one of those wonderful up and unders that gives us little chance.

The team will be much better without him. He has done all he is going to do for this team . Never said he was a general, just not a good player or decision maker.

Fully agree. However, maybe this could change if he is no longer captain and replaced by powerful leaders in the mould of Lever etc. In that case, if he falls into file and just plays his role - maybe, just maybe, we can still use him. 

Other than that, he can play at Casey and be handy depth. 

[DeeSpencer 23,058]

I'd feel a lot better about him signing on if he was on 276 or 296 games. Instead he's at 286 and you just know the club will feel the pressure of getting him to 300.

I thought he was ok at half back, although Salem's form started to suffer with Jones down back, possibly because Jones took the worst forward or played highest up the ground. He wasn't terrible at half forward in the last two rounds either apart from losing the game with an awful kick.

But the reality is he's going to be a limited defensive player at either end and so you're relying on him doing a fair bit with smart positioning and with ball use to provide value. Positioning he can probably do, ball use I doubt.

I'd probably have him train with the defenders over summer but I'm not entirely convinced of that. 

The one glimmer of hope is Jones had an interrupted preseason last year and maybe he can shed a few kilos and actually have the body of an outside runner instead of an inside mid. That's his best hope of playing good football

[bluey 882]

Nothing has stopped the “Corporation” before removing our leaders, Green, Grimes, Tengrove, Dunne, Junior, can’t think of one reasoning unless Nate is part of the group that sits under the inactive Board, that has made many previous poor judgements that haunt the club going right back to the Bailey days!

[beelzebub 22,225]

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

I'd feel a lot better about him signing on if he was on 276 or 296 games. Instead he's at 286 and you just know the club will feel the pressure of getting him to 300.

I thought he was ok at half back, although Salem's form started to suffer with Jones down back, possibly because Jones took the worst forward or played highest up the ground. He wasn't terrible at half forward in the last two rounds either apart from losing the game with an awful kick.

But the reality is he's going to be a limited defensive player at either end and so you're relying on him doing a fair bit with smart positioning and with ball use to provide value. Positioning he can probably do, ball use I doubt.

I'd probably have him train with the defenders over summer but I'm not entirely convinced of that. 

The one glimmer of hope is Jones had an interrupted preseason last year and maybe he can shed a few kilos and actually have the body of an outside runner instead of an inside mid. That's his best hope of playing good football

its all about the 300....you can just smell it

[Sir Why You Little 34,407]

43 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

its all about the 300....you can just smell it

14 more games to go!

Christ that could take 2 years