Nathan Jones Locked in for 2021

[Pickett2Jackson 3,904]

3 hours ago, cantstandyasam said:

I knew he wouldn't, hopefully he does the team first thing and plays a mentor role at Casey after he gets to 300. Alternatively if his form doesn't warrant a game I hope he accepts it and plays that mentor role. He's always struck me as a player who puts his needs first, hopefully I'm wrong.

 

If Jones gets to 300 games he will surely have earned it.   Cant see him getting there though.   Goodwin is the last coach in the league who can afford to gift games to players as next year is do or die for him.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Pickett2Jackson

[3183 Dee 2,822]

For well over a decade now, this club has not had quality experienced players that have played their career at Melbourne, to ensure that the new guys in their first couple of years learn the right habits and behaviours to make the transition into quality players. It is  vital that we have Jones around the club to take on this role. Look at Richmond - I believe a great part of their success is that they have a core of four 200 gamers (Riewoldt, Martin, Cotchin and Edwards) who lead that club - the other guys follow, willingly. Imagine if that could be Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Lever in a few years.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,012]

Brilliant move by the club.  Not only in building the culture of the club and showing respect for a long-serving former captain, but also in setting up a PR bonanza when they trot him out for his 300th next year.  Assuming we're allowed at games by then, the members will come out of the woodwork to cheer him on.  Plus it will be a solid coaching internship for him. 

[Pates 9,625]

Whichever way you look at it on the body of his work over his career and the loyalty displayed towards the club he had earned the right to make this decision on his own. I don’t think he will be gifted games, he will have to earned and as long as the club made that perfectly clear to him going into this year I have no issues with his decision. 

As a great servant of our club all we can do is wish him the best of luck and that hopefully he gets the opportunity to bow out in the finals. 

[whitito 187]

5 hours ago, Hannibal Inc. said:

As George has alluded to, they didn't want to repeat the McDonald fiasco.

I have to disagree. If we moved him on at the end of 2018 that would be a repeat of the McDonald situation.

its 2 years removed.

he is a great of the club but this leaves me perplexed.

he hasn’t had an impact on games fir a long time and he is simply passed it.

I will cheer him on of course but a hard decision was needed and the club again didn’t make it.

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

I’m really pleased about this.

Finally we haven’t knee-capped a club legend at the end of their playing career.

There’s good karma to this - it’s the opposite of what we witnessed with James McDonald. That was a disaster. It was a culture killer.

 

 

[Jack7 522]

Great decision,he won't be gifted games,he'll earn them,and he'll want to earn them,that's who he is.

 

Talking about gifting games,Melksham and AVB should've been dropped 3 times each this year,no no not Goody's mates!!!

 

I'd have Jones in the team before both those spuds.

[rpfc 28,055]

Happy we are not valuing ND65 over the fabric of the club.

Progress.

Some of you think like life is a video game, full of dispassionate decisions and inconsequential list changes...

[Turner 1,489]

everyone says he has to go out on his own terms, but surely it was the right move this year he would have known that, hes 6th banana, he's slowed right down and he's being cheeky sucking extra years out of us because he knows we know we cant force him out. its obviously a difficult one for club but im concerned especially if it costs us the development of a youngster 

[Ham 741]

8 hours ago, whitito said:

I have to disagree. If we moved him on at the end of 2018 that would be a repeat of the McDonald situation.

its 2 years removed.

he is a great of the club but this leaves me perplexed.

he hasn’t had an impact on games fir a long time and he is simply passed it.

I will cheer him on of course but a hard decision was needed and the club again didn’t make it.

Big difference what we see and what happens within the walls of the club. 

Not sure how you can find it that perplexing, when every single successful club over the journey has players who have played a significant amount of games or spent a significant amount of time at the club and do so much for it culturally.

Would love to see what a culture would look like under pure disillusion of what people mean to the club... oh wait, you're a Melbourne supporter, right? 

Rewind the clock... 10 years. 

[Lord Nev 13,512]

7 hours ago, Turner said:

everyone says he has to go out on his own terms, but surely it was the right move this year he would have known that, hes 6th banana, he's slowed right down and he's being cheeky sucking extra years out of us because he knows we know we cant force him out. its obviously a difficult one for club but im concerned especially if it costs us the development of a youngster 

Having mature, experienced and exceptionally professional players around the club does the opposite of costing us the development of a youngster.

Melbourne fans, more than anyone, should understand you don't develop kids by just throwing them in for games without enough guidance and support from experienced players.

[Kent 2,866]

I was hoping for a 3 year contract for Jonesy so he could get to his 300.Very dissapointed it is only one year

Maybe they will reconsider next year

Would be great

[Gator 17,261]

8 hours ago, whitito said:

I have to disagree. If we moved him on at the end of 2018 that would be a repeat of the McDonald situation.

its 2 years removed.

he is a great of the club but this leaves me perplexed.

he hasn’t had an impact on games fir a long time and he is simply passed it.

I will cheer him on of course but a hard decision was needed and the club again didn’t make it.

I would have cut him.  He's finished.  But I suspect the handling of McDonald was in the back of their minds as well as the cultural contribution he can provide.  Then there's the 300 games...

But if you can come up with other reasons they retained him I'm all ears. 

[Clintosaurus 7,594]

Effectively a coaching position in the salary cap instead of the significantly reduced soft cap. Smart decision.

[Kent 2,866]

8 minutes ago, Clintosaurus said:

Effectively a coaching position in the salary cap instead of the significantly reduced soft cap. Smart decision.

Not sure that I would want Nathans skills set passed on to too many

He championed the 1 metre hand pass to a stationary player under pressure

[DubDee 24,543]

Is it too much to ask to win the flag for Jonsey next year?

rest him for the prelim. Then he can kick the winner against the Cats after the siren in the GF

[dl4e 5,851]

Well there are 2 sides to every story.

Edited October 28, 2020 by dl4e

[poita 3,877]

There's at least 15 players on our 2020 list that would offer way less in 2021 than Jones will on field, to say nothing of his experience, professionalism and leadership off field.

I really don't see the downside if he is on minimal wages and accepts that he will be playing at Casey if his form warrants it.

I'm looking forward to a big 300 game celebration early in the season.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,656]

1 hour ago, Hannibal Inc. said:

I would have cut him.  He's finished.  But I suspect the handling of McDonald was in the back of their minds as well as the cultural contribution he can provide.  Then there's the 300 games...

But if you can come up with other reasons they retained him I'm all ears. 

Perhaps because the club decided that he would be better value than his replacement who would be the last player selected in this year's compromised draft.  

[ProperDee 1,698]

Its been a long time between drinks for this footy club insofar as positive milestone moments go.  300 games for Nate Jones is something that will boost team morale no end. Further, it sets a standard for players like Oliver et al who may think twice about leaving a club that supports its champions even when the chips are down and personifies the "one club" tenet.

Further, anyone who thinks Jonesy is "finished" doesn't know the bloke nor have any concept of where he has been and what he has been through.

[old dee 23,506]

11 hours ago, Pates said:

Whichever way you look at it on the body of his work over his career and the loyalty displayed towards the club he had earned the right to make this decision on his own. I don’t think he will be gifted games, he will have to earned and as long as the club made that perfectly clear to him going into this year I have no issues with his decision. 

As a great servant of our club all we can do is wish him the best of luck and that hopefully he gets the opportunity to bow out in the finals. 

Could not agree more at last we have treated a former Captain well. Little things like this give me hope the people now running the club know what they are doing. 

Edited October 28, 2020 by old dee

[TheoX 1,220]

Happy enough with this, at least he offers something, unlike Joel Smith who was bizarrely re-signed.

Sign Hunt up already please too.

[Demonstone 21,875]

10 hours ago, Jack7 said:

Melksham and AVB should've been dropped 3 times each this year,no no not Goody's mates!!

I've seen a number of posters allude to this and it's been repeated often enough to take on a life of its own.

I really can't believe that the Match Selection Committee would decide to drop a player who's not performing but be persuaded to change their mind because said player is a "mate" of Goody.

[Demonstone 21,875]

1 hour ago, dl4e said:

Well there are 2 sides to every story.

A wise person once told me there are actually three sides to every story.

There's your version, there's my version and then there's the absolute truth which lies somewhere in between.

[titan_uranus 24,730]

For those who argue that Jones is taking the spot of someone better, I'd argue that's unlikely to be the case.

I think it's fair to assume Jones' wage for 2021 won't be significant. The reality is if we didn't give that list spot and salary cap space to him, it would be going to a late pick in the draft or to the sort of player many on here term an "NQR".

In other words, Jones isn't taking up the potential spot of a A-grade acquisition from a rival, or even from a high draft pick in the draft.