On the brink of his 300th senior appearance, Nathan Jones has suffered the fate of many older inside mids: being shifted out to the edges to allow younger models to crack in at the contest. He recorded a decade low in disposal and tackle averages in this new role rotating off a half back flank. Jones is well and truly past the much vaunted 30-year barrier and expect him to decline further in 2020. A club leader and a dominant fantasy player in his pomp, BAC eligibility is the only thing keeping him fantasy-relevant, and even in that role he has downside potential as time wears him down.
Cojones to pick Nones
On the brink of his 300th senior appearance, Nathan Jones has suffered the fate of many older inside mids: being shifted out to the edges to allow younger models to crack in at the contest. He recorded a decade low in disposal and tackle averages in this new role rotating off a half back flank. Jones is well and truly past the much vaunted 30-year barrier and expect him to decline further in 2020. A club leader and a dominant fantasy player in his pomp, BAC eligibility is the only thing keeping him fantasy-relevant, and even in that role he has downside potential as time wears him down.
Jones on wing and prayer
It didn't take much for Nathan Jones's fantasy average to drop from early-round prospect to nearly below the midfielder baseline. A kick, two marks and a tackle or two per game dropped off from his personal-best 2017 stat line. His time on ground of 83% wasn't the issue, and his clearance rates stayed the same. Whatever the reason, he was shifted to a wing after round 18 and started to focus on hitting the scoreboard, doing so in five straight games. He failed to reach 20 disposals in all three finals. The most obvious reason for Jones' woes - if you can call them that when he was deliriously happy to at long last be playing finals - was the development of the younger inside midfield brigade. If his September form line is carried through to 2019, we can expect a lot more sub-20 possession games, which implies he has a lot of downside built into his draft value. Parallels with late-career Shane Crawford are easy to draw, and Crawf's swansong year was spotty. He should fall to late rounds.
Jones keeps on keeping on
A rising tide lifts all boats, and Nathan Jones enjoyed more support in a Demon midfield that he had carried at times in previous years. A quad injury after the byes was the only blip, as he got on the outside to lift his mark rate from 2.5 to four per game, all other key stats being on par with his best form. He was the only player in the top 25 for the inside 50 stat to average over 75% efficiency. Oppo analysts rarely directed their tagger to go to Jones, which is slightly surprising because he's still the most prolific deliverer of the ball to Melbourne forwards. His reputation is as an inside beast, yet it was his outside work where he was able to add further numbers on an already impressive game. He shows a lot of green flags for conservative fantasy coaches, and should prove a valuable early round pick.
