Clinton Jones

[Con Gorozidis]

Clint will be 29 next year, I'd like to think a team could turn him into an inside mid that could dish it off....he is actually a very good ball winner/contested footy player.

Surely the benefit of giving kids like Ledger, Newnes and Ross opportunities as well as stepping up the responsibility of Steven and Armo would outweigh any output Jones could have as a midfielder for the next two years. Our midfield is slowly slipping down the AFL pecking order and the only way to get it back to the top is to inject new talent, not try to reinvent 29 year olds who can't kick or make a decision under pressure.

agree. and throw in curren to that list of mids.

[defacto]

+ 2 here. agree. i would organise a trade for him ASAP. a club like GC/GWS/Melbourne could do very well with a jones. hell even a richmond could use him.

[mad saint guy]

+ 2 here. agree. i would organise a trade for him ASAP. a club like GC/GWS/Melbourne could do very well with a jones. hell even a richmond could use him.

He wouldn't get into the Richmond midfield and I'm not sure why Melbourne would take an old reject when they have forced retirement upon much more talented club champions because they were too old.

If we can trade him I'm all for it, but I can't think of a club that would take him.

[Old Mate]

I think the only way Jones gets a lifeline is if we keep him (rumor that he is contracted next year) or Ross Lyon picks him up after he's delisted by us with a late pick or in the pre season draft.

[westy]

Get rid of Geary, are you Ken Serious? He has got us out of the s*** many times this year.

[clarky449]

Should be on his way out. Gets found out way to easily now. Just doesnt want to kick the ball. Had a good few years and got the best out of his ability.

[Con Gorozidis]

No disgrace playing 114 games of AFL footy. 114 more than most and anyone who plays more than 100 is a great player (Aaron Fiora aside).

[mad saint guy]

It looks like he does indeed have a contract that will spare him from the axe this year. Watters said in his press conference that Jones is still a part of the midfield group moving forward next year.

[WellardSaint]

I hope its true about Watters promising CJ is a key mid. He has worked his a* off for the club, sadly kicking poorly.
They may try something to addrees this in the pre-season, they are the experts. Not us. They know what they're doing

[noob]

address? His had at least 5 years to fix his kicking.

[saintbrat]

address? His had at least 5 years to fix his kicking.

he has had four years of 'follow the line or else' coaching and 1 year to try and fix his kicking.........

[magnifisaint]

address? His had at least 5 years to fix his kicking.

he has had four years of 'follow the line or else' coaching

???????

[skeptic]

the funny thing with Jones is... what's changed???

He is playing more or less to the same standard as he was mid 2010 (after a ripper start to the season)...

Since then ppl have frequently spoke him up like he's a elite tagger with the only noticeable change being that we're not winning as many games

[dragit]

the funny thing with Jones is... what's changed???

He is playing more or less to the same standard as he was mid 2010 (after a ripper start to the season)...

Since then ppl have frequently spoke him up like he's a elite tagger with the only noticeable change being that we're not winning as many games

Could be the game plan… Maybe he's been on his own a bit more when he has got the ball, with less support.
He certainly has looked lost with the footy in his hands more than ever.

[WellardSaint]

Game plan ! Yep!
There was one game where he received several good passes on the wing or half fwd, some folk on here surmised that the kicker mistook the blond hair for Rooey. I agree.
Subsequently, Jonesey looked for a h-pass off, worried about kicking.
So the game plan may be to give him more support .

[andrewg]

Jones for Silvani

When he was samshed by beams he lost his value. if he doesnt stop a player he is no better than my grandpa playing and he is 97

[saintbob]

CJ has been a very worthy servant for the Saints, but unfortunately his time is up.

[stkildathunda]

http://www.footballnation.com.au/afl/af ... ed-around/

ST KILDA midfielder Clint Jones says he is confident that he will remain on the list despite being on the outer, playing the last four matches of the season in the VFL for Sandringham.

Jones, who has struggled with pace in the second half of the season at the Saints, said he had a clause in his contract that he could play on in 2013 but he may be shopped around.
“It’s a bit disappointing but that’s the way it goes I suppose,” Jones said yesterday.

“Hopefully I’ll have a good off-season break and good pre-season and get back into it hopefully…I think I’ve got a lot to offer.”

Jones said coach Scott Watters had told him to work harder after being consigned to the VFL.

“He (Watters) said to basically go back and work hard. I’ve never been able to do that I suppose, I had a good game today. It’s pretty hard to take going back to the VFL but that’s the way it is I suppose,” he said.

[WellardSaint]

Work harder? I assumed he always worked hard, maybe Watters is after specific work like kicking skills Maybe not hard as in intensity, more focussed perhaps ?

[older saint]

Jones still has a role to play however i think he has suffered from perhaps thinking he had made it after the last few years and not worked as hard as he had previously. Prior to this season he had a role and he knew exactly what was expected and prepared accordingly. His role changed this season and perhaps he took the foot of the gas defensively and chased the ball a bit

[saintbrat]

http://www.saints.com.au/news/newsartic ... fault.aspx
“I still think Clint Jones has got a role to play in our side going forward as well,” Watters said.

[mad saint guy]

Could be the game plan… Maybe he's been on his own a bit more when he has got the ball, with less support.
He certainly has looked lost with the footy in his hands more than ever.

The game plan has definitely exposed him more. Under Lyon there were always lots of numbers loose backwards and sideways that could be hit up by an easy 20m pass and there was no emphasis on quick ball movement. Now with a faster style of play that requires precise skills he has been caught out. I also suspect opposition mids have gotten fitter and faster while Jones has stayed the same, hence his lack of tagging success.

If we can trade Jones for a late draft pick that would be the ideal scenario. He's probably on decent coin if he signed a contract when his stocks were high in early 2010, it could free up cap space to offer BJ or chase a defender.

[saintsRrising]

CJ was well suited to the Lyon's Gameplan...or rather Lyon's Gameplan was very well suited to overcoming the deficiencies of the list that he had in hand.

However AFL evolves:

* tagging rules hae been tightened, or at least enforced more

* that teams exploit him more by allowinf that he be the "free" player tha Saints kick to, with the zone defence then biting any errant kick

* that good teams are just so much more efficient at exploiting turnoers, an so poor kicks are now punished more severely that they ever have been

So can CJ evolve? I suspect that what Watters meant by working harder...was to see if he can improve his kicking efficiency.

CJ only kicked 2 goals in 17 games in a high scoring attacking team this year, and the 2 goal total was not from lack of opportunity. CJ often looked for other options way too long, causing turnovers, when he should have slotted more goals.

[oldie60]

Cint Jones is originally from West Australia so would not be a surprise, he does butcher the ball simply because he can't play both sides of the body and this probably concerns Watters because to get full value from a player his size he needs to be able to play as an on baller / mid fielder, you don't have to tag players every week.

[Legendary]

Even if he's not in the senior team for the majority of the year, what a brilliant depth player. Hard, tough, has finals experience, can win the footy, knows how to tag or play a defensive role.

Great sort of player to have on the list, regardless of his age. Bit like Blake.