Does anyone deserve a flag more than Nathan Jones?

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Weird thread. There are plenty of players more deserving of a flag than Nathan Jones.

Goddard, Simpson, Betts, Mundy, Sandliands, Pearce, Deledio, Wells have all played more games than Nathan Jones and most of them are better players. Goddard for example is a bit of a floggo but at his peak was one of the best few players in the comp and was a bounce of the ball away from winning a flag and was close to BOG in an epic GF.

As great a clubman as he's been Jones won 3 B&Fs in a row in sides that won a combined 10 games in 3 seasons. He's a good player but now Melbourne are no longer easybeats I'm not surprised he's not winning the B&F each year. Respect his loyalty (though sticking with a poor side does see you rewarded financially and stand out on field) but he isn't LeBron James. If Melbourne win a flag in the next couple of years I'll be rapt for him but it will be more due to the impact of Hogan, Oliver, Viney etc.

What surprises me is that by the end of the year he will be in the top 5 for games played for Melbourne and nudging Jim Stynes in 4th spot. Would not surprise me at all to see him pass David Neitz on 306.
 

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Not the best player to ever put on the red and blue, let alone in the AFL but he is the player most fans (including myself), identify with the most. When we were getting utterly smashed, we all wanted to fight and he was the one that personified that. Vicariously barracked through him, he was/is our champion.

Nobody deserves a flag, but if he gets one I'll feel very happy for him. And ******* shitfaced from my end.
 
Scotland said:
Weird thread. There are plenty of players more deserving of a flag than Nathan Jones.

Goddard, Simpson, Betts, Mundy, Sandliands, Pearce, Deledio, Wells have all played more games than Nathan Jones and most of them are better players. Goddard for example is a bit of a floggo but at his peak was one of the best few players in the comp and was a bounce of the ball away from winning a flag and was close to BOG in an epic GF.

As great a clubman as he's been Jones won 3 B&Fs in a row in sides that won a combined 10 games in 3 seasons. He's a good player but now Melbourne are no longer easybeats I'm not surprised he's not winning the B&F each year. Respect his loyalty (though sticking with a poor side does see you rewarded financially and stand out on field) but he isn't LeBron James. If Melbourne win a flag in the next couple of years I'll be rapt for him but it will be more due to the impact of Hogan, Oliver, Viney etc.

What surprises me is that by the end of the year he will be in the top 5 for games played for Melbourne and nudging Jim Stynes in 4th spot. Would not surprise me at all to see him pass David Neitz on 306.
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Not that I think anyone “deserves” a premiership before they’ve actually won one, but those are some questionable alternative names.

Deledio for instance. The guy pissed off to chase a flag because he (mistakenly) thought the side he was leaving had no hope. I’d question how he is more deserving than Jones and I’m guessing so would many Richmond supporters. Goddard also left on similar grounds. The crux of your argument seems to be games played + quality of player = amount deserving. Surely loyalty is also a big factor. It’s why a player like Pavlich is continually raised. It’s not simply due to how good he was or how many games he played. it’s because he would’ve passed up numerous opportunities to chase success elsewhere but didn’t take the easy option.

Jones’ career is unique if you equate how good a player he is with how long he’s gone without any form of success on the field. The only one I can really think of to compare him against is Matthew Richardson who, as good as he was, sometimes let his emotions get the better of him on the field. Jones has never really dropped his head or let his emotions bubble over although few would’ve neglected him the right to do so. I’m sure there are other comparable examples but there wouldn’t be many that have toiled away for the best part of ten years churning through as many coaches, false dawns and seasons spent propping up the ladder as Jones has.

I reiterate that no-one deserves a premiership imo until they’ve won one. But for argument’s sake, if it was a viable concept, I don’t see why asking the question about Jones would be a “weird thread”.
 
Scotland said:
Weird thread. There are plenty of players more deserving of a flag than Nathan Jones.

Goddard, Simpson, Betts, Mundy, Sandliands, Pearce, Deledio, Wells have all played more games than Nathan Jones and most of them are better players. Goddard for example is a bit of a floggo but at his peak was one of the best few players in the comp and was a bounce of the ball away from winning a flag and was close to BOG in an epic GF.

As great a clubman as he's been Jones won 3 B&Fs in a row in sides that won a combined 10 games in 3 seasons. He's a good player but now Melbourne are no longer easybeats I'm not surprised he's not winning the B&F each year. Respect his loyalty (though sticking with a poor side does see you rewarded financially and stand out on field) but he isn't LeBron James. If Melbourne win a flag in the next couple of years I'll be rapt for him but it will be more due to the impact of Hogan, Oliver, Viney etc.

What surprises me is that by the end of the year he will be in the top 5 for games played for Melbourne and nudging Jim Stynes in 4th spot. Would not surprise me at all to see him pass David Neitz on 306.
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I'm not sure where in the OP or the following 6 pages it was determined that being great at footy was the factor that made you deserving of a premiership.

For me, Nathan Jones is the epicentre of the MFC at the moment. He's not the most talented player, but he works the hardest, gives the most, and as more loyalty than half the population of Australia combined. We can bicker about any definition of 'deserves'..... but there isn't a bloke on the planet I would want to get one before him. When there were endless reasons to take an easier way out, he shouldered an enormous burden in staying through a period that i doubt will ever be rivalled for its sheer terribleness.

To steal a line from Supermercado... When he retires, Nathan Jones will have to go in for several bouts of neck surgery from carrying the MFC for a decade.
 
Tarkyn_24 said:
Simon Prestigiacomo.

His selflessness by not putting his hand up to play when he wasn’t convinced of his fitness is the only reason he doesn’t have one.
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Why was he not selected for the replay?
 

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Would be a great story and a inspiration for other players maybe at teams struggling.

I know he would have had many offers and stuck fat. Obviously besides my own I would love to see Melbourne win it. Come from the absolute bottom.
 
Has there ever been interest from other clubs for Nathan Jones? He's a decent player who has had patches of very good form. However, I've never thought he was the type other teams would be trying to recruit away from Melbourne.
 
Dees fans "deserve" a flag more than Jones.

He at least is getting paid to work.

Dees fans have paid for self-flaggelation for years.
 
kdavva74 said:
250 games now, and the bulk of them during Melbourne's darkest days. He is the modern day Robert Flower. Saying Melbourne are a premiership chance is perhaps getting ahead of myself, but they are looking like a gun team at the time of writing. Does anyone in the AFL deserve the ultimate success more than Nathan Jones?
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Robert Murphy dislikes this
 
herculez09 said:
Do you disagree?
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Bob definitely deserved one and it was sad he missed out after all he put into the club.

But we all know that’s not why you raised his name
 
Unfortunately flags are not guaranteed look at guns like Ablett Senior, Rober Harvey, Matthew Pavlich and co all champions all neve Played in a premiership. Comes down To timing and Luck as well.
 
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