Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 1:52 pm  

In the recent past there have been a number of young Saints players who have shown great promise in their formative years yet have not progressed as they matured. My personal opinion is that Josh Jones could well be another. Although still a comparatively young player I would have expected him to have really progressed with the amount of game time he has had. I do not think there has been any improvement at all this term, if anything he appears to have regressed. Maybe he would be better suited in the forwards.

Re: Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:03 pm  

The kid is 21 for gods sake! Can we at least let him mature a little before completely writing him off?

There's much argument as to whether he is a back rower or a centre (I am firmly in the latter category, being a good defensive centre seems to be an overlooked quality these days) but there's no doubting the kids talent ... Surely???

Re: Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:27 pm  

Jones is a decent player, probably never make England but still a good player

Re: Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:31 pm  

A 21 year old centre who's been asked to play back row (which he can) in one of the most consistently injury disrupted saints squads I've known.
Saints at time's this year have been downright awful. he second half of the season, the majority of decent victories were ground up the middle. We have, without Walsh and Lomax, little ability to get decent ball wide.

In the midst of a spanking by Warrington, Jones managed to absolutely cream Chris Hill (MOS contender and prop forward) and put him on his back in a dominant tackle, only for Soliola to fall over at the play the ball and cock up our defensive line for the to exploit.

Josh Jones, be him in the centre or back row, is not one of our club's problems.

Re: Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:37 pm  

Lately, Josh Jones makes me nervous when he plays centre because his winger doesn't know when he is going to commit to a tackle, he has a similarly hesitency in the pass.
He is at a disadvantage though in that he hasn,t really settled into any one position because of the changing of the back line with injuries etc.
Tommy Makinson went through a similar performance phase at the beginning of the season last year, Josh has lots of potential but I don,t think the coaching team have developed him just yet to give him some performance consistency, he does have highs and lows in his game and is still really a "work in progress" player worth keeping.

Re: Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:44 pm  

As I just stated on another thread Lomax is overrated.

Re: Flattered to decieve : Tue Oct 07, 2014 5:18 pm  

I think it's a bit harsh on Jones. He is certainly a player I would want in my squad. Can mix it with the best in SL at centre and second row. Whilst maybe not a starting 13, I would have him on my bench every week as he offers cover in both the backs and the pack.

Bit of a Gilmore player for me, neither one thing nor the other but good value for money and means you can ride the hits in the squad through out the year.

But that only my opinion, others would rate him as a starting loose forward, others would have him at centre above Turner. So if he is flattering to decive its not across the board, it's only in the OP's opinion