CAPTAIN Nathan Jones says he hasn’t taken any notice of media speculation or noise surrounding Collingwood’s start to the season.

The three-time best and fairest winner said despite the Magpies being upset by St Kilda at the MCG last round, he was not falling for the trap of taking Collingwood lightly at the ‘G on Sunday.  

“To be honest … I don’t really listen to the media too much or read too much – I mainly worry about us,” he said.

“I’ve been through some tough times [at Melbourne] and I’m assuming they (Collingwood) aren’t playing at the level they’d expect to be playing at.

“So for us, we’re expecting them to come out really fiercely on the weekend and rebound after a week where they’ve been under a bit of pressure and we’re prepared for that.”

Jones said Melbourne’s challenge was to keep building its consistency and start stringing multiple wins.

“Internally, we’re really confident with the direction we’re heading, with the performances we’re putting out there consistently,” he said.

“We’re in a results-based industry and wins count for everything. We’re playing to win and that starts this weekend, which is against Collingwood. It’s the old cliché but we still do it – take it a week at a time and we’ll look at Collingwood and then look to the following week.

“It’s about the brand of footy we’re trying to play and consistently doing that. We believe in it and feel like it stacks up. When we get really good at it, it should result in consistent performances and a string of wins.”

Jones said it would be “fun to run out” against former teammate Jeremy Howe, who played 100 games for Melbourne from 2011-15, before crossing to Collingwood at the end of last season.

“There will be a few little bumps here and there, and a few words said, but all in all, whatever happens on the ground will probably stay on the ground,” he said.

“I messaged him (Howe) last week [to wish him] good luck for his first game [for Collingwood] and I’m assuming he will be pretty excited.

“There will be a fair bit of emotion running through his head, but I think the bigger task at hand is the Pies, and us backing up some of our good form from last week, and hopefully getting the four points this week.”