SKIPPER Nathan Jones says there is no chance Melbourne will take Essendon lightly, given it will be fielding an undermanned side due to its off-field situation.
Essendon’s scenario will again see the Dons field several top-up players – including former Demons James Magner and Mitch Clisby – but Jones said the Dees will approach their final NAB Challenge clash at Ethiad Stadium this Friday like a round one contest.
“From Roosy’s (Paul Roos) point of view, I’d assume we’d play a full side and get everyone on the park – our strongest team out there and just continually try and work on what we have over the last couple of weeks and particularly the summer,” he said from Melbourne’s family day at Luna Park on Sunday.
“We’ll try and run ourselves into some good form.
“What we’ve seen over the first two weeks of the NAB Challenge is some exciting footy, but we’ve also had patches where we’ve been scored against, so we’ll look to address that and run ourselves into some real confidence.”
Jones said he felt for the Essendon players, but was matter of fact about the situation.
“I really feel for the players at Essendon, but at the same time that’s the card that we’ve been dealt and we’ve got to prepare the best we can and prepare as best we can,” he said.
“The challenge for our group is to … play the way we want to play and the result will take care of itself.
“It’s a real process for us and we’ve got to tick the boxes. For where we’re at and where we’re coming from, we’ve got to consistently perform.
“We saw yesterday (Saturday) that at any stage we take our foot off the pedal – or don’t play to the style of play that we’ve been practicing – no matter who we play, we get scored against.
“We’ll be looking to take Friday night very seriously.”
Jones said he was looking forward to coming up against Magner, who is one of his best friends.
“He’s one of my best mates and I messaged him the other night to see how he’s going,” he said.
“He said he went all right and he expects to line up on Friday, so I’m looking forward to playing against him.
“I just said to him ‘don’t hurt me before round one’. Some of those guys like Mitch Clisby are also getting another chance. They find themselves in a bit of a different situation, but good luck to them. Hopefully it creates another opportunity for them.”
Jones said Melbourne would address its second half fadeout against the Western Bulldogs at Eureka Stadium on Saturday. The Demons squandered a 52-point lead in the second quarter of its NAB Challenge match, before winning by seven points.
“At this stage of the year, we’ll take a fair few positives from it,” Jones said.
Looking ahead to round one, Jones said it was critical the team stuck to its processes to start the season off positively.
“Whether we play a VFL side or Hawthorn – we have to bring our best effort and execute our game plan as well as we can. That’s the focus,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to playing Gold Coast and we’ve had some terrific games against them. They’ve really improved and they’re a tough outfit and they’ve got some exciting young players.
“For us, it’s about worrying about where we want to go as a team – and the brand we want to create as a team. We’ve addressed that over the summer, so I’m hoping we can put out a four quarter, consistent effort and the result will hopefully go our way.”
