JEREMY Howe says vice-captain Nathan Jones has been a role model for him, in terms of how he prepares to train and play at the highest level.

Howe said he had tried to model his consistency on Melbourne’s 2012 best and fairest winner.

“I’ve played a fair few good games, but I’ve had a couple of games where I was a bit quiet and I want to get a bit of that consistency back, like a Nathan Jones, who is always setting standards most weeks. Clearly, that’s why he was the best and fairest winner last year,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“I still want to drive more consistency in my game, but I’ve still been thrown around in multiple positions, which is still something that I’m learning. I’ve also played as an extra man in defence this year.

“As it’s my third year, I still think I’m improving, but I’m still also learning a lot from playing multiple roles.”

Howe said Jones was a player he much admired, ever since he joined the club, after he was selected at No.33 in the 2010 NAB AFL Draft.

“Ever since I got to the club, he’s the one who’s trained the hardest and is working the hardest,” he said.

“I tried to nestle pretty closely to him and follow him with his training standards.

“He’s a consistent football player at AFL standard, so it’s something that you want to get to. You want to play the role and play good footy every game, which is something that I want to do.”

Howe, who has played every match for Melbourne so far this year, described 2013 as a “pretty difficult season”.

“Not getting any wins on the board and with Neeldy (Mark Neeld) leaving as well, it’s been pretty tough, personally and for the group,” he said.

“Ever since Neil [Craig] has come in [as coach], he’s been driving similar standards, but he’s got his own philosophy on things. I think the guys have bought in and we’ve improved again, but we’re still not satisfied with where we are.

“We just want to keep on improving and pushing forward and finish off the year stronger than we started.”

Howe, who has played up forward, on the wing and spent time down back this season, said creating flexibility to his game had been one of his key focuses.

“Sometimes it can get a bit hard, but I also look at it as a challenge, because all it does is add strings to your bow. Unless you’re one of the best players in the AFL, you can’t only play the one position,” he said.

“I’ve enjoyed the fact that I’ve got to play multiple roles and that it’s a good learning experience for myself. Sometimes it’s hard when you’re playing four different positions in the one game, because it’s hard to get settled.

“If you get thrown in multiple positions, it’s for reasons and you’ve just got to try and adapt the best you can, when you’re in that role.”

Howe said Melbourne’s main aim for the rest of the season was to produce strong four quarter performances and to execute its skill better.

“We’ve played better footy, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Neil is very honest with where we are and why we played three good quarters of footy against the Bulldogs and one bad quarter at the end,” he said.

“If we can push for four quarters of footy, like we showed in three quarters against the Bulldogs, we can be really competitive against top eight sides. We go into every game thinking we’re a genuine chance of winning the game.

“We just want to come away with a few more wins and take something away from this season and take it into the following season, like confidence and gaining respect from the other teams.

“With the way we started so poorly this year, there’s every right that we’ve lost a fair bit of respect.”