CO-CAPTAIN Nathan Jones says Melbourne’s improvement will come via its younger players next year. 

Speaking on 1116 SEN on Tuesday, Jones said the younger players only needed to be inspired by midfielder Clayton Oliver, who had a stunning 2017 season in just his second AFL year.

“The greatest improvement for the Melbourne footy club is if four or five more of our super talented younger players can make the leap that Clayton made this year – to that level and to that commitment,” he said.

“I think that’s where our greatest improvement lies.”

Jones said Christian Petracca was one player who could take his game to another level.

“There’s no doubt. From an attributes point of view, he’s got all of the capabilities to be as good as those two players [Patrick Dangerfield and Dustin Martin],” he said.

“I think what it’ll come down to is: how hard he’s willing to work for that? And what he’s willing to sacrifice to be that good?

“I think he will [be a great player]. He really wants to be great, but it’s about teaching him the right habits and him taking control of his career, which I think he will.

“We saw some significant improvement this year from him and I think he’s only going to get better.”

Jones said he expects key forward Jesse Hogan to have a “huge impact” in 2018, after a testing year personally, and that he was confident playmaker Christian Salem was “a required player”.

He added that ball-winner Corey Maynard could “100 per cent” play in round one next year after an outstanding season with Casey. 

“When you consider how much footy he’s played, and where he’s come from with the basketball background, and only being in the AFL system, not even two years now [he's shown great improvement],” he said.

“He got his chance against GWS [late in the season] and was a little bit stiff to find himself out of the team [the following week], but he’s dominated VFL footy all year.

“He’s been a little bit scrappy with his skills, but his intensity really stands out – he plays above everyone else.”

Reflecting on Melbourne’s end of the season, when it missed the final eight by 0.5 per cent, Jones said it “still doesn’t sit well". 

“It’s been a range of emotions, particularly that four or five days after the season,” he said.

“Now, I’ve sat back and tried to take a positive outlook on it after reviewing the season with the coaches and the players.

“Hopefully it’s going to be something that really spurs us on and it can be one of those points in time where we can look back and go ‘we learned so much from this season, but in particular the final four or five weeks as a group’. Hopefully it holds us in good stead.”

Jones said it was “horrific” having to wait until the final match of the home and away season to see if Melbourne had made the finals. As history now shows, it didn't, after West Coast claimed the final place in the eight, after defeating Adelaide. 

“We were still pretty disappointed from the day before [when we lost against Collingwood]. We had some recovery stuff on and most of the guys watched it (West Coast and Adelaide match) on their own,” he said.

“That was the thing after the game – it wasn’t in our control and it wasn’t in our hands anymore, after such a poor performance against the Pies. That was the thing that gave us that sick feeling in the gut.

“I ended up watching it on my own and it was a real rollercoaster ride. I reckon there were six or eight times during that game where we were in and out of the eight, just from a goal being scored for or against.

“It was painful to watch. Credit to West Coast, they earned their opportunity. I looked back on the year as a whole and I was disappointed – there is no doubt about the Collingwood game, but there were also some performances during the year that also cost us.

“In the end, you get what you put in, in the season. We weren’t good enough this year. And as harsh as it was an ending this year, hopefully it’s something that we can really learn from and take some pretty significant lessons from.”

Meanwhile, Jones said former co-captains Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove gave their all when they had the roles in tougher times, earlier this decade.

“I certainly wasn’t ready to be a skipper at that point in time,” he said.

“They were terrific leaders in their own right at that point, but I think the expectation that then fell on their shoulders and the demand that fell on their shoulders [was too much]. 

“I’ve said this to Grimesy and Trenners when we’ve chatted about it – I was their vice-captain at that point – and the pressure that they took, I tried my absolute best to assist them, support them and help them. It probably actually fostered the growth of my own leadership, whereas I feel like they faced a lot of pressure and scrutiny, and the club was under a lot of pressure and faced a lot of scrutiny.

“In the end, it didn’t overwhelm them, because they’re both terrific young men, but I felt they dealt with the situation very admirably.”