EVEN during the darkest times of season 2007, Melbourne fans would sit back in amazement at the maturity and poise of 19-year-old midfielder Nathan Jones.

The teenager remarkably finished second in the club's best and fairest, missing only one game in just his second season of senior football.

Jones' in and under work and quick decision-making offered hope to Demons fans as the team sank to 14th on the ladder.

Jones credits assistant coach Paul Williams and former caretaker coach Mark Riley with helping to bring his game to the next level.

"Once 'Bomber' (Riley) came on board I sat down with him and Willo. My main focus was to finish off the year. There is a huge focus to be consistent and I just wanted to make sure I finished the year off well," Jones said.

Jones' early success can largely be attributed to physical development beyond his years.

But he admits he inititally had trouble finding the right playing weight for an AFL on-baller.

"I ended up getting to 87 kgs just towards the end of my first season and by the start of this year I was 80kgs," he said.

"I never really did a weights program as a kid. The majority of what I did was when I first came to the club and I ended up putting on a fair bit of weight, then dropped a fair bit."

Jones knows his endurance is a major asset but he had to find the right balance between aerobic fitness and short bursts of speed.

He said he has to work on adapting to the quick rotations that come with playing in the middle in the modern game.

"I was pretty lucky that as a kid I did a fair bit of triathlon so that helped me with my aerobic endurance. The down side of that is that I'm not very quick so I've got to work on that," he said.

"We work on back-to-back running over the pre-season so we can run as hard as you can while you're on the ground then come off and recover as quickly as you can.

"It's definitely hard to get used to as a junior coming into AFL footy. I was used to running around on the ball all day, whereas at this level, you're coming off after eight minutes."

With his star still rising and Travis Johnstone no longer a part of the Melbourne midfield, Jones can be assured he will be spending plenty of time in the engine room in 2008 and beyond.