Jack Watts - Confirmed #1 Pick in 2008 Draft - Booyah!!!

[Eastie Boyz 0]

What would be wrong with Hodge or Ball?

If anything, Hodge's year has probably been better than Judd's

Wouldn't happen to know how Franklin went in that game?

[titan_uranus 25,042]

Yeah, only played 1 senior game in WAFL. My bad. LoL.

I'm still not sure on Watts though... maybe it's just me being a heart-broken Melbourne supporter, who always expects the worse. If we get either one of Rich/Watts/Naitanui I'd be happy... I'm just worried that Watts will be our Hodge/Ball/Tambling, and Naitanui will be West Coast's Judd/Franklin.

I know what you mean, but Hodge is a class player that would be a walk-up starter in any team, inlcuding Geelong. I wouldn't be unhappy if Watts ends up being our 'Hodge'.

[Neita3000 37]

Thing is... Buddy was playing men prior to AFL.

I am not convinced about Watts. He is playing school footy and only just dominating (3-4goals a week)... school is equivalent to 'junior level VFL', whereas the TAC Cup is equivalent to 'junior level AFL'. I'd be expecting him to be really really smashing the opposition (8-9goals a week) in school football, as blokes like Judd, Crawford, Ball, etc. did. In the few times I have seen Watt, I haven't gone away thinking 'Damn! That kid is going to be amazing'.

The WAFL or SANFL have proven good guides to how kids will perform against men, because they ARE playing men in those leagues. I'm in the Naitanui corner this draft.

Do you know how many players get drafted out of the TAC Cup every year?

Just because an 18yr old hasn't played against men doesn't make him any less of a player.

[Jerry Lundergard 420]

Do you know how many players get drafted out of the TAC Cup every year?

Just because an 18yr old hasn't played against men doesn't make him any less of a player.

Joel Selwood played in the TAC didn't he? He looks like he has been playing against men his whole life.

[Eastie Boyz 0]

Well he does have 2 older brothers

[Neita3000 37]

Joel Selwood played in the TAC didn't he? He looks like he has been playing against men his whole life.

Exactly. Judd only played school footy. He's going alright too!

Lol all this talk about how Rich and Natanui are playing against men is vastly over rated. Doesn't count for [censored]

[sylvinator 96]

Exactly. Judd only played school footy. He's going alright too!

Lol all this talk about how Rich and Natanui are playing against men is vastly over rated. Doesn't count for [censored]

Correct. Absolutely silly.

Was Judd a worse playing because he had only played under18 level before being drafted? What about Xavier Elllis?

you can only play against the league ur in, and Watts has excelled.

Show me the proof that playing in WAFL means you're more likely to succeed at afl level!

[Jarka 767]

I'm going to go against the grain here and I'll probably get flamed but I have a small query over Watts.

Firstly though let me say that he's obviously a great talent with wonderful skills and is worthy of a top 2 pick, however there is one issue that just keeps bobbing its head up whenever I see an evaluation of his performance. It's the fact that he's not overly enthusiastic about the physical aspect of the game. Or to be more precise his unwillingness to go hard at the ball and put his body on the line, I haven't seen him lay many great tackles either.

To those who know him better who have a different opinion please tell me that I'm wrong, but do so with examples, I haven't seen enough of him to really know for sure.

If this kid had the desire to really hunt the opposition it would be pretty hard to go past him, but at the moment I'm really torn between him and Naitanui. I just love the Fijian's attack on the ball (and man) as well as everything else he does.

[Guest]

Jack Watts wants to go to Melbourne....of course wanting to go to a particular club doesn't always work out...but it certainly looks like he could end up with the D's...good luuck to him....he's a good kid

[Tex 68]

Correct. Absolutely silly.

Was Judd a worse playing because he had only played under18 level before being drafted? What about Xavier Elllis?

you can only play against the league ur in, and Watts has excelled.

Show me the proof that playing in WAFL means you're more likely to succeed at afl level!

I remember the wraps on Kepler Bradley at draft time because he was dominating games against men in the WAFL.

I was livid when we picked up some unknown called Brock McLean instead of Kepler.

How wrong was I?

Watts has won the highest award in the land for his performances against his peers, the Larke Medal.

Enough said.

[Red and Blue Flame 191]

exactly- well put

we can know have two larke medallists (morton and watts)

[Freak 100]

winnign the larke medal is not the be all and end all, there having been many duds to win that medal.

[Red and Blue Flame 191]

typical- negativity from freak

well.. morton isn't a dud, Tom Hawkins (06) isnt, Marc Murphy (05) isn't and watts certainly doesn't look to be a dud

[Freak 100]

shaun mcmanus

jesse smith

kepler bradley

cale morton

All of them won the larke medal and none of them are worthy of number 1 draft picks in their respective drafts.

[Red and Blue Flame 191]

kepler bradley- one dud larke medallist in 10 years....pretty good track record indicator to a good player

jesse smith will be a good KPB

mcmanus was always a trier, probably couldn't play well cos he was in a [censored] team for most of his career

[H_T 3,049]

Jack Watts wants to go to Melbourne....of course wanting to go to a particular club doesn't always work out...but it certainly looks like he could end up with the D's...good luuck to him....he's a good kid

:D Great news.

[H_T 3,049]

..........

The swapping of picks 1 and 3 for Warnock is rubbish. We are doing our utmost to get him for free in the pre-season draft. Carlton are also in to him in a massive way.

......

Just as I thought Haydo. Good write up too. If they're looking at Vickery too, they'd be looking at him for the next pick I'd imagine. Which means he could go between 10-20.

[Tex 68]

Just as I thought Haydo. Good write up too. If they're looking at Vickery too, they'd be looking at him for the next pick I'd imagine. Which means he could go between 10-20.

No chance Vickery will go that late.

He is a top 7 pick everyday of the week.

[Yencks 8]

Just as I thought Haydo. Good write up too. If they're looking at Vickery too, they'd be looking at him for the next pick I'd imagine. Which means he could go between 10-20.

they're either looking at him for a pick 1 option of for a possible trade for draft pick option

the kid has a lot of upside

he will be long gone by pick 17

[JACKATTACK 17]

I liked the way Vickery looked, also McKernan was impressive. If we could somehow trade ourselves into a position to secure one of these guys I would be very happy.

I would even consider trading away our pick 1 for a slightly later pick (4-8) + change, use that pick to get Tyrone and use the change to secure another top 20 pick. Impossible to swindle probably but I just don't see all tha much difference between the top 5-6 players.

[Mousey 47]

Best results for me would be-

Pick 1- Jacks Watts

Pick 17- Stephen Hill

Pick 19- Paul Cahill

Robbie Warnock comes to us via a trade.

Al Davey comes to us with the 1st pick in the PSD.

I would be a very happy camper!

By the way what date does trade week start?

[H_T 3,049]

I would even consider trading away our pick 1 for a slightly later pick (4-8) + change, use that pick to get Tyrone and use the change to secure another top 20 pick. Impossible to swindle probably but I just don't see all tha much difference between the top 5-6 players.

Heads will roll if that happened. Trading away our Pick 1 is just not on.

[JACKATTACK 17]

Heads will roll if that happened. Trading away our Pick 1 is just not on.

No it won't happen but if the right situation came up and somehow (3 way trade) a club could offer say Picks 5 and 15 for our pick 1 I would say that is a fair trade.

It's just an observation on the way this draft is panning out. No one standout in the top 4-5 (so we're not losing a lot by downgrading our pick slightly) and top 20 picks all look pretty good (so we gain a likely good player).

Once you get over the shock of trading pick 1 I think there is wisdom in the move, I guess it all comes down to what combination of picks can a club offer that would equal pick 1.

[bjgc 0]

I have a feeling we won't go for Watts. Just like the last 10 years in the draft we won't get JACK.

[btdemon 482]

FWIW, I know a young bloke who played on Watts a couple of weeks ago. When he told me my ears pricked up and I asked him if he thought Watts was any good. He was pretty underwhelmed. This is just an anecdote but it supports my suspicion that maybe Watts is going to be a clever and skillful star forward but not an intimidating and imposing leader who scares the [censored] out opposition, which is what we need. The boy who told me this is pretty big and strong.