WATTS ON FIRST?

by Whispering Jack

The American burlesque comedy duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are famous for their baseball name play skit "Who's on First?" which centres on a wordplay about the occupants of the sport's bases — "Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third."

Their work has inspired this coverage of the recently completed NAB AFL Under 18 Championships, an event lasting several weeks that provided we football aficionados with a true smorgasbord of young footballing talent from across the nation. It also left many unanswered questions as to their final destinations in AFL football although, for some of course, there will be no such destination at all.

So who's first?

Well ... possibly Watts, meaning Jack Watts, the Victorian key forward with speed, a good leap, marking power and seemingly, a mature head to go with all of those other assets.

Like Melbourne's 2007 first round draft selection Cale Morton, Watts won this year's Larke medal as the best player of the Championships. A 194cm tall bottom age player who will do his 12th year of schooling in 2009 when he turns 18, Watts first impressed me with his play in the first round against Vic Country at the MCG, capping off the game by kicking a match winning clutch goal; it was a great sign that he not only achieved it but that he did so with such confidence. I was also impressed when I heard him speak briefly during a recent television news interview - again he exuded confidence and sounded self-assured. That all suggests that if everything else were to fall into place, he could one day be a team leader at AFL level. But Watts also indicated publicly that he might not even nominate for this year's national draft.

So who's on first then?

I Don't Know!

Now before anyone says I Don’t Know is on third, let me announce who I think is far and away the best player in this draft on what I have seen in the games at the MCG earlier this year and then at Casey Fields and Telstra Dome last week. The Rich kid!

Who?

Daniel Rich — the blond midfielder from WA is a real gun; he has poise, is a good decision maker, has all the football smarts and is a powerful and accurate kick of the football. He will be ready to go in round 1 next year, Rich has Brownlow Medal potential written all over him. If clubs are true to their word and go for the best player available when they make their selections on draft day, this is a real no brainer. Rich is THE best player available.

The reason why I said I don't know if Rich will go first is the uncertainty as to who will have the first pick, the feeling that I'm not sure whether clubs really go for the best available or whether they fudge that call a little when faced with the special and the unusual. In the case of the 2008 crop, I'm talking about the unusual in the form of the player who everyone was touting as the # 1 pick because of his freakish, raw athletic talent – WA ruck sensation Nick Naitanui.

The young kid with a Fijian background, about 197cm tall (perhaps even taller if you add the dreadlocks), is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He dominated the ruckwork at the championships and impressed with his speed and ferocious tackling. He didn't take many high marks for such a tall player, his kicking is a bit iffy (he uses a lot of handball) and there's a question mark on whether he has what they call "a football brain" but he will certainly go early. He will also provide some interesting challenges to the development coach of the club that takes him.

These are my impressions of names of the guns who will go earliest – there are also some good wraps on SA midfielder Hamish Hartlett, Vic Metro full back Michael Hurley and WA utility Chris Yarran. Then there's Vic Country boys Jack Ziebell and Steele Sidebottom, Vic Metro talls Tyrone Vickery and Shaun McKernan. Tassie's Aaron Cornelius and SA's Lewis Johnston look to be key forwards of the future and I was really impressed with the pace and aggression of Vic Metro wingers Sam Blease and David Zaharakis.

There are lots of other names and you'll find 101 opinions on each of them on the internet [there's a good overview of the leaders of the draft pack here - YOUNGSTERS SHOW CLASS THAT WILL WIN THEM AFL SPOTS] and more will be bandied about over the next four months. I still have some misgivings however, about the depth of this draft and note that, of the three games I saw on the final day of the championships, the Vic Metro v WA game was played on a much higher plane in terms of its intensity. There will be players from elsewhere (particularly SA which showed good progress as the carnival continued) but I suspect the best will come from Victoria.

The other part of the puzzle is the question of the order of the clubs at draft time. The way some of the clubs are travelling at the moment would make us all wonder about Andrew Demetriou's definitive view that AFL clubs don't tank games to give them the early draft picks but who am I to question this great man's wisdom? For a dissenting view, read this!

In many ways, the very choices at draft time is going to be easy – the big challenge of recruiters is to find hidden gems deeper in the draft. As all that is still four months away, I'll leave that to the experts to ponder on such vexing questions like who's on first?

ABC GRANDSTAND INTERVIEW WITH JACK WATTS

[NATIONAL UNDER 18 CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS - 2008 DIVISION TWO

Round 1

NSW/ACT 2.2.14 4.4.28 8.5.53 11.8.74

Northern Territory 3.0.18 4.1.25 5.1.31 7.4.46

Goals

NSW/ACT Breust 4 Foster 3 Duryea 2 McNeil Wilson

Northern Territory Farmer Gugliotta Hale May Shannon Rioli Sibosado Tungatalum

Best

NSW/ACT Breust McMahon Klemke Ediriwickrama Reed Foster Wilson

Northern Territory Ah Chee Taylor Wooding Hale Rioli Heenan

Tasmania 4.2.26 6.4.40 7.5.47 12.5.77

Queensland 2.3.15 3.6.24 6.10.46 7.11.53

Goals

Tasmania Mihocek 5 Cornelius 2 Cox Groenwegen Harwood Hislop Robinson

Queensland Reid 2 Dixon Haberfield Holman JamesMyers

Best

Tasmania Mihocek Groenewegan Trevena Salter Robinson Hislop Cornelius

Queensland Thomson Myers Beams Haberfield Holman Bevan

Round 2

Tasmania 3.5.23 6.7.43 10.9.69 11.11.77

Northern Territory 2.1.13 5.1.31 5.3.33 10.4.64

Goals

Tasmania Cornelius 3 Mihocek Shade 2 Brakey Cox Hislop Salter

Northern Territory Rolfe 5 Hampton May Sharples Taylor Tungatalum

Best

Tasmania Robinson Harwood Salter Cornelius Shade Hislop Milne

Northern Territory Rolfe Sharples Hale Heenan May Ah Chee

NSW/ACT 2.3.15 4.4.28 6.11.47 9.13.67

Queensland 2.1.13 3.3.21 4.5.29 5.6.36

Goals

NSW/ACT Foster 3 Duryea Gordon 2 Clisby Ediriwickrama

Queensland Fowler Myers 2 Keefe

Best

NSW/ACT Ediriwickrama Gordon Reed Duncan Foster Clisby Wilson

Queensland Thomson Daye Myers Beams Haberfield Fowler

Round 3

NSW/ACT 1.1.7 5.3.33 6.6.42 8.7.55

Tasmania 2.1.13 5.1.31 7.5.47 13.6.84

Goals

NSW/ACT Duryea 3 Breust 2 Foster Gilchrist Gordon

Tasmania Cornelius Hislop Robinson 2 Cox Crichton Groenewegen McCulloch Michocek O'Brien Symmons

Best

NSW/ACT Ediriwickrama Breust Stubbs Duryea Duncan Kirkwood McNeil

Tasmania Cox Williams Robinson O'Brien Groenewegen Allwright

Northern Territory 4.3.27 9.4.58 13.6.84 14.7.91

Queensland 1.3.9 3.3.21 4.4.28 5.7.37

Goals

Northern Territory Farmer Rolfe 3 Sibosado Tungatalun 2 Gugliotta Heenan Phoenix Schaper

Queensland Green Myers 2 Fowler

Best

Northern Territory Sharples Rolfe Sibosado Heenan Farmer Hale Ah Chee

Queensland Beams Holman Myers Thomson James Stanley

The Division Two Hunter Harrison Medal was won by Mitch Robinson from Tasmania.

The NAB MVP Awards were awarded to Luke Breust [NSW/ACT], Mitch Robinson [Tasmania] Patrick Heenan [Northern Territory] and Matt Thomson [Queensland].

NSW/ACT and Tasmania progress to Division One

NATIONAL UNDER 18 CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS - 2008 DIVISION ONE

Round 1

Vic Country 2.2.14 4.3.27 8.5.53 11.7 73

Vic Metropolitan 4.0.24 7.1.43 9.3.57 12.4 76

Goals

Vic Country Rockliff 4 Young 3 Heyne 2 Christensen Suban

Vic Metropolitan Watts 4 McKernan 2 Banner Lisle McGarry Martin Purves Shuey

Best

Vic Country Rockliff Suban Heyne Hooper Young Sidebottom

Vic Metropolitan Watts Zaharakis Hurley McKernan Lisle Gotch

South Australia 17.6 108 d Tasmania 9.9 63

Goals

South Australia Johnston 4 Broadbent 2 Cahill 2 Hall 2 Hartlett 2 Mardling 2 Blesing Lane McAdam

Tasmania McCulloch 3 Cox 2 Allwright Cornelius Hislop Robinson

Best

South Australia O’Keefe Cahill Blesing Martin Broadbent Hall Armstrong Jones

Tasmania Allwright Robinson Salter Hislop O’Brien Harwood Crichton Milne

Western Australia 4.2 8.2 10.4 15.7 97

NSW/ACT 1.0 2.0 3.3 4.3 27

Goals

Western Australia Daly 5 Bennell 4 Walters 3 Garlett 2 Marsh

NSW/ACT Kirkwood McNeil Ruffles Sleeth

Best

Western Australia Walters DeBoer Lucas Hill Daly Bennell Pearce Mather Warner

NSW/ACT Clisby Ediriwickrama Klemke Fenaroli Bryce Gumley McNeil Frail Kirkwood

Round 2

NSW/ACT 3.1 3.1 9.5 11.6 72

Vic Country 2.3 7.4 8.6 10.7 67

Goals

NSW/ACT Foster 3 Breust 2 Frail 2 Reed Kirkwood Ediriwickrama

Vic Country Butcher 4 Rockliff 2 McKenzie 2 Ziebell Stevens

Best

NSW/ACT Ediriwickrama Duryea Frail Klemke Clisby Reed

Vic Country Butcher Sheahan Hooper Ziebell Sidebottom

Western Australia 5.2 6.4 11.9 15.12 102

South Australia 1.3 3.7 4.9 4.13 37

Goals

Western Australia Olds 4 Yarran 2 Bennell Naitanui Daly Pearce Jetta Marsh Warner Hill Ross

South Australia Hartlett Mardling Cahill Redden

Best

Western Australia Hill Pearce Laurie Jetta Naitanui

South Australia Johnston Schoenmakers Cahill O’Keefe

Tasmania 1.0 1.1 1.5 1.7 13

Vic Metropolitan 6.3 7.4 12.5 12.8 80

Goals

Tasmania Mihocek

Vic Metropolitan Lynch 4 Purves 3 Watts 2 Joyce Gilchrist Stanton

Best

Tasmania Robinson Salter Crichton Davies Hislop Milverton Allwright

Vic Metropolitan Lynch Banner Shuey Sloane Hurley Strauss

Ladder after Round 2

Western Australia 2 0 310.9%

Vic Metropolitan 2 0 181.4%

South Australia 1 1 87.9%

NSW/ACT 1 1 60.4%

Vic Country 0 2 94.6%

Tasmania 0 2 40.4%

Round 3

NSW/ACT 2.2 5.4 8.7 11.8 74

Tasmania 2.2 5.3 7.4 9.8 62

Goals

NSW/ACT Foster 3 Gordon 2 Clisby Spiteri Ruffles Klemke Duryea McNeil

Tasmania Robinson 2 McCulloch 2 Harwood 2 Cox Archer Milne

Best

NSW/ACT Bryce McNeil Frail Reed Foster Kirkwood Klemke

Tasmania Salter Williams Allwright Crichton Symmons O’Brien

Vic Country 3.3.21 8.3.51 8.3.51 11.4.70

Western Australia 0.0.0 1.1.7 4.4.28 6.7.43

Goals

Vic Country Heyne 3 Browne 2 Bucovaz Christensen McKenzie Rockliff Roughead Sheahan

Western Australia Daly 2 Hill Rich Walters Yarran

Best

Vic Country Heyne Sheahan Ziebell Browne

Western Australia Naitanui DeBoer Jetta Daly

Vic Metropolitan 4.1.25 9.3.57 12.4.76 17.5.107

South Australia 2.0.12 3.1.19 8.3.51 8.6.54

Goals

Vic Metropolitan Watts 5 Joyce Shuey Scully Vickery 2 Fitzpatrick Hunt McKernan Zaharakis

South Australia Boras 3 Cahill 2 Mardling O'Keeffe Shannon

Best

Vic Metropolitan Watts Shuey Zaharkis Scully Hunt Sloane

South Australia Clarke Shannon O’Keeffe Armstrong Hall Broadbent

Round 4

Western Australia 3.6.24 7.8.50 10.12.72 14.16.100

Tasmania 0.0.0 3.3.21 4.3.27 6.4.40

Goals

Western Australia Marsh 4 Walters 3 Yarran 2 DeBoer Duncan Jetta Lucas Rich

Tasmania Crichton 2 Cornelius McCulloch Salter Shade

Best

Western Australia Yarran Lucas Naitanui Fiegert DeBoer Rich

Tasmania Robinson Crichton Allwright Cornelius Weller Salter

South Australia 5.4.34 8.7.55 11.12.78 14.14 98

Vic Country 1.1.7 3.3.21 4.5.29 9.10 64

Goals

South Australia Tapscott 5 Cahill 3 Speight 2 Hall Hartlett Johnston Schoenmakers

Vic Country Rockliff 3 Butcher 2 Browne Roughead Sheehan Ziebell

Best

South Australia Hartlett Tapscott Hall O'Keeffe Speight Cahill Shannon

Vic Country Ziebell Suban Sidebottom Sheehan Rockliff Roughead

Vic Metropolitan 4.6.30 6.8.44 10.12.72 11.14 80

NSW/ACT 1.2.8 3.2.20 3.2.20 4.5 29

Goals

Vic Metropolitan Lisle Scully Watts 2 Banner Fitzpatrick Gilchrist Hurley Lynch

NSW/ACT A'Vard Foster Spiteri Wilson

Best

Vic Metropolitan Watts Gotch Lisle Hurley Vickery Scully Blease

NSW/ACT Klemke Reed Kirkwood McNeil Duncan

Round 5

South Australia 6.3.39 12.6.72 13.9.87 20.12.132

NSW/ACT 1.0.6 2.0.12 7.2.44 8.4.52

Goals

South Australia Johnston 4 Tapscott 4 Hynes 3 Cahill 2 O'Keeffe 2 Davoren Hall Hartlett Schoenmakers Speight

NSW/ACT Van Muers 3 Bryce 2 Gumley McMahon Spiteri

Best

South Australia Hartlett Johnston Tapscott O'Keeffe Hynes Hall Schoenmakers Blesing Redden Stanley Wilson

NSW/ACT Duncan Reed Kirkwood Klemke Van Muers Bryce

Tasmania 2.3.15 4.3.27 6.3.39 6.4.40

Vic Country 4.3.27 7.4.46 14.6.90 22.6 138

Goals

Tasmania Cornelius 4 Mihocek Symmons

Vic Country Butcher 5 Hughes McKenzie Sheehan 3 Blair 2 Browne Hooper Jones Martiniello Rockliff Young

Best

Tasmania Robinson Cornelius Allwright Williams

Vic Country Butcher Sheehan Sidebottom McKenzie Hooper Suban Heyne Hughes Jones

Vic Metropolitan 5.1.31 8.3.51 11.6.72 14.9.93

Western Australia 2.1.13 3.4.22 5.7.37 9.10.64

Goals

Vic Metropolitan Vickery 3 Banner Blease McKernan Watts Zaharakis 2 Lynch

Western Australia Yarran 3 Hill Jetta Klause Lucas Naitanui Rich

Best

Vic Metropolitan Vickery Zaharakis Banner Blease Hurley Shuey Scully Gotch

Western Australia Rich Hill Pearce Walters Jetta Yarran Naitanui

FINAL LADDER

Vic Metropolitan 5-0 187.1%

Western Australia 3-2 152.1%

South Australia 3-2 110.6%

Vic Country 2-3 125.2%

NSW/ACT 2-3 68%

Tasmania 0-5 43.6%

Larke Medallist Jack Watts (Victoria Metro)

MVP's for Each Team

Vic Metropolitan Michael Hurley

Vic Country Andrew Hopper

Western Australia Clancee Pearce

South Australia Rhys O'Keefe

NSW/ACT Kade Klemke

Tasmania Mitch Robinson