Those of you who bag JAck, be ready for some warm, steamy, sticky humble cherry pie!

Morons.

Who is bagging him? He has had a slow start. WHO CARES. The fact is that the recent 1st draft picks have played or been injured it doesn't mean that Watts is suddenly [censored]. Bailey is doing something different with him due to his schooling and lack of fitness which is fine but it's not gonna stop us from wanting to see him in the seniors sooner rather than later. Playing him on the wing is going to make it more difficult for him to get a spot in the seniors cause our major problem is our key forwards in Robbo and especially Miller not firing, the midfield is going ok ATM. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM IN THE RED AND BLUE.

Who is bagging him? He has had a slow start. WHO CARES. The fact is that the recent 1st draft picks have played or been injured it doesn't mean that Watts is suddenly [censored]. Bailey is doing something different with him due to his schooling and lack of fitness which is fine but it's not gonna stop us from wanting to see him in the seniors sooner rather than later. Playing him on the wing is going to make it more difficult for him to get a spot in the seniors cause our major problem is our key forwards in Robbo and especially Miller not firing, the midfield is going ok ATM. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM IN THE RED AND BLUE.

Playing him at half forward and on the wing at Casey, is part of his development. If anything it is geting him ready for a tilt at the seniors, so they can put him on at half forward. They've obviously mapped his progress out, and so far it's working fine as evidenced with his progress in the last two games at Casey.

As Watts grows and develops in time the more he will be seen as a KPP.

Fwiw, With regard to your midfield opinion. I tend to agree, it's going just 'ok' in parts.

Nothing spectacular. A bit of pace is needed however along with much less turnovers.

Peter German's official report: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsart...09/default.aspx

Michael Newton – He was very good and produced another consistent performance. Again, a couple of shots on goal when astray – that's a part of his game he's got to get right – but the way he is going about his footy at the moment and over the past five weeks has been outstanding. His defensive and offensive work has been very good.

Kicks 14, Handballs 5, Marks 9, Tackles 5, Assists 7, Goals 3

Russell Robertson – His whole game was good, but he could've been very good, because he kicked 3.5 and took 12 marks. He chased and tackled and did all of the things we asked him to do – he was very good at that. But he could've kicked seven or eight goals and that was the only area of his game that let him down.

Kicks 12, Marks 12, Assists 3, Goals 3

Jack Watts – Jack had 22 touches and was steady again. He used the ball well and he played mainly up the ground. He was No.1 with our inside 50 kicks for the game. It was a reasonable game and he's starting to show some good consistent form.

Kicks 13, Handballs 9, Marks 2, Tackles 4, Assists 5

Watts will be a gun. He's not big enough to play as the key forward yet, so is developing on the wong in the meantime. makes perfect sense to me actually.

A new position espcially for Jack.

The Wong - between the wing and onball

Peter German's official report: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/newsart...09/default.aspx

Strauss can't get a game cause we already had 15 listed players for Casey that's a bit rough. Love the fact that we have that many in the seniors you would never see that at Sandy.

I can't think of another recent number 1 pick who has had a slower start to their career.

Well, funnily enough, there's Nick Riewoldt.

Was 18/19 in his first year, as opposed to Watt's 17/18.

Played six games, kicked two goals, laid a total of three tackles, and averaged less than ten disposals.

Of course, then he got 11 brownlow votes in his second year on the way to picking up the Rising Star award.

Speaking of Rising Star winners, Jared Rivers collected a whopping 5 disposals in the three games of his debut season, total.

Moral of the story? Sit down and shut up. The kid got 20+ disposals as a HFF/Winger, at 197cm, working from an interrupted training schedule. Can't be all bad.

FFS, you are an absolute idiot. Firstly show me with quotes where I've been negative about Watts in this thread, I merely pointed out a fact. Secondly Riewoldt played 6 games in his first year and he would have played more but for an injury. As someone else has already pointed out you have to go back to Luke Ball in 2001 who didn't play any games in their first year due to school commitments.

So, you can't read and you clearly don't know what you're talking about with regards to Riewoldt.

Fair dinkum, it's morons like you who frustrate me with their lack of knowledge about the game and topic.

Can some on the idiots out there who have taken offense with my comment please tell me why it's so bad to compare Watts' development with other recent number 1 picks? I'm not bagging him at all, in fact I've openly said I'm happy with the way Bailey is treating him this year, but there's this group mentallity going around this place that as soon as someone posts anything that's not 100% positive about the kid then they're set upon by the herd.

I do see your point, and perhaps my anger was misdirected.

I guess im just sick of ppl being negative all the time. Im not pumping him up, im simply asking we dont judge him at all until he has had a chance to prove himself.

As for my footy knowledge, well, I'll put that down to you being defensive, so fair enough. I played over 400 games, played for my state and have worked at 2 clubs administration, I know my footy, but passion can sometimes cloud opinions. I went too harshly at you personally, poerhaps I mis-read your view and was far too defensive, so im sorry.

As for Morton being my avator, and ppl saying it "concerns them" we pump them up too much, cmon, thats just silly. Im not saying Jack will without doubt be a superstar, but yeah, I hope he does, lets just wait and see is all.

As for Cale, well the kid is flying and atm looks the goods, long way too go, but yeah, too right im excited, about all our kids, who wouldnt be?

Iv never seen us have a list as young and talented as this at our club, its fantastic!

Oh, and btw, Riewoldt played 6 games, so not much anyway, he was also a little older, IMHO Jack will play 6-9 games anyway, so, as for that, they are not far off, and NOick is the closeest example, but as I mentioned, school makes a HUGE differance!

I think we can all agree that were excited, and that we should not jump the gun yet, positively or negatively.

Well, funnily enough, there's Nick Riewoldt.

Was 18/19 in his first year, as opposed to Watt's 17/18.

Played six games, kicked two goals, laid a total of three tackles, and averaged less than ten disposals.

Of course, then he got 11 brownlow votes in his second year on the way to picking up the Rising Star award.

Speaking of Rising Star winners, Jared Rivers collected a whopping 5 disposals in the three games of his debut season, total.

Moral of the story? Sit down and shut up. The kid got 20+ disposals as a HFF/Winger, at 197cm, working from an interrupted training schedule. Can't be all bad.

Riewoldt didn't play alot of games in his first year because of injuries...and this has been already mentioned about half a dozen times in this thread.

Moral of the story? Read the entire before making a fool of yourself

<_<

Well, funnily enough, there's Nick Riewoldt.

Was 18/19 in his first year, as opposed to Watt's 17/18.

Played six games, kicked two goals, laid a total of three tackles, and averaged less than ten disposals.

Of course, then he got 11 brownlow votes in his second year on the way to picking up the Rising Star award.

Speaking of Rising Star winners, Jared Rivers collected a whopping 5 disposals in the three games of his debut season, total.

Moral of the story? Sit down and shut up. The kid got 20+ disposals as a HFF/Winger, at 197cm, working from an interrupted training schedule. Can't be all bad.

That's the thing that's being overlooked by most. He's 196cms and racked up 22 possessions each of the last 2 weeks on a wing and doing it with poise, class, pace and vision off virtually no pre-season.

He's special.

He's special.

Yeah, what I have seen of him is exciting enough. The way he moves, thinks and executes is well beyond his few games of experience at VFL level.

The kid has all the ingredients. So everybody just sit back, relax and enjoy watching his continued development. It should be fun.

That's the thing that's being overlooked by most. He's 196cms and racked up 22 possessions each of the last 2 weeks on a wing and doing it with poise, class, pace and vision off virtually no pre-season.

He's special.

Very well said!

No need for us to fight, we should all just be very excited, all other clubs are drooling, so why cant we!

It's always good to read a match review from the oppositions point of view, here's the Cats take on the game:

http://www.gfc.com.au/geelongnews/newsarti...12/default.aspx

Robbos opponent on the day gets a special mention from their coach for his job.

Also, I thought the AFL/VFL split has to be 12/10 didnt it? Or is that just for finals?

Also, I thought the AFL/VFL split has to be 12/10 didnt it? Or is that just for finals?

It depends on whom you are playing. The 12/10 split applies to games against non-aligned sides and finals. Sandy used to play the 12/10 rule at all times to get ready for the finals; nothing wrong with that IMO.