We play interstate on Saturday, meaning we'll fly up on Friday, so IMO Jack won't be playing, because in order to travel he'll have to miss school.

If I had to guess I'd say he'll go back to Casey this week and probably play the last 3 or 4 games of the year.

In the meantime, I hope the media finds something better to do than picking on an 18 year old!

  Jaded said:

We play interstate on Saturday, meaning we'll fly up on Friday, so IMO Jack won't be playing, because in order to travel he'll have to miss school.

If I had to guess I'd say he'll go back to Casey this week and probably play the last 3 or 4 games of the year.

In the meantime, I hope the media finds something better to do than picking on an 18 year old!

whose been picking on him?

i havent read anything in the papers or seen on tv about his poor perfomances

am i missing something or are we self-blaming here

  sticksmorton said:

whose been picking on him?

i havent read anything in the papers or seen on tv about his poor perfomances

am i missing something or are we self-blaming here

By picking I mean the media scrutiny and suggestions that he is not ready to play, that is a boy amongst man, that he has shown nothing to suggest that he's worthy of being pick 1 etc etc...

Would be nice if he was afforded the same luxury as other kids, where the club, and the club alone makes comments and decisions regarding his readiness, as opposed to every second media troll attempting to become a player development coach or list manager.

  Jaded said:

Would be nice if he was afforded the same luxury as other kids, where the club, and the club alone makes comments and decisions regarding his readiness, as opposed to every second media troll attempting to become a player development coach or list manager.

If the shoe was on the other foot, and it was a #1 pick from another Club, I'm sure there'd be a few on Demonland suggesting that X club debuted him early because of a marquee game, perhaps adding that from what they'd seen the #1 pick hadn't yet shown anything to suggest he should have been picked up so early, etc. There might be a few others who called for any and all criticism to be held off because the player is young, but I doubt these comments would cause angst and indignation on here.

jaded the problem is that we made a big deal about his first game and made the build up.

i know we, as informed supporters, did not expect him to make an impact, but we used him as a marketing tool, and as a result we have to accept the attention both ways.

  deanox said:

jaded the problem is that we made a big deal about his first game and made the build up.

i know we, as informed supporters, did not expect him to make an impact, but we used him as a marketing tool, and as a result we have to accept the attention both ways.

Agreed.

I don't remember anyone suggesting that a player wasn't worthy of pick 1 after two games.

I agree that the media attention last round was partially brought on by us, but this week not even LJ's debut was enough to keep the vultures away.

It doesn't matter what the average supporter thinks, but for the media to go out of their way to highlight how this kid is not ready, is just stupid.

Of course he isn't physically ready, nor will he be until 2011 probably, does that mean he should be kept on the sidelines until then? Plenty of kids debut when physically underdone, and nobody raised an eyebrow. At the end of the day if our club deemed him mentally ready to play, than he is.

It's just such a shame that what should be a good news story has turned into a debate that is no doubt going to impact on Jack's confidence.

  deanox said:

jaded the problem is that we made a big deal about his first game and made the build up.

i know we, as informed supporters, did not expect him to make an impact, but we used him as a marketing tool, and as a result we have to accept the attention both ways.

deanox is spot on, the club went overboard and handled it pretty poorly imo. I still think the kid has shown quite a bit in his first two games though, for an 18 y/o he's handled the pressure very well.

  Jarka said:

deanox is spot on, the club went overboard and handled it pretty poorly imo. I still think the kid has shown quite a bit in his first two games though, for an 18 y/o he's handled the pressure very well.

We went overboard this week, did we?

By choosing to debut him on Queens Birthday we were always going to draw plenty of attention to him, no doubt.

But time and time again we reiterated that physically, he is behind, and that this year is about giving him a taste, and experience.

This week, nothing was mentioned by the club in regards to Watts, apart from Bailey mentioning that Jack was disappointed with his game.

The attention this week is purely media driven, and what a shame. Instead of focusing on Jurrah's debut, they are drawing attention to an 18 year old with no pre-season, who, when compared to many other young KPP has put on two solid displays of football in very difficult circumstances.

Also, the amount of times I have seen that vision of Davey run Watts down, is hilarious. As if that is all of a sudden an indication that Watts is no good or not ready. 200 game veterans get run down from behind nearly every week!

Jaded, the point is, we trumpeted his arrival with fanfare, and brought the attention onto him. I don't think we handled it particularly poorly, however if I was Jack I might disagree.

We now must handle the focus in an appropriate way, instead of sticking our heads in the sand and saying 'leave him alone he is only 18'. We need to deal with the fall out, which was always going to happen.

Post Queens birthday we haven't handled it particularly well. In fact we haven't handled it at all.

  deanox said:

Jaded, the point is, we trumpeted his arrival with fanfare, and brought the attention onto him. I don't think we handled it particularly poorly, however if I was Jack I might disagree.

We now must handle the focus in an appropriate way, instead of sticking our heads in the sand and saying 'leave him alone he is only 18'. We need to deal with the fall out, which was always going to happen.

Post Queens birthday we haven't handled it particularly well. In fact we haven't handled it at all.

I think Melbourne supporters are being too sensitive, myself included. It's not really that big of a deal. There's not a lot for the footy media to talk about this weekend, so naturally the no.1 draft pick gets a fair bit of airtime. On today's footy show Brayshaw said "I've seen enough already to know that Jack Watts is going to be a superstar".

Let's not be overly sensitive.

  Hannabal said:

I think Melbourne supporters are being too sensitive, myself included. It's not really that big of a deal. There's not a lot for the footy media to talk about this weekend, so naturally the no.1 draft pick gets a fair bit of airtime.

You're right.

It just shits me how the media can turn something that is meant to be good, into a negative, when we really really don't need any negative publicity right now.

More importantly, I worry how all this is going to impact on Watts, particularly if (as I expect) he doesn't play next week and the media frenzy continues with "we told you so".

  Jaded said:

More importantly, I worry how all this is going to impact on Watts, particularly if (as I expect) he doesn't play next week and the media frenzy continues with "we told you so".

Do you think of any of fazes the Football dept or bailey? Ive never seen a man who brushes water off a ducks back like him. He'll make the call and i as a MFC supporter will back him, and i'm sure none of this crap will be relevant to watts.

DB, CC and CS reasoned it perfectly. Watts didn't have a preseason. so he was 11 weeks behind according to their calculations. so he was playing catchup. Guess what round he started??? Round 11! and whats more it afforded him the week off after to ensure that his body is right, because as a kid (and a particularly skinny one at that) the extra recuperation time would be critical, and allow him to get another game in.

whether he plays this week or not it is irrelevant. he can go back to casey with the knowledge and understanding of what is required.

The football department would not have played him if they didn't believe there was some benefit for him, especially from the big game experience.

  classy dees said:

Do you think of any of fazes the Football dept or bailey?

It's not Bailey I'm worried about.

I realise Watts has a really good head on his shoulders, but anyone, particularly an 18 year old under so much pressure, would look at some of the comments made in the media and feel dejected.

Hopefully the club, who would have realised the attention he's going to get when playing him on QB, will handle this issue well with him, just as they have handled him well so far.

I have no doubt we did the right thing in playing him, and that mentally he was ready to play (and physically he was fit enough). Hopefully some of the negative comments made in the media thus far don't ruin what has been a really good program and build up for him.

  Jaded said:

We went overboard this week, did we?

By choosing to debut him on Queens Birthday we were always going to draw plenty of attention to him, no doubt.

But time and time again we reiterated that physically, he is behind, and that this year is about giving him a taste, and experience.

This week, nothing was mentioned by the club in regards to Watts, apart from Bailey mentioning that Jack was disappointed with his game.

The attention this week is purely media driven, and what a shame. Instead of focusing on Jurrah's debut, they are drawing attention to an 18 year old with no pre-season, who, when compared to many other young KPP has put on two solid displays of football in very difficult circumstances.

Also, the amount of times I have seen that vision of Davey run Watts down, is hilarious. As if that is all of a sudden an indication that Watts is no good or not ready. 200 game veterans get run down from behind nearly every week!

You don't think that the president texting all Melbourne supporters to go to the game to see Jack's debut was over the top?

How many other clubs have gone down that path with any new recruit?

  Morton2Watts said:

What did Leigh Matthews expect from a KPF who is still in year 12? 5 goals in his second game? Jesus Christ.

In Jonathon Browns first 6 games he didn't kick a goal, didn't touch the ball on one occasion, got 1 posession on two occasions. Absolutely staggering comments from Matthews, i know i have lost ALOT of respect for him.

Watts looks a decent kid, I'm not sure either about what is so terrific about him, but give him time, what would Matthews know about being a decent player anyhow - he was the dirtiest and biggest thug of all time....

So much hype..so much proverbial...so much of a lot of things. IN reality it matters not. A young player has had a taste and done ok. The world is still the same and the grass is still green as they say. In all likley hood Watss is probably better off for the most part of the rest of the season playing in the magoos. It wil laloow him time to focus on his VCE it will take him away from the spotlight and will be more in keeping with his current developmental path. Keep in mind he only really trains once a week and hasnt had a proper preseason yet.

So Lethal says this or that...so what if its all taken out on context. Truth be told he hasnt lit the world yet. He was very unlikely too. Thats isnt his path or the program the clu has him on. We all know this so why is anyone surprised ? He will come along nicely. He only needs a few more seniors games this year the rest he can build on at a more temperate pace. Fine by me

  Whispering_Jack said:

Thanks for the research on Leuenberger.

Actually why don't we rewind to the year 2000.

Jonathan Brown:

These are his stats for his first 8 games - 0 , 13, 1 , 12, 1, 6, 8, 7 for a total of 48 possessions and an average of 6 possessions per game. In this period he kicked the grand total of 1 goal. He was 18 and a half on debut. His first 4 games were in sequence, as were his last 3.

Just a bit more perspective for Leigh.

  Jaded said:

We play interstate on Saturday, meaning we'll fly up on Friday, so IMO Jack won't be playing, because in order to travel he'll have to miss school.

School holidays. Your case = Irrelevant.

  DeeBest said:

School holidays. Your case = Irrelevant.

I'm not down with the school holiday schedule these days, my sincerest apologies

Still, given what Bailey said at his post-match press conference, I doubt he'll play this week. Will be great if he does though, because every AFL game under his belt is invaluable experience that he can't get at Casey.

  Jaded said:

I'm not down with the school holiday schedule these days, my sincerest apologies

Still, given what Bailey said at his post-match press conference, I doubt he'll play this week. Will be great if he does though, because every AFL game under his belt is invaluable experience that he can't get at Casey.

Apology accepted.

However, the reality is the next couple of weeks are probably the best time to play Jack because he wont have the demands of school and I assume he'll be able to spend more time at the footy club. He was at Brighton Grammar on Friday, watching his school team play in the afternoon having kick to kick with his mates on the ground at half time - like five hours before he was playing an AFL game. That's questionable management in itself, but I think we need to be aware how difficult it is to balance Year 12 and AFL footy and perhaps play him the next three weeks and then cotton wool - VCE study and Casey where his footy is still intense, but more "fun".

  DeeBest said:

However, the reality is the next couple of weeks are probably the best time to play Jack because he wont have the demands of school and I assume he'll be able to spend more time at the footy club.

That's fair and might be the path we choose to take.

I would dearly love for him to travel with the team for the sake of bonding, and spending more time being part of the club.

It would also be good for Watts to play a younger, less experienced backline up in Brisbane, where he won't be made to play on Fletcher, and against a lesser opponent in Round 14, where he might even get a chance to experience a win.

  DeeBest said:

He was at Brighton Grammar on Friday, watching his school team play in the afternoon having kick to kick with his mates on the ground at half time - like five hours before he was playing an AFL game. That's questionable management in itself

How is that different to a player sitting on his couch at home before the game, exercising their muscles on the Wii?

Or taking their dog for a walk?

Garland takes public transport to games, no doubt spending some trips standing all the way to Richmond station in order to avoid annoying, smelly people. No wonder he got stress fractures!

Watts had a kick to kick? dear god, we wouldn't want him using a football five hours before a match, or laughing, or walking, or talking to his friends, or even using his eye sight. Now I know why he hasn't kicked 10 goals in a match yet.

And we definitely don't want Blease to spend anymore time outside with his mates.

  Jaded said:

How is that different to a player sitting on his couch at home before the game, exercising their muscles on the Wii?

Or taking their dog for a walk?

Garland takes public transport to games, no doubt spending some trips standing all the way to Richmond station in order to avoid annoying, smelly people. No wonder he got stress fractures!

Watts had a kick to kick? dear god, we wouldn't want him using a football five hours before a match, or laughing, or walking, or talking to his friends, or even using his eye sight. Now I know why he hasn't kicked 10 goals in a match yet.

Love the sarcasm darling.

No players like waiting around for night games...but I still think they should take it easy on the day of a game. Again, Watts playing a Friday night game after he's been at school for the day isnt ideal. I know the club wanted his debut to be on Queens Birthday for financial reasons, but logically having looked at the draw the debut should have come during the school holidays - not debuting the day before a VCE exam and then playing second game straight after he's spent a day at school.

  Hannabal said:

Actually why don't we rewind to the year 2000.

Jonathan Brown:

These are his stats for his first 8 games - 0 , 13, 1 , 12, 1, 6, 8, 7 for a total of 48 possessions and an average of 6 possessions per game. In this period he kicked the grand total of 1 goal. He was 18 and a half on debut. His first 4 games were in sequence, as were his last 3.

Just a bit more perspective for Leigh.

Good comparison. Although Jonathon Brown was not a number 1 draft pick. Other than that you make a good example. We probably saw nothing in those first 8 games to suggest he was going to be the player he now is. Isn't that right Lethal.

  High Tower said:

Good comparison. Although Jonathon Brown was not a number 1 draft pick. Other than that you make a good example. We probably saw nothing in those first 8 games to suggest he was going to be the player he now is. Isn't that right Lethal.

He was a highly touted F/S pick from Warrnambool that all the recruiting guys were salivating over at the time.