Give Watts a Spell

Bout to read it myself

He has had a taste of the big time; he will have loved it. He doesn't need another week of people including luminaries such as Leigh Matthews telling the world he's out of place.

Melbourne needs to protect him. It will lose in Brisbane on Saturday night; it should eliminate the risk its most high-profile prospect will lose his self-belief in the process.

As for that nonsense about whether Melbourne should have taken Nick Naitanui ahead of him in the draft, consider this item of trivia.

The No. 1 pick at the 2000 national draft played his first game in Round 15 the following year. He had three possessions and didn't kick a goal.

The next week, he had 13 possies, still no goals.

The skinny kid with the blond hair, then 18-year-old Nick Riewoldt, has grown into his club's captain while becoming the most reliable key forward in the game.

Watts the hurry?

Spot on Mike, freakin spot on.

Best article on Watts so far since he played. That being said, I don't see the hurry to get him out of the side. He is performing exactly how we thought a young KPP would perform. I have seen other kids play worse and keep getting games.

The question, will e get more benefit at Casey or at MFC? If they think having the chance to get lots of the ball at a slower pace will do him benefit go for it. If they think the problem is needs to adjust to the pace of the game, leave him in.

I don't have any problem with his size. Not everyone has to play like Jonathon Brown, and its not like he is small. 196 cm and 87 kgs officially. Frawley is 191 and 91, but he wasn't last year. Rivers is 192 and 90. Morton is 192 and 83.

Spot on Mike, freakin spot on.

Yes, but stating the obvious I would have thought.

However I think he should have a week off then play the majority of games @ Casey.

Yes, but stating the obvious I would have thought.

However I think he should have a week off then play the majority of games @ Casey.

I disagree. I think we should play him every single game at senior level for the rest of the year.

History has shown us that a player will only start making really big impacts at afl level after around 50 afl matches, even the most talented ones (see Murphy, Gibbs and Goddard as perfect examples of players who were contributing at first, but only really became influencial match winners until 50+ games.)

We need to get Watts to 50 afl games as quickly as possible!!!! I believe it is time at senior level, rather than time in the afl system that is most important.

People will always compare Watts to Naitanui. it is inevitable. We shouldn't shield him bc outsiders will think we made a mistake bc he isn't dominating at first.

Remember, everyone was paying out Hawthorn for the first 3 years, when Ball and Judd were ripping it up at afl level and Hodgey had a slow start to his carreer as number1 pick. Now Hawks are loving life and Hodgey won them a premiership.

Play the kid, even if it means he looks a bit underdone at times. it will fasttrack his development.

I would really love for the media to give this Watts issue a rest and let us do what we know is best for him.

The club works with him daily, while the media replays the Davey tackle over and over again. FFS, if we didn't play him at all this year they would have just continued to ask "when will Watts play?" at every press conference we had.

Now he's playing, and they are saying we played him for the wrong reasons, or he isn't ready, or he is being damaged.

What will Watts learn at VFL that he can't at AFL level?

Will he get any bigger playing for Casey? will he adapt to the pace of AFL playing for Casey? will he understand Melbourne's game plan better when he plays with Casey?

The kid can kick, mark, make great decisions by hand and foot... he doesn't have any deficiencies that can be worked on at a lower level. The only thing he needs is time, weight and experience.

If he doesn't play, it's because he is physically and mentally due for a rest, or he has school commitments, not because he "isn't ready". Of course he isn't ready, he won't be for 2 years.

That doesn't mean that gaining experience at the top level isn't valuable. In fact, it's likely to fast-track his career.

If Watts is happy to play out the year, and his body passes the test, I hope we play him. Even if he spends the rest of the year collection 2 possessions a game.

If he or the club want him to go back to Casey to play at a lower intensity to gain some touch, or some confidence, that's fine too.

I don't have any problem with his size. Not everyone has to play like Jonathon Brown, and its not like he is small. 196 cm and 87 kgs officially. Frawley is 191 and 91, but he wasn't last year. Rivers is 192 and 90. Morton is 192 and 83.

Off the topic, but I wouldn't take too much notice of the "official" listed heights and weights.

Speaking with Chris Connolly earlier in the season, he said Frawley had grown a couple of centimetres and was now officially 195cm, yet the club had no intention of updating the website or list details in that regard. Also that Morton had grown to 194cm.

I think the "official" listed heights and weights are more of a guide than anything else. I mean, and i can only speculate an insiders perspective, but if a player has grown a couple of cm's or gained however many kilos during a pre-season, would u really want to let the rest of the football world, including your opponents, know?

Melbourne Committed to keep playing Watts

i agree with what CC has said. If he is physically and mentally ok, keep playing him. Will pay off in the future.

I think its just important for Demon supporters to understand he wont be a superstar over night but exposing him to AFL level games now are all in valuable experiences for him.

Who gives a crap what other team supporters or the media say. We are in charge of the situation and im sure the club knows best on how to handle the situation.

History has shown us that a player will only start making really big impacts at afl level after around 50 afl matches, even the most talented ones (see Murphy, Gibbs and Goddard as perfect examples of players who were contributing at first, but only really became influencial match winners until 50+ games.)

The name Selwood ring any bells? Young guy, plays for Geelong? No?

Well, while I agree that he needs to get some experience, I would prefer for them to wait a little longer to give it to him. I wouldn't be overly upset if he didn't play again this season. He is just too small to stand up to the gorillas who are lining him up. I saw him try to tackle someone on Friday and be thrown off like a ragdoll. All he's likely to accomplish by playing more games is get himself hurt.

I Think they will play him as much as possible this year. I heard Robert Shaw say that he has had exams the last two weeks now he has two weeks off. I think he was saying MFC should've waited until this week to play Watts. I think he'll play the next two weeks if he's on holidays. Bailey will want him to experience the away trip. Baileys a firm believer of getting as many games as possible into our youth while still remaining "competitive" and try and WIN games.

MFC will all benefit from Watts getting to 50+ Games, with "Caution" the sooner the better i say.

Bailey and Co will be cautious with the amount of game time Watts plays and where and "whom" he might play on (Until his body is capabale on going one on one with Darren Glass. The more experience the better he will be regardless of which position he plays in..

Watts will be a Champ. Go Dees

He is just too small to stand up to the gorillas who are lining him up. I saw him try to tackle someone on Friday and be thrown off like a ragdoll. All he's likely to accomplish by playing more games is get himself hurt.

And injury isn't the only danger, as Sheahan notes "Melbourne needs to protect him........it should eliminate the risk its most high-profile prospect will lose his self-belief in the process".

Getting run down too often could lead in confidence issues, getting crunched won't help. Then there are the mind games, like Essendon monstering him Friday night.

This guy wasn't drafted to play on a wing or for his evasive skills in the midfield. He is expected to be a marking forward. No point shattering his confidence.

I don't want him coddled.

If his schooling is piling up, by all means give him time off.

My personal view is the Lions game will be tough but then he will have G games against WCE and PA.

He will be more comfortable, the fans will be on his side and he can be coddled that way.

Play him the next three games, rest him for Geelong and Sydney and bring him back if appropriate (managable schooling and form).

Part and parcel of the game these days is the trip interstate. The sooner the young players who are our future get to learn what that's all about, the better. Take Watts to Brisbane, play him against West Coast and Port Adelaide and then assess where he's at and possibly send him back to school footy for the rest of the year.

The fact is, as Sheahan himself pointed out, tall forwards take their time. Reiwoldt did it and Jack will do it. His two goal performance on Friday night (in 63% of game time) was a fair effort IMO. Plus he was pitted against an experienced full back and got a very good education for his second game.

I would even suggest WJ, that 2 goals against fletcher in 2/3 of the game is break even stats, even for an experienced forward.

And to think he was free a couple of times and ignored. What would people be saying if he had've kicked 4? Send him back he is too skinny?

Looks like Sheahan has been reading H's posts in reference to the comparisons to Reiwoldt.

Best article on Watts so far since he played. ......................

Damn near the most insightful article Sheahan has ever written IMO!

"Watts, who turned 18 late in March, has become the subject of an unhealthy focus at Melbourne."

It's not us who has unrealistic expectations on this 18 year old kid. If the media (including you Mike) would just back off, take the spotlight off him and let him get some experience that would be greatly appreciated.

I would really love for the media to give this Watts issue a rest and let us do what we know is best for him.

The club works with him daily, while the media replays the Davey tackle over and over again. FFS, if we didn't play him at all this year they would have just continued to ask "when will Watts play?" at every press conference we had.

Now he's playing, and they are saying we played him for the wrong reasons, or he isn't ready, or he is being damaged.

What will Watts learn at VFL that he can't at AFL level?

Will he get any bigger playing for Casey? will he adapt to the pace of AFL playing for Casey? will he understand Melbourne's game plan better when he plays with Casey?

The kid can kick, mark, make great decisions by hand and foot... he doesn't have any deficiencies that can be worked on at a lower level. The only thing he needs is time, weight and experience.

If he doesn't play, it's because he is physically and mentally due for a rest, or he has school commitments, not because he "isn't ready". Of course he isn't ready, he won't be for 2 years.

That doesn't mean that gaining experience at the top level isn't valuable. In fact, it's likely to fast-track his career.

If Watts is happy to play out the year, and his body passes the test, I hope we play him. Even if he spends the rest of the year collection 2 possessions a game.

If he or the club want him to go back to Casey to play at a lower intensity to gain some touch, or some confidence, that's fine too.

Jaded: I do not agree with more than about 30% of what you write but on this occasion your opinion is identical to mine.

I simply can't see why we would not play him. As I have previously said, I spent much of Fridays game watching JW regardless of where the ball was. He got better as the game went on and was unlucky not to have been passed the ball while he was free inside the 50m on 4 other occasions. Yes: he is raw, he lacks experience, at times he looked lost (especially in the first quarter), and he struggles to stick tackles, but these things can only be rectified with AFL game time, not with time at Casey. 9 possessions and 2 goals in 65% of the game on Fletcher is not too bad for a rookie and certainly better than the debut of other key position players Reiwolt and Brown who were both equally highly regarded juniors as Watts.

Playing on experienced champions like Fletcher will only further fast track his development.

Play the kid!

Just one thing: Every show that mentions his 'readiness,' or lack thereof, show the clip of him being brought down by Alwyn Davey.

Experienced men get taken down by Alwyn Davey...

I saw it as a positive when I saw the picture that showed Jack getting a handball away as he was being tackled. Showed a bit of strength and a quick mind.

Just one thing: Every show that mentions his 'readiness,' or lack thereof, show the clip of him being brought down by Alwyn Davey.

Experienced men get taken down by Alwyn Davey...

I saw it as a positive when I saw the picture that showed Jack getting a handball away as he was being tackled. Showed a bit of strength and a quick mind.

Exactly!

He was passed the ball when he was almost flat footed. The Davies are super fast and great tacklers. I think every player in the league would have been in trouble in that situation.

Watts did well to get rid of the ball legally and forward.

jeez i cant wait for jack to start kicking big bags of 6 and 7 and i will be able to look back and say yep just shows that u should NEVER question a number one draft pick after 2 games!

Just one thing: Every show that mentions his 'readiness,' or lack thereof, show the clip of him being brought down by Alwyn Davey.

Experienced men get taken down by Alwyn Davey...

I saw it as a positive when I saw the picture that showed Jack getting a handball away as he was being tackled. Showed a bit of strength and a quick mind.

I saw Steele Sidebottom get run down on the weekend by a player much slower than Alwyn Davey and he's had a couple more games experience!

poor carringbush, looks like they wasted their pick too...

One other thing about the chase down, which I noted earlier in the week, was that Jack learned from his mistake.

A few minutes after the take down he got the ball in a pack at half forward. He didn't panick, he thought his way through the situation, ran at an angle away from the pack and sized up Brad Green at half forward.

It was a big moment I felt - he learned from his mistake, but not in a way that made him panick and get rid of the ball too quickly.

One other thing about the chase down, which I noted earlier in the week, was that Jack learned from his mistake.

A few minutes after the take down he got the ball in a pack at half forward. He didn't panick, he thought his way through the situation, ran at an angle away from the pack and sized up Brad Green at half forward.

It was a big moment I felt - he learned from his mistake, but not in a way that made him panick and get rid of the ball too quickly.

Spot on.

That was exactly it, he got the ball, assessed the situation, saw Davey coming and ran in a straight line away from him, thinking he'd have the necessary space to get a kick away.

After getting crunched he obviously realised the importance 'playing the angles' plays at this level and immediately made the correct adjustment.

Spot on.

That was exactly it, he got the ball, assessed the situation, saw Davey coming and ran in a straight line away from him, thinking he'd have the necessary space to get a kick away.

After getting crunched he obviously realised the importance 'playing the angles' plays at this level and immediately made the correct adjustment.

In that instance.....gee he reminded me of Hird.