The forgotten recruit

[Steamin Demon 392]

Yes the talent IS there, still has not shown anything at AFL though like I said. Only the most biased of fans could find things in those few games to give him a rap. I agree those 3 games we can't judge him on, which I am not. I am just trying to calm a few down who get carried away with the few games he has played.

I'm not sure about other people but I find whenever I talk about him to other suppoters of other teams I hear the word "HACK" a lot. The majority of suppoters from other teams have already brushed him off and I find it quite idiotic. Is it just me? or do other people hear the same thing.

My boss keeps telling me that he hope this years #1 is better than last years.

[Sir Why You Little 36,744]

Jack "Charlie" Watts is not a champion yet (not even close) I hope he becomes one, you bet. But right now he is a great school boy footballer, who has played some good VFL games & has had a taste of the Big Stage.

He is just finished school so his output for the Demons should increase now, but so far i don't think he has shown much at all, and people who talk of brilliance just better sit down for a bit.

Next season i expect to see a few glimpses & even a few suprises, but he aint a champion yet.

[Bobby McKenzie 2,374]

Demons HQ (Twitter)

latest from MFC twitter

For the most part we've forgotten about this guy amongst all he hype of players coming or not comng aboard in upcoming weeks.

Jack will put a full preseason into his training and be much the better player in 010 for it. In some respects weve got another handful of all but new guys to come back in.

Im sure jack will be fitter, stonger and more focussed next season and able to play without so much of the limelight, that now to be directed at Scully and Trengove.

He showed us he has talent, class and poise and with this he will become a bit more match smart as a benefit of his limited exposure this season.

Looking forward to the Jack show in 2010

When I saw the headline, I didn't think of Jack, I thought of young Sam. I have seen his junior football skills and this kid could make Bluey Adams look slow. It's amazing that we really have another pick in the top 20. 5 out of 20 isn't too bad! PS For the younger posters Bluey would have made Aaron look pedestrian.

[Guest Watts=Saviour]

mr morton i have heard jack watts described as

"[censored]"

"worst number 1 draft pick ever"

which makes me laugh

I read on bigfooty (what did I expect) "Tom Scully won't be as bad as Jack Watts. They'll be the two worst number draft picks ever, but no one could ever be as bad as Jack Watts."

Now that's a laugh.

[DemonDan... 77]

When I saw the headline, I didn't think of Jack, I thought of young Sam. I have seen his junior football skills and this kid could make Bluey Adams look slow. It's amazing that we really have another pick in the top 20. 5 out of 20 isn't too bad! PS For the younger posters Bluey would have made Aaron look pedestrian.

Blease is genuinelly the forgotten one.

I had him top 3 in the draft last year before word of his injury (hips?) saw him slide to us somehow.

Can't wait for him to burst out the centre and split the goals from 50, as he did so much when we were mostly focussed on Watts, in the TAC 08'.

Davey look pedestrian.. ..really?

[The Big Ticket 94]

I read on bigfooty (what did I expect) "Tom Scully won't be as bad as Jack Watts. They'll be the two worst number draft picks ever, but no one could ever be as bad as Jack Watts."

Now that's a laugh.

Lol, that would've come from a 12 year-old. BF is a disgrace.

Anyway, can't wait to see young Wattso next year. He'll show a lot next year me thinks.

[Bobby McKenzie 2,374]

Blease is genuinelly the forgotten one.

I had him top 3 in the draft last year before word of his injury (hips?) saw him slide to us somehow.

Can't wait for him to burst out the centre and split the goals from 50, as he did so much when we were mostly focussed on Watts, in the TAC 08'.

Davey look pedestrian.. ..really?

Bit of an exaggeration I guess. Adams was the Australian sprint champion at the time. No, it would be hard to make Aaron look slow. Sam really has pace and kicks the ball accurately.

[Trengove 0]

How do you know these figures? Was it reported in the media?

Watts will be good for us next year, I have no doubts. Looking forward to seeing him improve and help out Bater and Jurrah as marking targets.

Yeah it was in the media; Bailey gave us an update on Watts' body size about 4 weeks ago.

Bailey says Dees are ready to rise

[Craig Drinker 179]

I read on bigfooty (what did I expect) "Tom Scully won't be as bad as Jack Watts. They'll be the two worst number draft picks ever, but no one could ever be as bad as Jack Watts."

Now that's a laugh.

Jack Watts will be a gun and be proven as a very astute choice by the MFC recruiting department. I'm very glad the recruiting department has the patience and foresight that is required to peform there job well.

If the recruiting department were "panic merchants" like half the posters on the forums , our list would be a real mess! Do you think this "must have results now" shortsighted mentality is a Demons supporter thing that is ingrained in us or do you think it is common across all supporters?

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

No-one needs to worry about Watts' frame. He'll be a massive man at his peak and well strong enough within 2 years. Does he have the heart, or hunger ? They're the questions he needs to answer.

Agreed. I've never been worried about his size. He looks, in terms of shape and stature as well as posture, a lot like J. Brown when he was recruited. The frame is CERTAINLY there.

Just on the rest, I see what you mean about the whole not being "years" away. But it depends on what people think the target is. Take a player like Roo... He was a future star by the age of 21. Everyone who watched him play in that big coming-of-age season (2002? 03?) knew where he was headed. My point though, is that at that time he took a HUGE amount of marks... however he didn't win games off his own boot like he has this year. In fact, 2009 was by far his best season ever. One in which he won finals himself, as well as becoming probably (marginally) the best KP forward in the game. And he took til he was 28 to take that step.

So in terms of when Watts will "arrive" on the AFL stage, I expect that to be the latter half of 2011. I'm HOPING he shows glimpses this year, but I EXPECT he will show some properly positive signs the year after.

As for becoming a premiership forward, 60-80+ goalkicker, top-20 footballer... I imagine that will be mid twenties like a lot of talls. ANd mid twenties for Jack IS "years" away.

It may be a bit negative, and I certainly don't mean to come off that way. I'm pumped about him as a player. I am, however, making a few pre-emptive strikes as I simply don't believe 2010 will show us much at all. If it does, then that's awesome.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

It's subjective isn't it ? Hmm, "Years away", I suppose it begs the question, how good do you expect him to be at 20/21, which by my reckoning doesn't quite fit the "YEARS away" category, as you put it. He turns 20 in the May of 2011.

I hope that Watts finishes his career as one of the star key forwards of the modern era. Just about every star key forward in living memory was very very good by the age of 20 and bordering on stardom by 21. Players such as Lockett, Carey, Brereton, Lloyd, Kernahan, Buddy Franklin to name a few, were all stars by 21. Our own David Schwarz was on his way to stardom until cut down by injury at 21. David Neitz was a rung down from those players, but was AA by the age of 20 in a defensive role. Naturally these players peaked in their mid 20's (excluding Franklin), but they were bona fide stars by 21.

If Watts is as good as we anticipate he won't be YEARS away. He'll start showing some very promising signs this year, be a very good player in 2011 and it's up to him from 2012 onwards. This isn't to say that I'll 'right him off' if he falls short of stardom by the age of 21, but by then I'll know whether he'll reach those heights. I expect he will.

No-one needs to worry about Watts' frame. He'll be a massive man at his peak and well strong enough within 2 years. Does he have the heart, or hunger ? They're the questions he needs to answer.

Excellent Hannibal. Good form indeed.

I don't want to bignote myself, so I'll just point out that plenty of people have made the two points 'Curry & Beer' did.

Exactly right. It was the shallow mind that expect Watts in his VCE year and first season to be doing great things.

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

I don't want to bignote myself, so I'll just point out that plenty of people have made the two points 'Curry & Beer' did.

And they get completely swamped by the posters who "believe" Watts' 1st two seasons were going to be those of a superstar.

More importantly, they were also swamped with a number of disgruntled supporters already jumping on Watts' back for not kicking a bag in his first few games, a la Jurrah. My post was aimed at them...

But fair enough, you're right, there are far more balanced posters here than in times gone by, and it's fair to say you're one of them... So I'm sorry to have lumped you in with everyone else.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,013]

Watts is going to be fine. His first three games are far better than any of the star forwards currently playing. He performed exactly as anyone with an ounce of common sense would have expected, showed a couple of glimpses and kicked a couple of goals. Now that he's old enough to drink we might expect a little more of him in the next couple of years.

[DirtyDees DDC 176]

Former hawthorn coach Peter Schwab was guest commentator during one of Jack's VFL matches this year. He was impressed, but he also suggested that jack should watch Nick Reiwoldt and model himself on Nick's work effort and gut-busting running capacity. I think he has terrific potential and I would still pick pick him over Natanui, Rich, and Hurley.

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

Watts is going to be fine. His first three games are far better than any of the star forwards currently playing. He performed exactly as anyone with an ounce of common sense would have expected, showed a couple of glimpses and kicked a couple of goals. Now that he's old enough to drink we might expect a little more of him in the next couple of years.

Exactly, and if he hadn't played any games in the AFL last year, no-one would be writing him off. Those 3 games were a bonus. he will learn a lot next season. He will be very good the year after and in 2012... sign me up

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,903]

Our handling of Watts from a media and publicity perspective last year I thinkin hindsight was poor and something that I hoped we would learn from. So just when you would think they would remove the spotlight from him and just let him get stuck into becoming an AFL footballer we allow him to do an interview with Mike Sheehan in tomorrows HUN. Then to top it off the gag worthy Xmas membership ad "Watts under your tree this Christmas". Picture of it is on a Demology thread at the below link.

http://demonology.midnight.net.au/

Time for the spotlight to be removed and allow the kid to prove himself as an AFL player.

Edited November 19, 2009 by big_red_fire_engine

[Keyser Söze 0]

Our handling of Watts from a media and publicity perspective last year I thinkin hindsight was poor and something that I hoped we would learn from. So just when you would think they would remove the spotlight from him and just let him get stuck into becoming an AFL footballer we allow him to do an interview with Mike Sheehan in tomorrows HUN. Then to top it off the gag worthy Xmas membership ad "Watts under your tree this Christmas". Picture of it is on a Demology thread at the below link.

http://demonology.midnight.net.au/

Time for the spotlight to be removed and allow the kid to prove himself as an AFL player.

What's wrong with any of it?

Without any MFC promotion, Watts still would've faced the same scrutiny and criticisms by uneducated opposition supporters just looking to stick the boot into MFC one more time.

If he had've played no games, ready or not, he would've been criticised for not being worthy of the number one pick. Nothing would change. Except he would be behind in development.

I see no problem with any of it and no reason not to.

In fact, I'm glad he did the interview and that the club is promoting him as a future star.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,903]

What's wrong with any of it?

Without any MFC promotion, Watts still would've faced the same scrutiny and criticisms by uneducated opposition supporters just looking to stick the boot into MFC one more time.

If he had've played no games, ready or not, he would've been criticised for not being worthy of the number one pick. Nothing would change. Except he would be behind in development.

I see no problem with any of it and no reason not to.

In fact, I'm glad he did the interview and that the club is promoting him as a future star.

The kid needs to prove himself as an AFL player not be doing one one interviews with Mike or being the focus of our Xmas memembership media campaign. The focus needs to be on him developing as an AFL footballer not on marketing. He will become a better footballer by being able to focus on proving himself on the field rather than all this media hype.

NB: He is not a future star any more than anyone else on our list at this point in time.

[LittleMoeWithTheGimpyLeg 0]

Lol, that would've come from a 12 year-old. BF is a disgrace.

Anyway, can't wait to see young Wattso next year. He'll show a lot next year me thinks.

Lots of crap posters on this site too. Would of been written on Bay13 or something.

[Keyser Söze 0]

The kid needs to prove himself as an AFL player not be doing one one interviews with Mike or being the focus of our Xmas memembership media campaign. The focus needs to be on him developing as an AFL footballer not on marketing. He will become a better footballer by being able to focus on proving himself on the field rather than all this media hype.

NB: He is not a future star any more than anyone else on our list at this point in time.

I see no reason why he can't do both.

Stop being so bloody precious.

[H_T 3,042]

The kid needs to prove himself as an AFL player not be doing one one interviews with Mike or being the focus of our Xmas memembership media campaign. The focus needs to be on him developing as an AFL footballer not on marketing. He will become a better footballer by being able to focus on proving himself on the field rather than all this media hype.

NB: He is not a future star any more than anyone else on our list at this point in time.

Well, he won't be proving himself this time of the year. He's just finishing or has just finished his Year 12 studies. I can't see what is wrong with doing an interview (in the off-season) and having a couple of pictures taken for a Xmas flyer.

He has another 4-5 months of hard work and focus time before the games start.

Fwiw, in regards to the club, any publicity is good publicity.

PS. I'm certain he will be pushed back from the spotlight in a weeks time anyway.

[Jaded No More 68,690]

At the end of the day, unless you are part of the club or know Jack personally, you wouldn't be able to pass correct judgment on his management last year.

I've heard from numerous people who know Jack personally, including one of his teachers, that he was well prepared and that the club has been treating him superbly. And as long as Watts is content with his progress, and can handle the pressure, that is the only thing that matters.

I'd be worried if he couldn't handle playing on Queens Birthday. You are not worth anything if you can't cope with pressure in AFL.

The spotlight will be moved off him soon enough though, with Scully and Trengove taking over.

[rpfc 28,083]

The spotlight will be moved off him soon enough though, with Scully and Trengove taking over.

The spotlight will be shared.

Watts is going to get attention and he has to deal with it.

The more interviews he does and the more exposure he gets the quicker he will get used to it.

[Akum 2,660]

Jack will be fine. I'm sure he'll show us enough in 2010 to justify the No.1 pick, though it's more likely to be in short bursts rather than across 4 quarters, and in a few games rather than every week. You get the feeling in the Sheahan interview that he's set pretty high standards for himself and he's much more concerned about coming up to these standards than being affected by either the publicity or the Bay 13 garbage. My main concern about Jack is avoiding the sort of injury that's cut too many promising players down before they've had a real chance to show what they can do. But barring injury, I'm sure we'll see plenty from Jack next year.