Dees to give Watts VFL time

[stevethemanjordan 6,952]

Bub,

I agree with you to some extent.

Enforcer and co. can critique you all they like but the true fact of the matter is that Jack Watts is a number 1

draft pick and all of this is a result of that single fact. All the talk about him, the fact that Natanui was in the same

draft year, the pressure, all the media, the way the club are handling him and keeping him at Casey. It's all

a result of this number 1 pick business.

I think the club made a huge mistake playing him in the QB match last year and they know this.

He will be kept at Casey until he gains some confidence and plays some good matches.

If Jurrah was a number 1 pick, we would have treated him the same.

Scully would have been the same had he still been at school this year and not able to do as much

of a pre season and train as often.

Your comparisons with Neitz and Fletcher are fair but once again it comes down to this number 1

pick.

Who knows what will happen with Watts. All I can hope is that this bull#*$ doesn't affect his footy.

[Rogue 585]

If its all about getting games into legs and the bonding on the field of combat then keeping him down any longer thanreally required seems counter productive.

If we had a bunch of old hacks that were almost finished, sure.

However, apart from a couple of veterans, I imagine we think everyone else in the 22 is going to be around when we're a contender, or we need to see them at AFL level to decide (ie. Bartram and Dunn).

EDIT: As for those who feel the Club's annoyed about Watts' attitude, Connolly's pretty clear about their views on him as a person, at least publically:

"He's been outstanding. We can't fault him in any way. What you see is what you get with Jack," Connolly said.

"He's not ahead of himself in any way shape or form. We profiled him as a person, that's why we took him at No.1, and he's ticking all the right boxes to show that our profiling was right.

[Deestroyer 0]

Comments from Dean Bailey recently:

Jack's body will take another 18 months. He is 12 months younger than the draft year group, so there is no need to rush. He said they can’t do a thing about the media - will just wait like the Hawks did with Hodge. Dean is working on building players from the legs/backside up. Dean said that when he arrived at Melb players were built, but in the wrong way. He mentioned that Sylvia weights the same as when he arrived at the club, but they have re-built him and he now lift weights that are 25% heavier.

It sounds like Dean knows what he wants from his players. The last two years of work are finally starting to pay off. While I want Watts to play now, I trust what the footy department are trying to do with him. The last report I read had Watts at 88kg. While his body isn't as strong as it will be in a couple of years, it must be close to being competitive at AFL level (maybe not key position). I believe he will be promoted as soon as he is named in the best for Casey. Hopefully he plays against the Doggies next Friday night.

[Demon trucker 1,800]

I have a sneaky suspicion that despite all the rhetoric from the club that there are creeping frustrations that quite frankly Watts isnt a little further along his path of greatness than currently positioned. I do think the patience exhibited by the club is genuine but I dont think it will prove infinite. Granted a few niggles have set him back from previously announced timeframes but without the overshadow of studies ( now finished) cramping his focus and given our need for a key forward I would rather Watts got senior time sooner rather than later.

If its all about getting games into legs and the bonding on the field of combat then keeping him down any longer thanreally required seems counter productive.

how long did the Dee's give to Colin Sylvia the club have been very patented with him, now everyone on this site say he is the best thing since sliced bread, so don't worry the club are not frustrated at all, the best thing for watts is to play as long as possible with casey, learn to play with men and keep him hungry, make him earn his spot, if he plays 10 games this year that is enough, he needs to grow into his body. Was rewalt a star in his second year, and he was not under aged when he was drafted, Nick Nat is a year older, also NIC NAT's peolpe develop early then white people they are naturally stronger, a white boy has to pump weights for two year just to catch up with what NIC NAT's people are born with. dont rush him the last thing we want is for him to get OP.

[Jack7 528]

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

Watts was long regarded as a top pick, we're you got your 30 something I don't know.

He didn't go Number 1 because we needed a Key Forward he went Number 1 because he was the "Best Available Talent" at the pick we had, which happened to be 1'

Please refrain from mentioning his name with the likes of petrie, Cloke and Mooney.

The fact is if you ever watched him play you would know that he has the ability to be a genuine superstar. You might not know that but plenty do.

Before the u/18's,he wasn't a top pick,after the carnival,he was classed as a top 3 pick with Naitanui & Rich.We took him because he is Victorian and the void left in the forward line by Neitz & Robbo,get your facts right.

Don't mention Jack Watts as a superstar of the AFL before he's even good enough to get a game.

He's not even a superstar of the VFL!!!

[Felix 92]

Bail have been average at VFL level, & Bail has been pretty impressive at AFL level... Vise versa for Juice.