NO REST FOR THE WICKED

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

You may be right. But Big Guys take longer & i think Hawkins will be the Player that Kosi isn't.

I watched Hawkins in the ruck 2 weeks ago. He will Hold his place in the side. Blake will not.

Hawkins could be the player that Kosi isnt. But that might not make him a role model for Watts.

If Ottens comes back will they hold Hawkins, Pods and Mooney up forward.

Send some tapes of Nick Riewoldt. Watts should be looking to emulate the work rate of that player.

[H_T 3,042]

I thought the final margin was about right for the development gap between the two teams at the moment. Never nice to lose by that much (or lose at all) but I find it hard to be too disappointed about that one.

In my mind I've moved on already. Itching for next week against Carlton; that will be an interesting test for our developing team.

Yes, agree with that Nasher.

Whilst I would have liked to see Scully, Jurrah, Bate & Jurrah play today, we'll be better equiped next time against the best.

Moving on to Carlton. Impressive game by J.Gysberts in his first game today.

[Sir Why You Little 36,747]

Hawkins could be the player that Kosi isnt. But that might not make him a role model for Watts.

If Ottens comes back will they hold Hawkins, Pods and Mooney up forward.

Send some tapes of Nick Riewoldt. Watts should be looking to emulate the work rate of that player.

Point taken, but i don't think Watts will have the same body shape as Nick Reiwoldt.

Watts is going to be thicker set i believe, but no doubt Jack could learn from both of them.

He was an easy target over the last few years, But i think Tom Hawkins is going to become one of the AFL's monsters in the next years, as will JW. But Jack is still 1-3 years away at present

[RalphiusMaximus 6,013]

Interesting comment from the triple M team. They said that the coaches would get some valuable info from the review tape when they saw that Watts was double- and triple-teamed every time the ball went to him in the 50. Playing an extra man in defence was never going to be the answer and it destroyed our forward line.

[e25 5]

No i think Hawkins & Watts will be quite similiar players. That is my point. Jack first must Bulk Up, as Hawkins did.

Uh... Hawkins was a man-mountain when he was drafted and was consistently compared to a young Lockett.

He has had to slim down considerably and improve his fitness.

Watts is almost the opposite of Hawkins.

Such a strange comparison...

Was great to see the crowd littered with dees supporters today and quite a few of them were extremely vocal.

[DeeSpencer 24,961]

Send some tapes of Pods. He's nothing special athletic wise but uses his body seriously well, always in front and if he doesn't mark it goes straight to were he wants it to give him (with great second effort) or his smalls a chance. Good player.

Watts was overawed today, it was a bit of a throwback to 2009, but that is not unexpected as he was up against a strong defence with a spare man for most of the day. His holding the ball tackle on Enright was his best piece of play all day, and there is something positive to take from it there. Kick wasn't bad, dead straight and only a tiny bit short.

[Guest DeesPower]

Im ok with this loss, as we rested the star kids and wasnt expecting a win, I believe we will be better off the next two weeks for the sacrifices we made. However I made some observations today.

Gysberts looks a star of the future with Scully, Grimes and Trengrove.

Our group of indigenious fwds are getting much better at forward pressure.

Green needs to become a fwd option.

Watts although we will give him time, he needs to show some desperation and be fearless. He looks a bit precious at the moment.

Our midfielders need to drop back when the opposition have the ball(dont be front runners) help the backline, dont make it one on one all the time.

Good and fair post Parma. Agree with your observations re Watts and our mid field. I thought we missed mackenzie's pressure today and his run. He should be back against the Blues depending on his performance tomorrow in Bendigo.

Gysberts looks as though he will be in as long as he wants. A superb debut in the ultimate test in football. He adds heightand skill to our mid field as well on ball pressure. Was most impressed with his tackling skill and focus. We have a bargain vs Brock.

I thought also wonna is starting to show signs butstill has a way to go IMO.

[Guest DeesPower]

Which is exactly what Watts needs to show. And a bit of effort to lead into space.

Agree

[H_T 3,042]

Send some tapes of Pods. He's nothing special athletic wise but uses his body seriously well, always in front and if he doesn't mark it goes straight to were he wants it to give him (with great second effort) or his smalls a chance. Good player.

Watts was overawed today, it was a bit of a throwback to 2009, but that is not unexpected as he was up against a strong defence with a spare man for most of the day. His holding the ball tackle on Enright was his best piece of play all day, and there is something positive to take from it there. Kick wasn't bad, dead straight and only a tiny bit short.

You're right about Pods playing in front. Something Watts could learn from as a starting point.

[45HG 1,539]

Cliche after cliche. Bah!

[jnrmac 19,940]

Or 3 on 1. Disappointing again to watch the forward line just dissolve. We made it easy for Geelong to have loose men all over our forwards. Impossible for a boy like Watts. Imagine when he's as tough & bulky as Podsiadly!

The most frustrating part for me. Continually outnumbered in the fwd line. Seems to me like they were playing a man behind the ball as they didn't wasn't too much damage to our percentage - I guess I can understand that.

[Deeoldfart 8,001]

Uh... Hawkins was a man-mountain when he was drafted and was consistently compared to a young Lockett.

He has had to slim down considerably and improve his fitness.

Watts is almost the opposite of Hawkins.

Such a strange comparison...

............................................

Exactly right E25.

[btdemon 482]

While I agree that Watts appeared be a little physically intimidated yesterday and often seemed to be in between contests watching the ball go over his head, he was often double teamed. He still did enough to get a game next week. His hands are great and his ability to handball to the team's advantage is a feature of his game. This is smart play. The other thing he does, which can make him look like he is avoiding physical contest, is keep his feet most of the time. You will often see him reaching over and around his direct opponent attempting to tap the ball to his team's advantage, rather than making a high impact contact. I do get the feeling that he has not had to use his physicality much in his junior career because he had the advantage of height, speed and great hands.

Also, he appears to be a person with a very pleasant nature. Mongrel and physical dominance of another player may not come naturally to him. He will have to learn this. The only comparison I see with Hawkins is that he has come with great expectations and that he too is not naturally aggressive. Hawkins has had to learn this and was very physically dominant yesterday. Watts, on the hand, has a level of natural skill way beyond that of Hawkins. His speed, ball handling and kicking are great and he has wonderful movement. He does need to apply his speed in reallly intense bursts. I think this is a confidence thing. He is not yet attacking the contest as if he believes in himself. This will come. Remember, he has effectively only played three senior games. I don't count last year because I think he was so overawed and unprepared that he would have not learnt much. His flower will bloom.

Edited May 30, 2010 by btdemon

[george_on_the_outer 7,463]

The only real comparison that should be made between Watts and Hawkins is that it has taken the Tomahawk 4 years to get to even a semblance of consistency.

Even then he is no world-beater, but his size means he is able to impose himself a couple of times in a game when it seems to suit him.

The expectations of the Geelong fans were rightly high when he first appeared. He should have become something bigger and better. But it has taken 4 years to get to be something useful to the team.

Our expectations of Watts are similar.....we are yet to find out how good he can be, but it WILL take a similar time-frame.

[jayceebee31 759]

No he wouldnt. Nasher is right.

In actual fact Hawkins has trimmed down- he was bigger when he started back in 07.

[Guest The Boss]

What did everyone think of Miller? Personally I think he should be left in the full forward spot until someone better comes along. I know he is an awful kick, but last week he showed he is capable of kicking the occassional bag.

[Akum 2,660]

The only real comparison that should be made between Watts and Hawkins is that it has taken the Tomahawk 4 years to get to even a semblance of consistency.

Correction - it took Pods for Hawkins to get a semblance of consistency. Now instead of getting the 2nd tall defender, he only gets the 3rd tall defender.

Edited May 31, 2010 by Akum

[Harrisonrules 273]

The idea of a Darwin Syndrome is reasonable to a point. But we can go to far. Warnock had not played the week before but was far from good. As a small backman Bartram can shadow but he has never provided run out of the backline , maybe Strauss and Cheney should be given their chance soon. Tall marking forwards have often provided our backs with problems, eg North Melbourne. Martin should still be considered as our best option to do this.

[Harrisonrules 273]

Re Miller. In Darwin he happened to be in the right place at the right time. Watch the last quarter and see his eight dissmal attempts to mark in contested positions. We are marking time with him there. We should be trying other options like, Rivers are Garland up forward.

[heartbeatstrue 57]

While I agree that Watts appeared be a little physically intimidated yesterday and often seemed to be in between contests watching the ball go over his head, he was often double teamed. He still did enough to get a game next week. His hands are great and his ability to handball to the team's advantage is a feature of his game. This is smart play. The other thing he does, which can make him look like he is avoiding physical contest, is keep his feet most of the time. You will often see him reaching over and around his direct opponent attempting to tap the ball to his team's advantage, rather than making a high impact contact. I do get the feeling that he has not had to use his physicality much in his junior career because he had the advantage of height, speed and great hands.

Also, he appears to be a person with a very pleasant nature. Mongrel and physical dominance of another player may not come naturally to him. He will have to learn this. The only comparison I see with Hawkins is that he has come with great expectations and that he too is not naturally aggressive. Hawkins has had to learn this and was very physically dominant yesterday. Watts, on the hand, has a level of natural skill way beyond that of Hawkins. His speed, ball handling and kicking are great and he has wonderful movement. He does need to apply his speed in reallly intense bursts. I think this is a confidence thing. He is not yet attacking the contest as if he believes in himself. This will come. Remember, he has effectively only played three senior games. I don't count last year because I think he was so overawed and unprepared that he would have not learnt much. His flower will bloom.

This is an excellent critique of Watts right now, I feel. We've got heaps to look forward to, and you know, I'm feeling he's likely for a big game back on the 'G against Carlton on Saturday. Can't wait!

[agent_orange 0]

Would love to see Schwarz or Neitz head down there and give the kid some one-on-one advice.

Sure Mahoney is a decent forward coach but only a big man can show another how to play a bigman how to play.

[agent_orange 0]

This is an excellent critique of Watts right now, I feel. We've got heaps to look forward to, and you know, I'm feeling he's likely for a big game back on the 'G against Carlton on Saturday. Can't wait!

Carlton's backline is not the best - if we can win the ball, he should kick a few.

Would love to see him start closer to goal and provide a leading option. I am more disapointed by Miller's game.