Watts wrong with Whats?

[DeeZee 7,349]

Jack has been very ordinary the last couple of weeks, not playing in front,falling over himself.

seems disinterested.

[Chook 15,001]

And a little soft.

[Forest Demon 4,681]

Jack has been very ordinary the last couple of weeks, not playing in front,falling over himself.

seems disinterested.

He needs to work on not losing his feet so easily. Not worried though, still young and needs time bla bla bla.

[PeterJames 46]

Well he will be back at Casey next week for sure. It's where he belongs at the moment and the coaching staff are playing him ahead of better players for now.

[Jaded No More 68,692]

OMG, here we go again.

It was a dirty day for forwards, and in his 5th games he didn't play well. Call the football police and arrest the kid, because somebody needs to think about the children and humanity and all that.

Watts won't learn anything in the VFL that he doesn't already know. He needs game time, and plenty of it, to gain experience. [censored] games will come his way as he develops and the absolute worst thing we can do is jump up and down and scream about it.

[Parma 28]

Well he will be back at Casey next week for sure. It's where he belongs at the moment and the coaching staff are playing him ahead of better players for now.

I agree, he needs game time but he needs to earn his spot. Im sure he will be good but babying him last year means he is now a first year player. He needs to do the basic stuff better.

[Guest watts04]

lets not start this again with a young kid

p a t i e n c e

every match we lose with watts in the team starts a new watts thread

agree on a bit softish and loses his feet a bit but just needs to get used to it all as never played vfl or tac really

[nomed 113]

But what has he shown? Any "bright" moments or plays for the highlight reels?

I haven't seen anything on TV that has made me go "wow" yet.

[1858 285]

It's a catch 22 IMO. He needs more senior games to get used to the tempo and physicality of senior footy as well as familiarise himself with the other players but yeah he is still underdone in other areas so he still needs to be managed. Unfortunately for Jack, he is not playing as part of an effective forward set up where everyone plays a certain role. He is just thrown up forward and expected to deliver cartwheels in what I can only consider a drop-in centre. He does make elementary mistakes which can be addressed over time but the pressure he is under is quite rediculous IMO.

[Neita3000 37]

Conditions definitely didn't suit.

However young Jack just doesn't seem to play with much urgency. I watched him quite closely in the last quarter and I don't know whether or not he was buggered or what but there were a couple of times when he just jogged around CHF.

I'm sure the kid will be fine and turn out to be some sought of player however it's pretty clear this is going to take some time.

[Redleg 40,413]

OMG, here we go again.

It was a dirty day for forwards, and in his 5th games he didn't play well. Call the football police and arrest the kid, because somebody needs to think about the children and humanity and all that.

Watts won't learn anything in the VFL that he doesn't already know. He needs game time, and plenty of it, to gain experience. [censored] games will come his way as he develops and the absolute worst thing we can do is jump up and down and scream about it.

Disagree Jaded. While I believe ( hope ) Watts will be a good player for us in the future, his last two games were pathetic. He is playing from behind, falling over, looking for frees and generally showing he does not deserve his spot in the team. The last point is crucial.

To say he won't learn anything in the VFL is silly. He will learn to put his body in at contests and earn his spot in the senior side. He may even get some much needed confidence.

How do you think Jordie McKenzie and others would feel if he stays in the side despite poor form while they can't get in.

I am all for development of players but you can't just play guys forever who don't deserve their spot. Gysberts earned his spot and is going beautifully at the moment. Dunn today earned his recall and hopefully he will play well against the Pies. I am not even talking about trying to win games, because in his current form with Miller they provide nothing. What about the development of our mids who get the ball and if they don't unlike today, butcher the ball, see it coming back over their heads every time. How does that help their development.

Watts needs muscle, confidence and maybe some less pressure at this time, so a spell at Casey beckons.

[jabberwocky 2,301]

He needs to play in front and run hard at the ball carrier. His one goal was as a result of playing from behind, you get the odd one but it's low percentage and he aint Wayne Carey yet. he needs to use his speed and sticky hands to advantage.

It was fairly clear last week that he was playing behind, would have thought that would have been rectified over the course of the week.

[titan_uranus 24,919]

Conditions didn't suit. Delivery was abysmal.

But the weather and the disposal don't dicate second efforts, intensity and hunger, none of which were apparent. He needs to work on those.

No alarm bells yet, but I wasn't happy with what he did when the ball hit the ground.

[Deeoldfart 8,001]

Not ready in terms of physique or experience for KPF at this stage, but we don't have too many options right now. Jack was no worse than Millsey today, and he already has a man's body and is in his eighth season.

[Lil_red_fire_engine 10,918]

OMG, here we go again.

It was a dirty day for forwards, and in his 5th games he didn't play well. Call the football police and arrest the kid, because somebody needs to think about the children and humanity and all that.

Watts won't learn anything in the VFL that he doesn't already know. He needs game time, and plenty of it, to gain experience. [censored] games will come his way as he develops and the absolute worst thing we can do is jump up and down and scream about it.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment about the weather not being for forwards. I would play him next week as again the experience of QB for me is like 5-10 games experience. However is he does not perform (see last 2 weeks) I would be sending him back to Casey. Why? Because it should not matter who he is if his form is not up to it he should be dropped.

To say he will not learn at casey is a joke. To me Watts is not a natural footballer, he has beautiful skills, athleticism etc... but he has plenty to learn about how to play a key position when to lead, where to position etc.. For me if he is not adding value to the team (which today and last week he did not) he should be learning how to play the position at Casey.

To be clear I think Watts will be everything we expect once he grows into his body and understands more of the subtleties of being key forward in the AFL. I just dont think people should make him excempt from Casey.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,013]

Did he actually play in the second half? I don't recall seeing him.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Disagree Jaded. While I believe ( hope ) Watts will be a good player for us in the future, his last two games were pathetic. He is playing from behind, falling over, looking for frees and generally showing he does not deserve his spot in the team. The last point is crucial.

To say he won't learn anything in the VFL is silly. He will learn to put his body in at contests and earn his spot in the senior side. He may even get some much needed confidence.

Watts needs muscle, confidence and maybe some less pressure at this time, so a spell at Casey beckons.

Yep Well said. He learnt how to lose his footing off Robbo.

[Sir Why You Little 36,748]

PLAY JACK WATTS IN THE BACKLINE FOR NOW.

He is not ready for Centre half forward.

Off the backline he can attack the Ball & learn to stay on his feet.

No longer can he dominate school boy football.

He has to still learn to play against big men.

So please play him in the backline-before he loses all confidence.

[titan_uranus 24,919]

Oh, and someone needs to get him to start playing in front. That's two weeks in a row now that he's been caught behind his man far too often. Should have learnt from last week.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

So please play him in the backline-before he loses all confidence.

Yes lets sacrifice our backline over one player.

If he going to learn that role he can do it at Casey.

He needs to show a bit of hunger.

[Sir Why You Little 36,748]

Yes lets sacrifice our backline over one player.

If he going to learn that role he can do it at Casey.

He needs to show a bit of hunger.

No let him learn real hunger in the MFC backline.

With our forward line the way it is at present we will be lucky to win 2 more games, so lets make him attack the ball from the backline.

[Range Rover 1,935]

The conditions obviously didn't suit but his work ethic was questionable. He seems easily intimidated and you get the feeling opposition defenders 'smell blood' when he can't keep his feet, which happened a number of times today.

I don't agree that his spot in the side should be guaranteed. That sort of thing breeds complacency and sets a poor example to other players busting their gut to get in the side.

I'd give him a reprieve and select him for the Collingwood clash, but he should be on notice that his second efforts and attack at the footy have got to improve.

[PeterJames 46]

Yeah putting Miller down back worked. He needs to go back to Casey and learn to have a crack.

[titan_uranus 24,919]

I don't agree that his spot in the side should be guaranteed. That sort of thing breeds complacency and sets a poor example to other players busting their gut to get in the side.

This I agree with. He has to show he wants it (and deserves it) more than he is at the moment.

[dee-luded 2,959]

lets not start this again with a young kid

p a t i e n c e

every match we lose with watts in the team starts a new watts thread

agree on a bit softish and loses his feet a bit but just needs to get used to it all as never played vfl or tac really

It's OK to speak about it & to prognosticate. Just, lets not belittle him doing it. Yes he needs to learn, but more he needs to grow, both physically & mentally re confidence etc.

He's not a moron. Just a kid undersized ATM, trying to play against mostly grown men.

He'll need time with Casey, for sure & he'll get games when the club thinks its best. And we'll discuss him adnauseam, but lets agree that he'll take time, so lets not make it personal about him.. Because he will be goodun, if we let him.