I'm going to come to Watts' defence today. I liked a lot of what I saw from him. No, he didn't take soaring pack marks or kick telling goals, but he did numerous small things that showed he has a lot of footy smarts for a kid his size. He has quick hands, chooses the right option when he does give it off, and positioned himself well at marking contests. A lot of this goes unnoticed or ignored.

If he can make these one percenters a staple of his game AND begin to take more grabs and kick some goals, we have a good player on our hands.

Should not be dropped.

positives today, watts made several good contests, 3 good spoils in the last half that were helpful and i think one or two resulted in us scoring a point or goal, he lead hard into space leaving space behind him which the balls was to be kicked into (obviously set leads), his kicking was pretty darn good aswell.

negatuves today, didnt get enough of it, pushed off the pill abit too easy, and at times looked like he didnt want to be playing, didnt have that anger or want in his eyes.

an okay performance, not too bad i dont think

I'll also point out one moment of almost brilliance. Bouncing ball on the wing heading for the boundary. A swan player both in front and behind him. Jack tapped it over his head, put in a quick turn and was in the process of leaving them both in his dust, but his tap was slightly misdirected and went over the line. It was a matter of inches and would have been one for the highlight reels.

Not our worst today. Some dodgy moments but I would still have him in the team at his current performance.

Who was worse?

He was terrible in the first half. Better in the second. He is good when he has the ball. But is shocking when he hasn't

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I agree with Gerard Healy (err I feel so dirty). Jack should be played off half back/wing for a while. I thought his field kicking was outstanding today. He picks the right option and hits targets consistently whether 20 or 50 metres away. I thought overall he had a reasonable game today, but what he needs is to get is plenty of ball in his hands. I can see why he went pick 1. He's lightening quick off the mark. Once he gets a little stronger and more experienced he's going to be a weapon.

That same thing happened a lot when Watts was on his own and clear. They did a Morton with him today. Ignored him.

Jack was ok today, he did work hard, But My God he should have short passed to Jurrah who was on his own for a good 10 seconds.

I just feel jack holds the ball to long, it's like he is looking for a gear, he needs to be more instinctive-That will make his difference

Seems our number 1 draft should have already won a coleman, brownlow and norm smith medal (without Melbourne making the GF) in his 18 games.

I can wait till he hits about 50 games before I really see if he will be a worthy number 1, seems most on here can't wait longer than round 1 to start writing players off.

Hopefully today will be one of his poorer games for the season. I've noticed he's a good decisionmaker the majority of the time but he does frustrate when he holds the ball up unnecessarily. We can lose alot of momentum going forward when it's in his hands.

This reminds me of an article on Col Sylvia a while ago. He said that when he was a bit down about his game Junior phoned him up and told him that he was doing everything right and the on-field performances would come if he just stuck with it. Likewise, Watts did a hell of a lot right today, but the ball just didn't drop for him. Sooner or later it's going to come together and we'll see something special from him.

Who was worse?

MacDonald and Bartram spring to mind.

I thought Watts was good, not great but good. What i liked was his intensity was alot better than what i saw in the pre season and as i have said previously i suspect this is what the fd will want to see. I'll wager they will comment on his improved attack on the ball in the player wrap.

He was at the man today, competed in the air and brought it to ground a few times. I agree with other posters that he was slow releasing it a couple of times. I don't recall the Jurrah one but there was one on the AFL members wing where he held onto it for ages, ignored a really hard lead from Dunny (ironic that)and went into a crowded corrridor.

The other interesting thing was that in the first half he played really deep, in fact almost out of the square and Jurrah played alot higher. I reckon it helped him get in the game. It would be nice to see him snag some of those goals and kick 4 or 5 which i reckon he will when he gets on a roll

Watts should be running around for casey and thats that !!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes when he has no time to think he is good but every time he takes a mark he is to slow at doing anything with it it makes me sick.

not hard at it to soft looks like he would be happy just running around with fev.melbourne s next TJ will never live up to 1st pick will show signs but thats it

I'm at the cricketers now wonabeeri looking for you.

Sorry mate, had to leave just before one to go and meet a mate to get him into the ground.

every time he takes a mark he is to slow at doing anything with it it makes me sick.

Definitely needs to get up quicker and keep it moving

I keep going back to James Frawley.

When he first started he was hopeless, woeful, pathetic, slow, terrible on the lead, terrible on the attack, he looks like a down right [censored].

It took Frawley 4 pre-seasons to make the AA team. Now I'm not saying Watts will be in the same position in 2 years, but in most cases it takes KPP 4 solid pre-seasons to start showing their worth. Jack Reiwoldt is another one.

We cannot expect him to play like a champion when he hasn't got the body or the experience to do so.

He does a lot of small things extraordinarily well, things that you can't teach and won't find in most KPF. He is superb below his knees, he is quick and agile and smart, and is generally a very good kick. But what people want to see from him is what he can't do yet, he can't burst packs and he can't out-muscle his opponent. But those things will come with experience and with kilos gained.

Plus to say he doesn't seem like he wants to be out there is garbage. Garland looks asleep to me half the time, but we know his intensity is manifested in his actions not in his face. Watts is clearly very competitive and very keen to do well, if he wasn't he'd run around lazily and do nothing, he'd be Sylvia circa 2006.

Edited March 27, 201114 yr by Jaded

Lots of smart tap ons, shepherds and blocks today. Thought he did his bit without being outstanding. Took a good contested mark.

Sometimes thinks too much. I wish he would play a bit more ion instinct.

He's still developing, as is the whole team. Talk of dropping him is crazy. He was solid, but had little impact on the game.

He's on the right track, and I expect we will see a breakout game from him this year where he slots 4 odd goals, and really impacts a game.

Seems our number 1 draft should have already won a coleman, brownlow and norm smith medal (without Melbourne making the GF) in his 18 games.

I can wait till he hits about 50 games before I really see if he will be a worthy number 1, seems most on here can't wait longer than round 1 to start writing players off.

No one is writing him off. We just want to see improvement.

It's not a matter of getting him up to 50 games. It's a matter of him improving.

No one is writing him off. We just want to see improvement.

It's not a matter of getting him up to 50 games. It's a matter of him improving.

And he will improve when the team improves and the ball comes into the forward half of the ground with some sort of accuracy as well.

And he will improve when the team improves and the ball comes into the forward half of the ground with some sort of accuracy as well.

Agreed. And he will also improve when he learns to be more physical.

Lots of smart tap ons, Sometimes thinks too much. I wish he would play a bit more ion instinct.

I agree with these 2 comments. The tap from the marking contest that set up the Bennelli running goal was terrific and showed great awareness. I also would love to see him play a little more instinctively, with a little more freedom (a bit like Jurrah). Funnily enough i reckon his desire to do the team thing and meet all the expectations constrains him a little. I just get the feeling if he can snag a couple early he could have a break out game which might release the shackles and set him on his way

Edited March 27, 201114 yr by binman

I agree with these 2 comments. The tap from the marking contest that set up the Bennelli running goal was terrific and showed great awareness. I also would love to see him play a little more instinctively, with a little more freedom (a bit like Jurrah). Funnily enough i reckon his desire to do the team thing and meet all the expectations constrains him a little. I just get the feeling if he can snag a couple early he could have a break out game which release the shackles and set him on his way

Absolutely Spot On....When he creates play in the first Quarter, he will click into gear. He is still a little rushed by the intensity of AFL, how good was Jamie Bennell's goal...!

The problem is not with Watts, but rather supporter expectations of Watts. On two points:

1 - That he would make an immediate impact.

2 - The style of player he is.

When he was drafted he was called a key forward, so everybody imagined that he was a Wayne Carey/Dermott Brereton/Jonathan Brown type player. He isn't. That's not his style. So when he doesn't come out barrel chested, shrug a tackle and commit a sexual assualt everyone screams how he doesn't "play like a man".

It is more of a reflection on the person making the comment than it is on Watts.

I also would love to see him play a little more instinctively, with a little more freedom (a bit like Jurrah). Funnily enough i reckon his desire to do the team thing and meet all the expectations constrains him a little. I just get the feeling if he can snag a couple early he could have a break out game which might release the shackles and set him on his way

I agree. There are times when he looks to pass off when he could possible have a crack at the goals, and then ends up rushing a kick and misses. Or he takes a mark in the fifty on a tight angle, looks to pass, hesitates, and then has a shot and misses. If he took it on himself to take the shot then he might nail a few more goals. Obviously he should look for a teammate in a better position but sometimes I feel he overdoes this and should back himself more often.

Edited March 27, 201114 yr by Ascobar