THE JACK WATTS DOSSIER

good article by barry prendergast on why watts was drafted looks like he will be doing these articles on all our draftees since he took over

Good article. I'm especially interested in the comment on his workrate and the detrimental effect it is having on his burst speed. Perhaps he needs a little more selfishness and to hang out in the forward half a bit more?

All in all it basically says what a lot of people on here have been saying. He's a work in progress but he's doing fine and he'll be worth the wait.

He started forward, but with Sandringham five goals down, he went into the centre bounce at the start of the second quarter. He won clearances, kicked a goal and dragged Sandy back level with Geelong inside 15 minutes. At that point, Geelong put a guy on him by the name of Jordie McKenzie to quell his influence, which is obviously another story.

i liked this bit i miss jordie he must have impressed prendegast that day

Nice article. I have faith that Watts will become a star. Watch him in the 5th season and he'll be ready to take the competition by storm.

One thing I'm curious about... it is very clear from the article that Predergast had a very clear top 3 of Watts, Naitanui and Rich. He didn't seem to be considering at all any other players for number 1.

Yet in my opinion, the best 2 from the draft so far are very clearly Stephen Hill (pick 3) and Michael Hurley (pick 7). It's not like nobody knew about these 2, they were upper echelon picks, in fact Hill was taken above Rich in the draft. Why wasn't Prendergast able to see the huge upside in Stephen Hill? Couldn't he see that Hurley would become a star?

Either of those 2 players would have been worthy number 1 pick, yet it seems they weren't even seriously considered.

Yet in my opinion, the best 2 from the draft so far are very clearly Stephen Hill (pick 3) and Michael Hurley (pick 7). It's not like nobody knew about these 2, they were upper echelon picks, in fact Hill was taken above Rich in the draft. Why wasn't Prendergast able to see the huge upside in Stephen Hill? Couldn't he see that Hurley would become a star?

Either of those 2 players would have been worthy number 1 pick, yet it seems they weren't even seriously considered.

I agree with Stephen Hill, i think he is a star and would do very nicely in any team. Firstly at the time Hurley was only really regarded as a defender, who had potential as a forward. At the time we had Warnock with young Frawley and Garland looking good. So Watts was more of a sure thing upfront. Plus Hurley has not impressed as much since his debut season

Good question Sylv - who knows. However BP did say here he placed high value on interviews. There has also been plenty of previous talk about non football specific criteria.

Good initiative by the club to publish a piece like this (assuming that he is being close to 100% honest in the article) and I look forward to hearing about the rest of the draftees

I do believe that he can come on in leaps and bounds just like Jack Riewoldt and our own James Frawley as long as he puts in the hard yards and is as competitive as he was seen to be.

Nice article. I have faith that Watts will become a star. Watch him in the 5th season and he'll be ready to take the competition by storm.

One thing I'm curious about... it is very clear from the article that Predergast had a very clear top 3 of Watts, Naitanui and Rich. He didn't seem to be considering at all any other players for number 1.

Yet in my opinion, the best 2 from the draft so far are very clearly Stephen Hill (pick 3) and Michael Hurley (pick 7). It's not like nobody knew about these 2, they were upper echelon picks, in fact Hill was taken above Rich in the draft. Why wasn't Prendergast able to see the huge upside in Stephen Hill? Couldn't he see that Hurley would become a star?

Either of those 2 players would have been worthy number 1 pick, yet it seems they weren't even seriously considered.

Thats not quite what he said. He just mentioned they where the obvious boys at that time of the season to veiw.

Stephen Hill was a surprise to go so high for most recruiters; while he had the physical tools, there were serious queries over his ability to find the footy.

He was only averaging around 15 possies against kids -- how was he going to get more of it against men??

History shows he has found a way.

Hurley came into the AFL much more physically mature, but without the elite athleticism or skills of a guy like Watts.

Also, character-wise there has to be some question marks after he bashed a cabbie.

Personally, I don't think he's half as good as his hype.

He'll get better, but I'm not sure of his scope to progress.

I see him as being like a Luke McPharlin, which is nothing to be ashamed of, but we were looking for a Riewoldt.

Hurley has 31 games averaging 15.5 possession per game and 0.8 goals per game.

Watts has 20 games averaging 12.2 possessions per game and 0.7 goals per game.

Watts turned 20 eight days ago. Hurley turned 20 ten months ago.

I'm not sure that there's anything more conclusive in those stats than that they are both very early into their careers, but it's still interesting.

Hurley has 31 games averaging 15.5 possession per game and 0.8 goals per game.

Watts has 20 games averaging 12.2 possessions per game and 0.7 goals per game.

Watts turned 20 eight days ago. Hurley turned 20 ten months ago.

I'm not sure that there's anything more conclusive in those stats than that they are both very early into their careers, but it's still interesting.

I am a believer in Watts BIG TIME.

But you can't seriously think hat Watts performances to date have anything close to Hurley.

Have you seen the presence Hurley has in games. When he's near the ball he impacts on matches. His fierce attack on the ball and willingness the crunch contests at such a young age is great. Watts has not influences a match like Hurley has to date.

No doubt the time will come where Watts will regularly influence matches. so far he has yet to influence even one game significantly.

I saw a little of what Watts will be like in the preseason game against Adelaide. it was the first time i saw a but of mungral in him. No doubt this will improve. But please hurry up

Good initiative by the club to publish a piece like this (assuming that he is being close to 100% honest in the article) and I look forward to hearing about the rest of the draftees

I do believe that he can come on in leaps and bounds just like Jack Riewoldt and our own James Frawley as long as he puts in the hard yards and is as competitive as he was seen to be.

I think the case of Jack Riewoldt is really illustrative here.....3 years ago, and I dislike Richmond a lot, he was being bagged from bench to goalsquare by Richmond supporters. He was rubbish, why did they draft him? Was it because of his name? etc...etc...I thought they were remarkably impatient, and to me, he showed glimpses of the fact that he was going to be a gun. In equal measures through physical maturity, familiarity (games), and psychology (competitive confidence), he has grown. He's a gun. I have precisely the same feeling watching Jack Watts.

It is a great initiative by the club to put this out there and give the supporters an understanding of where exactly things are at.

it also re-inforces the point that this kid works much harder than many give him credit for in games.

Here's looking forward to a few birdies to come this year!!!

what would be fantastic is if he actually played one good game

He started forward, but with Sandringham five goals down, he went into the centre bounce at the start of the second quarter. He won clearances, kicked a goal and dragged Sandy back level with Geelong inside 15 minutes. At that point, Geelong put a guy on him by the name of Jordie McKenzie to quell his influence, which is obviously another story.

i liked this bit i miss jordie he must have impressed prendegast that day

Ah. New plan. Draft every player capable of beating Jack Watts. With all of them on the same team, Jacquie might actually perform well, since he has no competition. I kid! I kid!

He started forward, but with Sandringham five goals down, he went into the centre bounce at the start of the second quarter. He won clearances, kicked a goal and dragged Sandy back level with Geelong inside 15 minutes. At that point, Geelong put a guy on him by the name of Jordie McKenzie to quell his influence, which is obviously another story.

i liked this bit i miss jordie he must have impressed prendegast that day

I dont study the stats like I did last year but with Junior and Jordie both in the 5 to 10 tackles per game and with them missing I wonder if that doesnt explain some of our lack lustre form?

i thought it was quite a glib article. I think the articles on the higher picks will be more interesting to be honest, becasue we basically know the stories behind our top picks anyway.

As for the draft i dont think we've done badly by taking Watts, we needed a young forward and he was arguably the best available. Rich is a gun, but no more than most other top 10 midfielders, and Nic Nat is one of those players who i think will still have a novelty factor after 5 seasons. Steven Hill is probably showing the most upside of all of them at the moment, but as we allready have Davey i dont think he would have been given the same role in our side as where he plays for freo?

I dont study the stats like I did last year but with Junior and Jordie both in the 5 to 10 tackles per game and with them missing I wonder if that doesnt explain some of our lack lustre form?

It has certainly impacted on our ability to lay tackles, it would seem. There is a lot of rose-tinted opinion of Jordie McKenzie on here though. He was a breakout player last year, no question, and as much as anyone I thought his toughness in the middle was a revelation, but almost entirely through his tackling. If you look at the FD comments about Jordie however, you will see, as I also believe, that he needs to develop the other aspects of his game. He is limited, and all of us would love to see him progress, but I won't be holding my breath. I have much less doubt though that the other young midfielders will develop their tackling with their physicality. Young bodies (Jordie excepted)just aren't as able to make tackles stick, or have as much confidence in doing so.

I think the case of Jack Riewoldt is really illustrative here.....3 years ago, and I dislike Richmond a lot, he was being bagged from bench to goalsquare by Richmond supporters. He was rubbish, why did they draft him? Was it because of his name? etc...etc...I thought they were remarkably impatient, and to me, he showed glimpses of the fact that he was going to be a gun. In equal measures through physical maturity, familiarity (games), and psychology (competitive confidence), he has grown. He's a gun. I have precisely the same feeling watching Jack Watts.

You're not wrong.

I was having an email discussion with a richmond supporting mate just before the start of the 2010 preseason, and I said to him that if Jack Riewoldt could learn to kick straight, he might win the Coleman.

He told me Jack was rubbish and proceeded to pick through every deficiency in his game.

3 months later he dug the email up and was lauding me as a genius (I really pinched the idea after someone else pointed it out to me).

At the time it struck me as being demonstrative of the absurdly high expectations supporters place on the high picks they pin their hopes to.

This year will mark the coming of Jack Watts. I think that pack mark against Hawthorn made a few people sit up and notice what Jack is capable of.

The Rich/Natanui/Watts debate will rage on for years. Regardless of which camp you are in, you have to be pleased with the player we are about to see develop into a key part of our forwardline.

Forget the hype. Jack is a player, enjoy watching him grow.

what would be fantastic is if he actually played one good game

Obviously the 27 touches last year didn't count.

It has certainly impacted on our ability to lay tackles, it would seem. There is a lot of rose-tinted opinion of Jordie McKenzie on here though. He was a breakout player last year, no question, and as much as anyone I thought his toughness in the middle was a revelation, but almost entirely through his tackling. If you look at the FD comments about Jordie however, you will see, as I also believe, that he needs to develop the other aspects of his game. He is limited, and all of us would love to see him progress, but I won't be holding my breath. I have much less doubt though that the other young midfielders will develop their tackling with their physicality. Young bodies (Jordie excepted)just aren't as able to make tackles stick, or have as much confidence in doing so.

You underestimate him, big time.

Question marks for me are his kicking, simply haven't seen him kick it enough to make a good or bad call, and his ability to accumulate possession. I'm not overly concerned about either.

To say he pretty much only tackles is way off.

I'll go as far as to say his hands in clearances are the best out of all the kids, even Scully. Maybe the best at the club.

Although he hasn't played that many games, he's done some exceptional clearance work in every game he's played. Beautiful hands in heavy traffic, taking hits and releasing our players. His smarts, body size and tenacity will see him go a long way.

Im frustrated he's not in their getting valuable learning time.

He'll always be underrated I think.

You underestimate him, big time.

Question marks for me are his kicking, simply haven't seen him kick it enough to make a good or bad call, and his ability to accumulate possession. I'm not overly concerned about either.

To say he pretty much only tackles is way off.

I'll go as far as to say his hands in clearances are the best out of all the kids, even Scully. Maybe the best at the club.

Although he hasn't played that many games, he's done some exceptional clearance work in every game he's played. Beautiful hands in heavy traffic, taking hits and releasing our players. His smarts, body size and tenacity will see him go a long way.

Im frustrated he's not in their getting valuable learning time.

He'll always be underrated I think.

He's from nearly every aspect - JMac II.

I think he will be better...

Saying something...

I particularly liked the analogy with golf in there because it showed the club is under no illusions of him doing great things, Par is just spot on of where he's at in my books as well. Hoping for a few birdies this year, but i fully expect there'll be some bogies as well.

The unfortunate thing with him is when he does great things most of the comments i hear are, "that's what where expecting of him", but when he makes a mistake boy it makes him looks very average!