Turn down the sound and just watch the game. Miss out on ads and all the crap commentary. Most commercial commentators only state the obvious and look for an opportunity to plug a product. Having said some are good. The Guy found dead in his Apartment was fantastic and most ABC Commentators. SEN are shockers same as all commercial radio stations. They are only beating the drum of Carlton and United this and Sportsbet that. Treat us like Canon Fodder. The MUTE button is very worn on my remote:)

Mick's comments about Watts were very close to the bone and contentious at the same time-maybe to close for some. Watts has got promise no doubt about it but he does hang back a little. I think that will change. He was terrific v Tigers last year. The first game

Clinton Grybas is his name.

^{Watch the last}

^{and get excited about what's ahead}

You can all slag MM off as much as you like, but as far as I am concerned, the bloke is 100% spot-on. Watts is your typical private school APS footballer. Had it all come very easy when he was young and now he has to mix it with men he is not up to the task. I played football in the APS myself and can tell you that you were lucky not to be sent off for a sound hip and shoulder. I will come out and say it, the bloke is SCARED! You can see it when he plays. He does not5 have the killer instinct to pounce on the loose footy. I am sorry to say, but we have picked a guy who will take another 3 years before he is up to the grade. Why? Becayuse until Jack has the body shape of a Reiwoldt or even a Matty Richardson (who he reminds me of at times) he will have no confidence to mix it against bigger bodies. We can bang on about his age, but as MM points out, blokes like Hurley and Darling are of similar age and dont have the same problems. Sorry to be the light ice in the esky fellas, but we need to accept the reality.

Importantly, I want players that can stand up in finals. Finals footy is so far removed from H&A it's not funny. The tempo goes up 5 notches. Right now Watts would be badly exposed in a final and so would other talented players on our list.

Or conversely, they could stand up and rise to the occasion of finals football. Brent Crosswell only awoke from his slumber for a finals game.Or Clark Keating whose idea of preseason was the last three games of every home and away season before going on and tearing apart the finals. (And Steven Milne being the opposite - a small game bullyand big game dud)

I think we can only comment on what we do know - not on what we dont.

Or conversely, they could stand up and rise to the occasion of finals football. Brent Crosswell only awoke from his slumber for a finals game.Or Clark Keating whose idea of preseason was the last three games of every home and away season before going on and tearing apart the finals. (And Steven Milne being the opposite - a small game bullyand big game dud)

I think we can only comment on what we do know - not on what we dont.

Sorry pal, but if you're averse to physical contact in the H&A you're not suddenly going to embrace 5 times the heat of a final.

^{Watch the last}

^{and get excited about what's ahead}

Please do not use any proof with your argument.

It is better if we make statements such as

Jack needs to

• attack it way harder
  
• have an impact
  
• have urgency to get involved
  
• impart some physicality
  
• attack the contest.
  
• be less timid
  
• get aggro
  
• crash packs
  
• impose himself
  
• step up
  
• show some desire
  
• show some guts
  
• show some intensity
  
• get committed
  
• find the hunger
  
• have some ambition
  
• have more drive
  
• push harder
  

It doesn’t matter if all the stats show he is taking contested marks, getting more possessions laying more tackles and kicking goals at the same rate as some of the best in league at his age.... no tangible evidence allowed!!

The guy is an absolute looney; what the hell is he talking about? Far far worse than the Martian man, who at least has the excuse of senility.

He's a bloody genius.

He knows exactly how to draw the focus from his players and their performance, onto himself as a "sacrificial anode".

But this is the point. We're not even in the third year yet. It's PRE-SEASON, FGS.

Little else to talk about, and Malthouse is marking out his territory as a commentator. On Sportsnewsfirst, no less - how the mighty have fallen! No longer coach of the biggest team, he's desperate to stay relevant. Jack is an easy target, so in go the boots.

As others have tried to point out, it's all so out of proportion to what's actually happened.

Thank bloody god someone is in my corner and understands what I have been trying to say.

He's a bloody genius. He knows exactly how to draw the focus from his players and their performance, onto himself as a "sacrificial anode".

Err... They're not his players anymore.

reading the article, MM is right. You need more than talent, your need the drive to push harder. He didn't say cloke was better, but he worked harder on the track and harder on the field. People have have said similar things and they are true. Personally Bailey and co. were too soft on what they wanted the players to do. Already we have seen a change in the team attitude and I think we have the staff to develop watts into a great player if he wants it.

How in god's name do we know how hard Watts age 20 is working at training compared to Cloke at age 20? It is very easy now to say Cloke works hard and so does Judd,Ablett and co. I would Imagine one good pre season doesn't turn you into a Wayne Carey (On field only) It takes a a long time. Let's give some credit where it is due.

Err... They're not his players anymore.

They were when he said that (the bread comment).

Suitably bizarre to draw all focus onto his state of mind.

Malthouse is alright. I wish we got him. People hate him because he knows his stuff, and he's as arrogant as anything.

He passes constructive criticism, and is now a football commentator. He expects more out of Watts, hence the rhetoric. If he didn't think anything of him, he wouldn't say anything. It's endearing more than anything.

And the end of the day, all of the commentary is the same and always has been: Watts is super talented and he knows it, and it (might) get to his head.

Malthouse is going on what Sandringham told him, and that must have been that he was cocky, not fully aware of the effort needed to go the extra step.

It's more commentary on Melbourne than anything. As if to say, "Collingwood doesn't pick good players that don't work hard".

He is not wrong atm. Watts is young, but he is going on attitude.

Sometimes some of you on here need to step back and look and stuff like this as a non-Melbourne supporter. It puts things into perspective, allows you to better understand people's behaviour.

Edited March 8, 201213 yr by Cudi_420

Yeah, SHUT UP MICK....

They were when he said that (the bread comment).

Suitably bizarre to draw all focus onto his state of mind.

Oops. My bad, didn't get where you were coming from.

That looks like its dubbed... Is that ridgey didge that he said that?

But this is the point. We're not even in the third year yet. It's PRE-SEASON, FGS.

Little else to talk about, and Malthouse is marking out his territory as a commentator. On Sportsnewsfirst, no less - how the mighty have fallen! No longer coach of the biggest team, he's desperate to stay relevant. Jack is an easy target, so in go the boots.

As others have tried to point out, it's all so out of proportion to what's actually happened.

If your point is Watts is good then I agree. Don't expect too much from him yet and don't listen to negative commentators, i.e. Mathews and Malthouse. If Watts stays injury free he'll be brown low material in 3 years.

How in god's name do we know how hard Watts age 20 is working at training compared to Cloke at age 20? It is very easy now to say Cloke works hard and so does Judd,Ablett and co. I would Imagine one good pre season doesn't turn you into a Wayne Carey (On field only) It takes a a long time. Let's give some credit where it is due.

From memory the leadership group at Geelong had to take Gary aside and talk to him about his work ethic, seems he listened. Watts will be a player, as the coach says he is coming from a fair way back (APS) and has only 40 games under the belt. Maybe Mick is doing his mate Mark a favour and providing an extra bit of needle. One post said he was "scared", that reminds me of the day Greg Healy played with a fractured cheek bone and one of our supporters called him weak and gutless. No one running around in AFL football is scared, they may not all be Jonathan Browns but it takes courage to take the field.

Oops. My bad, didn't get where you were coming from.

That looks like its dubbed... Is that ridgey didge that he said that?

In 2011 season, iirc.

Mick is 100 % correct in what he says.

Sorry pal, but if you're averse to physical contact in the H&A you're not suddenly going to embrace 5 times the heat of a final.

First of all, I refute that he is averse to physical contact but that aside - following on from your comment above I would have to assume that you dont believe in "great finals footballers" -footballers who take it to a different level at finals ?

Because history is littered with footballers who reached unknown heights during finals.

I agree that Jack needs to continue his good development from last year and raise the bar further. I also agree that he hasnt been particularly good in the two NAB hit outs.

But I am no going extrapolate on the back of two NAB games that he won't be a finals footballer.

Mick is 100 % correct in what he says.

What you mean to say is the your perception is identical to what Malthouse has said.

A topic Neeld has already broached, is the ability of an opposition coach to assess a player from the outside.

Very little time is spent watching the player, and any opinions formed are from snapshots.

So, whether Malthouse's opinion is correct or not, it is based on limited snapshots, and an outside view during a couple of preseason matches, and thus should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Please do not use any proof with your argument.

It is better if we make statements such as

Jack needs to

• attack it way harder
  
• have an impact
  
• have urgency to get involved
  
• impart some physicality
  
• attack the contest.
  
• be less timid
  
• get aggro
  
• crash packs
  
• impose himself
  
• step up
  
• show some desire
  
• show some guts
  
• show some intensity
  
• get committed
  
• find the hunger
  
• have some ambition
  
• have more drive
  
• push harder
  

It doesn’t matter if all the stats show he is taking contested marks, getting more possessions laying more tackles and kicking goals at the same rate as some of the best in league at his age.... no tangible evidence allowed!!

Add in hates to lose

Interesting that Mick says he would of never recruited Jack but convieniently leaves out his dud No1 pick in Josh Fraser. Yep even Mick makes mistakes, not saying we have though.

Interesting that Mick says he would of never recruited Jack but convieniently leaves out his dud No1 pick in Josh Fraser. Yep even Mick makes mistakes, not saying we have though.

Funny you should mention Fraser.

He was one of those dominate kids in the TAC.

I remember going early one game in his last year of TAC footy and he was playing for Metro vs Country I think and everyone stood up and took notice of this bloke who was plucking pack marks and monstering his fellow teens.

It didn't work out for him, and it shows you that some kids just beat up other kids and then fall straight back to earth when they become men.

We will see what Watts becomes.

Sellar?

Will someone please change the title of this thread to...

"Just another Jack Watts thread"