Assuming the return of Clark we have a forward line of Mitch, Dawes, Hogan, Fitz, Watts and Howe to choose from. You cant play all of them so thats either great insurance or a very strong hand at the trade table at end of year.

but as others have said, we could possibly play Fitzy on the wing with watts. Fitz has the speed and agillity required for the job, the only query would be his disposal but that is definitely improving

but as others have said, we could possibly play Fitzy on the wing with watts. Fitz has the speed and agillity required for the job, the only query would be his disposal but that is definitely improving

There has never been anything wrong with Fitzy's disposal, just one of the 'experts' on here saying there was and the sycophants joining in

Watts rucking is part of Watts' development

Please elaborate, with verbatim quotes preferably (don't paraphrase, I want the opportunity to derive my own interpretation). I very much doubt it is the club's intention to turn Watts in to a ruckman; it seemed to me to be an on-the-fly tactic borne out of necessity, and that's absolutely fine with me.

Please elaborate, with verbatim quotes preferably (don't paraphrase, I want the opportunity to derive my own interpretation). I very much doubt it is the club's intention to turn Watts in to a ruckman; it seemed to me to be an on-the-fly tactic borne out of necessity, and that's absolutely fine with me.

Sorry you are wrong, Watts popped up in the ruck against Bulldogs, Sydney and Geelong, does a bit of work at training as well, seen it myself, think he and the Club want to keep him 'involved' in games, he will be a handy backup, taking a morning off again for training this week again , want me to ask him?

Edited July 21, 201311 yr by Satyriconhome

There has never been anything wrong with Fitzy's disposal, just one of the 'experts' on here saying there was and the sycophants joining in

Haha are you serious? His kicking action is very poor and he uses his speed to get him out of trouble in field kicking and then can either make a safe field kick or a long down the line kick. He's not good but he's above the level of Spencer or Ro Bail.

As for his goal kicking he has a bad action again but he also has made some clever changes. He has a routine and kicks in a straight line. That gives him a chance. But he also has a bad 2 handed high ball drop which means if he's having an off day or it's particularly windy he won't be so effective. A bit like Riewoldt in that the ball drop will never be good so he'll have days when it doesn't work although I think at this stage he's got a good rhythm on his set shots which comes from confidence at VFL.

His kicking is ugly but it is effective and the promising thing is he's made a heap of ground since he started.

There has never been anything wrong with Fitzy's disposal, just one of the 'experts' on here saying there was and the sycophants joining in

It's universally accepted that Fitz's foot skills were not good when he arrived at th club. His kicking action was very awkward. He has improved this erea. Saty, the defend the club at all costs attitude is getting boring.

Edited July 21, 201311 yr by Demonsterative

It's universally accepted that Fitz's foot skills were not good when he arrived at th club. His kicking action was very awkward. He has improved this erea. Saty, the defend the club at all costs attitude is getting boring.

It is not universally accepted, I don't accept it for a start, you have a couple of the 'noisier' posters who pronounce on a player and it becomes accepted, how come if his action is so wrong, when he played at Casey he was a regular goal kicker and in the assists?

Please elaborate, with verbatim quotes preferably (don't paraphrase, I want the opportunity to derive my own interpretation). I very much doubt it is the club's intention to turn Watts in to a ruckman; it seemed to me to be an on-the-fly tactic borne out of necessity, and that's absolutely fine with me.

Sorry you are wrong, Watts popped up in the ruck against Bulldogs, Sydney and Geelong, does a bit of work at training as well, seen it myself, think he and the Club want to keep him 'involved' in games, he will be a handy backup

I believe the answer lies somewhere between the two. It's not completely due to necessity but it's not a long term plan either. I didn't see him ruck against Bulldogs but maybe he did. He's certainly done it at training and in the last 3 matches. I think the motivation behind it is:

1. Gawn can't ruck much more than 60% and they don't want to overly tire Fitzy either

2. Get Watts involved in the play more where he can use his disposal and run - he set up Fitzy's last goal brilliantly

3. Similar to point 2 it develops Watts' allround nature of his game with time at clearances and defensively

4. Fitzy's ruck skills aren't superb as a back up yet

AND 5. I think Fitzy was certainly limited by his knee last night so they protected him so Watts got a longer than planned spell in the ruck

I don't see the ruck ever being a consistent part of Watt's game especially if Clark comes back and Fitzy continues to develop but it remains an option with injuries. I do see it as a clever tactic from Craig to try and develop the all round nature of Watts' game. He's still up there with the likes of Toumpas in terms of deficiencies is young Jacky Watts. But his offensive side is starting to get to a more consistent level. It's much easier to iron out his flaws such as how to defend body on body when you are out of a marking contest, how to bring the ball to ground, how to tackle or win a contested ball when you are in the heat of the contest compared to playing forward pocket.

Edited July 21, 201311 yr by the master

It is not universally accepted, I don't accept it for a start, you have a couple of the 'noisier' posters who pronounce on a player and it becomes accepted, how come if his action is so wrong, when he played at Casey he was a regular goal kicker and in the assists?

UNIVESALLY ACCEPTED minus you. Why do you think he lasted to a late pick if he was a perfect kick at 200cm with speed.

Watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB52yOScT1U

Complete shanks at 16, 20 and 43 seconds and then 1 drop punt that results in a turnover.

He was in the best at Casey due to his speed, work rate, desire to win the ball and the fact that his kicking has steadily improved.

It is not universally accepted, I don't accept it for a start, you have a couple of the 'noisier' posters who pronounce on a player and it becomes accepted, how come if his action is so wrong, when he played at Casey he was a regular goal kicker and in the assists?

Noisier posters. Yet you are one

I've noticed Watts rucking the past few weeks.

I imagine its a temporary measure, but the end desired effect is actually to toughen Watts up in the air, and I think it is working.

He seems more comfortable with contact to me.

Re: Fitzy's kicking, satyriconhome, you gotta be joking.

He has improved but it is still poor, especially field kicking.

Playing him on a wing where he is expected to deliver the ball neatly to his teammates would be foolhardy.

I expect teams like Carlton and the Dogs to have a crack at enticing Fitzy away from us, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I think he is close to reaching peak value.

I'd like to bring across Daniel Cross if possible.

A continued injury run for Clark may put this in jeopardy, but I expect him to make a full recovery.

Assuming the return of Clark we have a forward line of Mitch, Dawes, Hogan, Fitz, Watts and Howe to choose from. You cant play all of them so thats either great insurance or a very strong hand at the trade table at end of year.

..... to me its more likely next year. after we see the real impact of clarks injury.

& how fitz looks, with another pre season.

... add also next year Spencer/Gawn to the options

IMO we have to resign > Gawn, Fitzpatrick, Watts, Davis this year.

but as others have said, we could possibly play Fitzy on the wing with watts. Fitz has the speed and agillity required for the job, the only query would be his disposal but that is definitely improving

Or we could trade for an actual wingman.

I've noticed Watts rucking the past few weeks.

I imagine its a temporary measure, but the end desired effect is actually to toughen Watts up in the air, and I think it is working.

He seems more comfortable with contact to me.

Re: Fitzy's kicking, satyriconhome, you gotta be joking.

He has improved but it is still poor, especially field kicking.

Playing him on a wing where he is expected to deliver the ball neatly to his teammates would be foolhardy.

I expect teams like Carlton and the Dogs to have a crack at enticing Fitzy away from us, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I think he is close to reaching peak value.

I'd like to bring across Daniel Cross if possible.

A continued injury run for Clark may put this in jeopardy, but I expect him to make a full recovery.

Well that just sums up your footy judgement, swap Fitzy for Daniel Cross a veteran who can't even get a game with the Dogs, that is why I find some of the posters who think they know footy on here so amusing........

I've noticed Watts rucking the past few weeks.

I imagine its a temporary measure, but the end desired effect is actually to toughen Watts up in the air, and I think it is working.

He seems more comfortable with contact to me.

Re: Fitzy's kicking, satyriconhome, you gotta be joking.

He has improved but it is still poor, especially field kicking.

Playing him on a wing where he is expected to deliver the ball neatly to his teammates would be foolhardy.

I expect teams like Carlton and the Dogs to have a crack at enticing Fitzy away from us, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I think he is close to reaching peak value.

I'd like to bring across Daniel Cross if possible.

A continued injury run for Clark may put this in jeopardy, but I expect him to make a full recovery.

So you want a swap with Daniel cross...???!!

Cross will be a DFA. If we want him he'll cost nothing. I certainly wouldn't trade Fitzpatrick for him.

Watts rucking is part of Watts' development, Fitzy's knee is fine, watch the speed he uses to clear away from the defender to mark for his 4th, he also made no mention of it in post game interview

He was very ginger on it, he didn't attack the ball with nearly as much vigour after he hurt it.

Sorry I'm still not understanding why we would want to trade fitz, seeing as he keeps getting better and better which each game

So we let another club benefit from this continual improvement?

Now I know I'm not a smart man but can someone please explain in a logical fashion?

And I know we need midfielders. Should be a few around with pick 1 in the draft, second round pick and free agency.

I've noticed Watts rucking the past few weeks.

I imagine its a temporary measure, but the end desired effect is actually to toughen Watts up in the air, and I think it is working.

He seems more comfortable with contact to me.

Re: Fitzy's kicking, satyriconhome, you gotta be joking.

He has improved but it is still poor, especially field kicking.

Playing him on a wing where he is expected to deliver the ball neatly to his teammates would be foolhardy.

I expect teams like Carlton and the Dogs to have a crack at enticing Fitzy away from us, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

I think he is close to reaching peak value.

I'd like to bring across Daniel Cross if possible.

A continued injury run for Clark may put this in jeopardy, but I expect him to make a full recovery.

Find me a better 2m tall field kick than Fitzy.

You'd take Daniel [censored] Cross for him? Are you insane.

Doubting whether you actually watch our players.

Tippett, Mitch Clark, Mumford, Cox, Nic Nat, Mc Evoy, Vardy. I'm sure I could think of many more if I tried

Sorry I'm still not understanding why we would want to trade fitz, seeing as he keeps getting better and better which each game

So we let another club benefit from this continual improvement?

Now I know I'm not a smart man but can someone please explain in a logical fashion?

And I know we need midfielders. Should be a few around with pick 1 in the draft, second round pick and free agency.

We have a multitude of quality tall forward options and the worst midfield in the competition. There will be 4-5 teams willing to pay overs for a quality tall forward. If the right deal comes we would be mad not to take it. Not saying we should trade him but his form puts someone who no one would have shrugged if he was delisted 6 weeks ago to now having some serious interest.

There has never been anything wrong with Fitzy's disposal, just one of the 'experts' on here saying there was and the sycophants joining in

There's never been anything wrong with anything at the MFC for the last hundred years according to you.

Fitzy's kicking action is very suspect viewing it - he has a very high ball drop which looks pretty ungainly, but it seems to work for him, at least with his set shots.

In the past Fitzy would shank a few kicks.

he is going well - one of the bright spots in a dismal season - and people are talking about swapping him of. Typical demonland negativity.

Seems to be quite a few posters with comprehension issues in this thread.

I never said I'd trade Fitzpatrick straight up for Cross.

I just think he'd be a valuable addition to our club if we were to trade with the dogs, so I'd like to see him included.

I've no knowledge of his FA status.