Private school boy.

Of course not all private schools are public schools. Only those that are members of the APS. But it's not a good predictor of being soft. Chris Langford Cyril Rioli the Scott twins Luke Ball and Dan Hannebury all went to APS schools.

As did Brendon Goddard, Campbell Brown, Chris Judd, Jobe Watson, Ted Richards, Tom Hawkins and Xavier Ellis (who, somewhat ironically, didn't go to Xavier). I'm sure there's a very strong team to be made up entirely of public school boys.

There is some criticism about Mark Neeld's handling of Jack Watts (which may be warranted). But his lack of physical development under Dean Bailey has been part of the longer term problem.

It's probably safe to say that most of us are disappointed in Jack's apparent lack of intensity. I find it interesting that Craig has played him in the ruck at times in the last couple of weeks. Surely that's a deliberate strategy to harden him up.

I dont blame the guy. To be honest if we get a good midfielder, I wish him the best of luck and hope he becomes a champion (sad that it couldnt happen at Melbourne, but so what we f'd up)

Many of you have misunderstood Watts reasons. Watts was used as a scape goat and hung out to dry by Neeld. Neeld misunderstood how to get the best out of Watts. Quite frankly his treatment by Neeld was appalling. The way Neeld treated Watts makes me feel sick, it was disgusting. If I was Watts I would want to know that I did not have another coach who would regularly publically humiliate me. More importantly I would want to know that the coach woudl be someone who could devlop me and the team. Watts was rattled by Neeld. Watts has never had the on and off field support both mentaly and physically that a young number 1 draft pick requires. His development has been lacking due to our horrible culture, failure to maintain senior players and failure of the club to correctly protect a boy in a mans world. He is a significant asset that sadly we have trashed.

Watts will come good, he will become an outstanding player. If he leaves, it will be another arrow through the heart of the club..... don't sugar coat this. Another number 1 pick walking out on us could start a stampede and would further wound the mentality of our players. Watts manager has had interest from 13 clubs (I am personal friends with his direct manager and know Paul Connors as well). If he does leave we will get a very good player in return. The entire comp can see how poor Melbourne is at developing talent, the entire comp can see Watts silky skills, and his overall talent. He has a good charter, and all clubs would back themselves into making him into a star.

If he leaves I believe he is off to Carlton. MM has been his mentor and MM would make him into a champion. I get the impression that if we don't get Roo's he will walk.

Don't blame Watts, blame the club.

This thread is proof that any thread with the words "Jack" and "Watts" in it brings out the essential moron in far too many posters. This is one of the few posts that gets it right.

Let me spell it out. What has Watts actually said about his future with MFC? The only thing he's quoted as saying is "I want to stay." Ask him to his face, that's what he'll tell you. The "Watts will sign when the new coach is appointed" line was spoken not by him, but by Paul Connors.

The most likely interpretation of this is that Jack himself actually wants to stay. Connors, however, is fully aware of the prevailing opinion among the other clubs, which is that Jack is an outstanding talent who has been handled very badly by this club ever since he came here, that he'd only need to be handled with a modicum of competence to get a far better performance out of him. Has any other talented player been stuffed up so badly by his club? There must be a number of clubs who think that they could pick up a potential star for a bargain, so "13 clubs" doesn't surprise me.

It must be obvious to everybody that Watts has a far greater chance of becoming a star at another club than if he was to stay at MFC, however much he (Watts) wants to stay. I could put it another way and say that if Watts was a "whatever it takes" ego-driven sort of person, he would have left long ago.

There is certainly no guarantee that MFC can actually become a competent club over the next few years; so many things would have to be done right. So Connors is merely acting in the best interests of his client, by advising him to wait and see how things pan out, especially with such important appointments as the senior coach, the general manager of football, the others on the coaching panel, and the Board. What advice would you give if you were in Connors' position?

It's very likely that Watts would be happy with any of the four main contenders for coaching (including Craig), but whether we can persuade any of them to sign on the dotted line. Because that's by no means guaranteed either.

He is almost symbolic of how our rebuild's under Bailey and Neeld went, a whole lot of talk and promise but not alot of the old fashioned hard stuff that wins you tough games against the best opposition, not saying it's impossible for him to be a superstar, infact i think wattsy will be a class player for whoever he plays for next year, but i'm not sure he has the guts of a Brendan goddard which is what we need at this point, inspirational leaders like Nathan Jones leading the way and re-igniting the passion for the Mfc.

"It must be obvious to everybody that Watts has a far greater chance of becoming a star at another club than if he was to stay at MFC, however much he (Watts) wants to stay. I could put it another way and say that if Watts was a "whatever it takes" ego-driven sort of person, he would have left long ago."

It also must be obvious that Jack has had a hand in his own demise Frankly I dont care whether he goes or stays But what ever he must start to impact games and be the player all think he is or he will not be wanted by any club not just potential

Maybe the coaches would have handled him differently ig he simply had a go and contested and showed real desire to justify his number 1. Five years is long long time to wait

much is made here that its only Connor's murmurings . Has Jacky denied it ?

seems to me that young jack spends to much time waiting

....waiting for the ball

....waiting on coaching appointment

much is made here that its only Connor's murmurings . Has Jacky denied it ?

Connor's acts for his client. I'd hardly expect Watts to contradict in public the person he's engaged to get the best deal for him. If he did that, he may as well change to a new manager.

If you were a manager of a player that was trying to make his way in the AFL and establish himself as a gun player, would you recommend them to sign with MFC? the answer is imo absolutely not.

Jacks position is fair enough and well within his rights, if he left i'd be upset because that would be our last two pick 1's that have done very little in terms of helping the club re-build into a powerhouse.

doesn't stop anyone asking him.

Many fail to see that 2 facts can co-exist.

1. Jack Watts is simply not competitive enough and has avoided many contests since day 1 at Casey. He is a highly skilled tall that just does not play with the required intensity.

2. The development of Jack Watts has been handled appallingly.

Hey look, another B grade player holding us over a barrel at contract time. He has learnt well from Jamar and Davey.

Can't believe people think he is in our Top 5 players. He could be easily replaced.

Many fail to see that 2 facts can co-exist.

1. Jack Watts is simply not competitive enough and has avoided many contests since day 1 at Casey. He is a highly skilled tall that just does not play with the required intensity.

2. The development of Jack Watts has been handled appallingly.

I agree it started when we first played him probably a year in front of when we should have.

Another one of CS's great ideas I suspect.

I think some posters ignore the concept of "not getting sucked into contests" as it impedes our progress further afield if we do win the ball, and the concept of "backing your teammates in to win the footy."

These are things we need to get good at if we are to become a better side.

Right now, I see a lot of people lambasting Watts for not playing the "limiting the damage" type footy that has seen us to nowhere in 7 years.

I agree it started when we first played him probably a year in front of when we should have.

Another one of CS's great ideas I suspect.

He'd had a few kicks at Casey and we were a struggling side. It didn't hurt to play him. It hurt that when we did no team mates stood up for him or got him involved in the play. There was a genuine lets not give it to Watts feel in his early games.

But what really hurt was we never dropped him. Yes he's gone back to Casey a few times but even this year when he was playing poorly Neeld subbed him out of a game, refused to back him publicly but also refused to give him his chance at Casey to actually earn his spot back. So many mixed messages can't be good for anyone.

I look at Tom Hawkins who was under a tremendous weight from the public pressure. Geelong had at times sent him back to the reserves to work on his game and then got to the stage where they backed him. It was never up or down.

I think some posters ignore the concept of "not getting sucked into contests" as it impedes our progress further afield if we do win the ball, and the concept of "backing your teammates in to win the footy."

These are things we need to get good at if we are to become a better side.

Right now, I see a lot of people lambasting Watts for not playing the "limiting the damage" type footy that has seen us to nowhere in 7 years.

When the balls in the air and your 6'4 it's your contest. When the ball comes out to the back flank and you are at CHF it's your contest to be the next marking target. Too many times on Saturday I saw Watts easily out marked and led to the football.

I understand the seagulls on the chip theory and the benefit of waiting on the outside but I don't judge Watts for that.

Some do.

Anyway, he wears his fair share of the blame, as do all his teammates.

Some do.

Anyway, he wears his fair share of the blame, as do all his teammates.

If I was proportioning blame Watts would be a long way from the top.

The kid has ability, skills and IMO at the very least is of AFL standard.

That does not apply to about twenty of his team mates.

Edited August 1, 201311 yr by old dee

Nice player with good skills & not much grunt. I certainly won't lose any sleep if he moves on.

Has any other talented player been stuffed up so badly by his club?

Liam Jurrah.

Yes yes yes, Jurrah did dumb stuff - but not until after his club had been well and truly stuffing him up. You can't justify connecting those dots, fair enough; but in answer to Akum's question, Liam Jurrah. The Liam Jurrah that our club stuffed up was a man who had won all sorts of honours, and there was absolutely no criticism could be levelled against him as a person at that time. So - sure, MFC stuffed up Watts. It was far from the first time we'd done anything so stupid.

The arrogant and self-important try-hards that stuffed up the club when they shafted Norm Smith have genuflected round the corridors of the Northern Stand for decades. Chat rooms too. We're more important than the players - that's their calling card. They trash players, it's what they do, to demonstrate their real grasp of a footy club. watts was sacrificed to somebody's loony idea of marketing. Jurrah was sacrificed to some loony's idea of anti-flair as a style of play. Magner starred in the middle so we put him on the forward line - ok, he's not in that class of talent, but he was playing pretty good Nathan Jones style footy. Trengove used to be considered pretty handy...

Edited August 1, 201311 yr by robbiefrom13

Liam Jurrah.

Yes yes yes, Jurrah did dumb stuff - but not until after his club had been well and truly stuffing him up. You can't justify connecting those dots, fair enough; but in answer to Akum's question, Liam Jurrah. The Liam Jurrah that our club stuffed up was a man who had won all sorts of honours, and there was absolutely no criticism could be levelled against him as a person at that time. So - sure, MFC stuffed up Watts. It was far from the first time we'd done anything so stupid.

The arrogant and self-important try-hards that stuffed up the club when they shafted Norm Smith have genuflected round the corridors of the Northern Stand for decades. Chat rooms too. We're more important than the players - that's their calling card. They trash players, it's what they do, to demonstrate their real grasp of a footy club.

Liam Jurrah stuffed himself up. The fact that we couldn't stop it doesn't make us to blame.

Great post, I feel similar as a supporter and I'm backing away from this club for a while, iv been in the mud long enough, I will continually financialy support the club with our family membership ever season but time step back and put time into other things instead of worrying about my beloved Demons, this club needs to improve dramatically and personally it could be another 5 years away, if my boy wants me to take him to a game I will but as for sitting down and watching it on TV every week and being in a [censored] mood for the following 12 hrs I'm done with it, anyway go demons and hopefully 2014 is something to cheer about.

mjt, hang in there.

I reckon big Mitch will put a smile on your face next year!

"It must be obvious to everybody that Watts has a far greater chance of becoming a star at another club than if he was to stay at MFC, however much he (Watts) wants to stay. I could put it another way and say that if Watts was a "whatever it takes" ego-driven sort of person, he would have left long ago."

It also must be obvious that Jack has had a hand in his own demise Frankly I dont care whether he goes or stays But what ever he must start to impact games and be the player all think he is or he will not be wanted by any club not just potential

Maybe the coaches would have handled him differently ig he simply had a go and contested and showed real desire to justify his number 1. Five years is long long time to wait

I agree it started when we first played him probably a year in front of when we should have.

Another one of CS's great ideas I suspect.

It will all be decided soon, more than likely he will move on, probably with a heavy heart and less money. I think he has to move on. You can all say great but I think he is a kid that has been treated pretty badly by MFC. And no doubt if he goes a lot on demo land will say he was disloyal but whenever has he seen the club be loyal to its players. Never! Football is not a game for the feint hearted.

He was burned by the last coach, badly.

Probably wants to hear what the next one has to say and expects of him.

Cannot blame him.

and also ME I confess!

Me three..... Reckon there are quite a few Demonlanders from the APS system, certainly the old breeding ground of demon followers, what's worse is I do drive a land rover (with a stereotypical liitle square demon jumper sticker!) and love skiing......