Post match discussion - Round 20

[Wiseblood 24,636]

At what point is it okay to talk about how totally unprofessional Jack Watts' attitude is?

When the discussion of wishing physical violence on our players has past.

The bloke wasn't even that bad today, but don't let that deter you.

[Deemotivated 550]

Give Watts a break, he is running all over the place trying to give leads and get into the game, only 6 players had more possessions than him, only 6 players had more contested possessions than him. Top for delivery efficiency. What does he have to do before people give him a break.

Keep his feet, run flat out to every contest, smash into packs, tackle like a crazy man, not panic and handball to a team mate under more pressure than himself... I'm sure there is more.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,580]

Give Watts a break, he is running all over the place trying to give leads and get into the game, only 6 players had more possessions than him, only 6 players had more contested possessions than him. Top for delivery efficiency. What does he have to do before people give him a break.

No, I wont give him a break any longer. Yes he does what you say but ... he will never win a hardball, he will rarely tackle with aggression, he will not inspire, he will not turn a game. He is a receiver. We need blokes who can take the game by the scruff of the neck. His ability is terrific but it is wasted.

[Deemotivated 550]

No, I wont give him a break any longer. Yes he does what you say but ... he will never win a hardball, he will rarely tackle with aggression, he will not inspire, he will not turn a game. He is a receiver. We need blokes who can take the game by the scruff of the neck. His ability is terrific but it is wasted.

Amen

[Dockett 32 1,213]

Three maybe four more keepers today. Barry, Gawn and Michie. Riley will be ok too.

[CityDee 738]

Great to see Tyson use the right foot without a second thought .

[Yossarian 1,808]

I didn't get to watch it cause I'm overseas again but it seems like the highlight is that we didn't get pantsed by heaps. Dunno what people expect agasinst Hawthorn. We're rubbish, but there's something to work with going into next season. I feel ok about it.

[What 18,810]

Three maybe four more keepers today. Barry, Gawn and Michie. Riley will be ok too.

the changes were great this week

Blease, Tapscott and McKenzie all gave us nothing and will be delisted

Barry, Gawn an Michie all show a lot of promise and did well today

[Deemotivated 550]

Bernie Vince zero tackles...

[Chook 14,702]

Go right ahead and talk about him, but posting a picture of him smiling with Shiels after a game as they have a chat, which most players do, only brings the Watts bashers out of the woodwork to spend there time going on and on about the usual and clogging up the thread.

If you have it in you to smile after a performance like that, then you deserve a bashing.

When the discussion of wishing physical violence on our players has past.

The bloke wasn't even that bad today, but don't let that deter you.

I was just using the word you used. He was atrocious today, but that's not even the point. His attitude is deplorable for a professional sportsman. He's very likely a fantastic person, but he is not cut out for the kill-or-be-killed world of professional sports.

[Deecisive 1,674]

Strange that there is so little love for Jack, He had 17 disposals at 94.1% efficiency, how many others got close, frawley had 14 disposals at 50%, Kent had 9 disposals, etc... Jack was far from the worst, he is an outside player but everyone is cursing him for not winning every contest. A few weeks ago everyone was cursing Maxy for his game at full forward, when the fault was not max's it was the way we were delivering it, today we delivered it to his strength, i.e. up high. Jack needs to be used on the outside to get be best out of him.

[Wiseblood 24,636]

I was just using the word you used. He was atrocious today, but that's not even the point. His attitude is deplorable for a professional sportsman. He's very likely a fantastic person, but he is not cut out for the kill-or-be-killed world of professional sports.

Fair enough, took it in the wrong context. My apologies.

Atrocious he was not, although a discussion over Watts in this regard is futile as he polarizes opinion so much.

[Chook 14,702]

Strange that there is so little love for Jack, He had 17 disposals at 94.1% efficiency, how many others got close, frawley had 14 disposals at 50%, Kent had 9 disposals, etc... Jack was far from the worst, he is an outside player but everyone is cursing him for not winning every contest. A few weeks ago everyone was cursing Maxy for his game at full forward, when the fault was not max's it was the way we were delivering it, today we delivered it to his strength, i.e. up high. Jack needs to be used on the outside to get be best out of him.

His disposal efficiency is so high because he is a very good kick and often handpasses when under the slightest amount of pressure. That means he rarely turns it over, but he rarely takes any risks with his disposal.

And it's what he does when he DOESN'T have the ball that's got me in such a tizzy. I reckon Hawthorn kicked three goals in the first quarter alone as a direct result of Jack's poor defensive pressure.

He is a vital part of our zone defence when he plays in our d50, but he doesn't have the urgency required to apply physical pressure to his nearest opponent when he has to, which means that whoever it is (whether it be Isaac Smith or anyone else) has ample time to dice us up.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Chook

[Bitter but optimistic 21,580]

Fair enough, took it in the wrong context. My apologies.

Atrocious he was not, although a discussion over Watts in this regard is futile as he polarizes opinion so much.

If we get rid of the [censored] he will no longer polarize opinion. QED.

[Glenn Molloy 494]

Jetta outstanding. Tyson very good again, love his consistency. Gawn was also good, can certainly take a grab. Barry fought back well after being towelled by Hill in the 2nd quarter.

So many of our guys just cannot hit targets. Everyone raves about Hawthorn's hardness but it's actually their skill level which is the main reason that they are so good. They run to the right spots to give their players the easiest option, and they just have so much confidence that the right option will be taken. Our guys have to go backwards or sideways just to keep possession. They are definitely still susceptible to the long ball forward without Brian Lake there....there were four or five times where Jamar or Gawn got really good purchase on the ball but couldn't quite hold on.

Anyway, at least it was better than last week.

[Deecisive 1,674]

His disposal efficiency is so high because he is a very good kick and often handpasses when under the slightest amount of pressure. That means he rarely turns it over, but he rarely takes any risks with his disposal.

and is that a bad thing as opposed to giving deplorable handpasses and foot passes, or worse keeping the ball and getting caught. I think most supporters lament the fact that we move the ball on too slowly, so moving it on quickly 'to our own team' is good

[Chook 14,702]

and is that a bad thing as opposed to giving deplorable handpasses and foot passes, or worse keeping the ball and getting caught. I think most supporters lament the fact that we move the ball on too slowly, so moving it on quickly 'to our own team' is good

Jack Watts' disposal is his only AFL-level quality. He would probably be useful in a top-tier team. We are not a top-teir team, which makes his glaring defects all the more difficult to work around. I'd rather Dan Nicholson in the team right now than Jack Watts.

[Tony Tea 2,792]

I don't want to bash the umpires - oh, who am I kidding? Of course I do - but the umpires kept inventing imaginary frees to Hawthorn from a 100 metres away, but when Melbourne players were decapitated, mugged and kicked right in front of the umpires, the umpires ignored it.

Also, there was a moment in the last quarter when a Hawks defender tapped the ball straight into the Demons' point post, but the umpire did not pay deliberate out-of-bounds.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,580]

I don't want to bash the umpires - oh, who am I kidding? Of course I do - but the umpires kept inventing imaginary frees to Hawthorn from a 100 metres away, but when Melbourne players were decapitated, mugged and kicked right in front of the umpires, the umpires ignored it.

Also, there was a moment in the last quarter when a Hawks defender tapped the ball straight into the Demons' point post, but the umpire did not pay deliberate out-of-bounds.

Leave the umps alone TT. I'd rather slag our own players!!

[What 18,810]

if we beat GWS next week it will be 5 wins, our highest total since 2011

[Nasher 33,246]

If you think it matters that Watts was caught grinning for a second after the game, you're a dead set goose. It does not mean he is unprofessional. It does not mean he is not disappointed, or happy with the result. Just because you want to kick the cat when we lose does not mean everyone must.

It was an instant caught on camera. I'd bet money a player on every losing side, every week, has a laugh with the opposition at the end.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,580]

If you think it matters that Watts was caught grinning for a second after the game, you're a dead set goose. It does not mean he is unprofessional. It does not mean he is not disappointed, or happy with the result. Just because you want to kick the cat when we lose does not mean everyone must.

It was an instant caught on camera. I'd bet money a player on every losing side, every week, has a laugh with the opposition at the end.

My cat ..and my dog disappear when the footy starts.

[Macca 16,174]

We did quite well today.

We would have beaten at least a half a dozen other sides on the G today but the Hawks are on another stratosphere in terms of quality.

There were some obvious differences between the 2 sides but our lack of a dominant forward was telling whereas for them, they've got Roughhead. Put 2 decent KPF's in our team and we would have gotten a lot closer. Hogan & ? are needed if we're going to get to 10-12 wins. Dawes is an ideal 3rd forward. If Frawley stays, we might have to make do with Hogan, Dawes & Frawley as our 3 KPF's.

We also need 2 or 3 more quality mids and some better distributors off half back.

Michie & Barry showed a bit of promise today which was pleasing. Riley also did ok with limited game time and big Max had a very good game.

We bring that sort of game next week and we'll win and ... we can also beat the Eagles & North in the last 2 games if we play with that same level of intensity. Our skills were much better today but we were up against an extremely well drilled, quality outfit.

We were far from disgraced.

[Deecisive 1,674]

Jack Watts' disposal is his only AFL-level quality. He would probably be useful in a top-tier team. We are not a top-teir team, which makes his glaring defects all the more difficult to work around. I'd rather Dan Nicholson in the team right now than Jack Watts.

he got the ball a lot more than most of our other players, he would be an asset in any team, our problem is we cannot get the ball to him often enough. As for rather having Dan Nicholson instead of Watts, oh please, most people seem to agree that Nicholson is probably going to be delisted at the end of the year, would you really want a players that cannot even make the Melbourne Football club's list than Watts. We get a lot of goals kicked against us from our turnovers, Watts rarely turns it over and his delivery is usually excellent, these are things a lot of our other players need to learn likewise Watts needs to learn extend himself and do more.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,580]

We did quite well today.

We would have beaten at least a half a dozen other sides on the G today but the Hawks are on another stratosphere in terms of quality.

There were some obvious differences between the 2 sides but our lack of a dominant forward was telling whereas for them, they've got Roughhead. Put 2 decent KPF's in our team and we would have gotten a lot closer. Hogan & ? are needed if we're going to get to 10-12 wins. Dawes is an ideal 3rd forward. If Frawley stays, we might have to make do with Hogan, Dawes & Frawley as our 3 KPF's.

We also need 2 or 3 more quality mids and some better distributors off half back.

Michie & Barry showed a bit of promise today which was pleasing. Riley also did ok with limited game time and big Max had a very good game.

We bring that sort of game next week and we'll win and ... we can also beat the Eagles & North in the last 2 games if we play with that same level of intensity. Our skills were much better today but we were up against an extremely well drilled, quality outfit.

We were far from disgraced.

I saw some positives today too Macca but to suggest "We would have beaten at least a half a dozen other sides on the G today" tells me you must be pi ssed.