Does he stay or does he go ??

Even ol' Slobbo casts it out in the public arena as a question. Does Melbourne trade its #1 draft pick And from my cheap seat its a valid one, one we have all danced around or with for a while now but at this Season's end the FD have some hard and gut wrenching decisions to make about our list.

To me this isn't about any particular personal allegiance or like/dislike its about nuts and bolts. What is best for this club and to give respect to a professional as to his future here, or eslewhere.

I have my own view but will put that as a separate post.

This is not a witch hunt or scapegoating its a legitimate question. Give it some thought

Yes it's 'another' JW thread but maybe we can put all our thoughts here as well as allowing a vote to see where this group feels the situation currently resides.

Thankyou

My own view is that "it's time" We aren't getting anywhere. Jack's not really getting anywhere. The Jack Watts MFC journey for mine has stalled.

Sometimes you just need to reboot and get on with it. I honestly feel what would be best for Jack is to get to a new club , start afresh and just play the footy he can as well as he can. As long as he's at the Dees he 's always looked upon as 'that " #1 pick..

I think we can give Jack a lifeline with a trade and we can bring into the club someone new who we can deploy into a different role perhaps.

Something needs to change because it's just not working.

Didn't we have this exact same poll last year?

It's a keep for mine, but my reasoning is that:

1) we won't get much for him at the moment

2) the coach says he's fulfilling his role best as possible given that those ahead of him aren't necessarily fulfilling theirs

3) we have very, very players aged 22-25 with actual ball-handling talent and around 100 games experience - and for me this is why I wouldn't trade for a pick but a ready-made player if we were to trade

4) he has the talent to be a good player

It just isn't working for either party. Time to go.

For the good of him and the club...trade him. I think we're in a bit of a rebuild stage...so ye if we can get him for a pick 20 I would be satisfied. The only sad thing is he is like best mates with Nathan Jones but I guess that's the same with Bernie Vince and Taylor Walker

I reckon we will give him another year, doesn't mean that we should but I think we will

I think he gets highlighted because for a club that's so lacking in fight and spirit and the scrap mentality his style of play really stands out. He clearly has great skills and seems a genuinely good bloke, but what frustrates most of us is that his output could be much much higher if he didn't loiter around contests or look so hesitant. It really does seem now that for him to play his best footy he's going to have to have a big change, which if it hasn't happened under Roos, could only now happen by changing clubs.

Credit to Hannabal, Trav 20, H and whoever else he trades under.

This guy is so clinical and unemotional that he nailed it before Jack got out of his blazer (if you ignore the Lethal interview).

Win-win would be for Jack to go to a good club. He would be an elite player at a club where others could do the manic hard tough stuff.

At Melbourne, the midfield experiment should be done-and-dusted. Jack Watts at Melbourne will be nothing but a forward, that hits-up, and with his agility can play high and run toward goal.

I still think he can be a great forward for the MFC.

Geelong and the footy world was patient with Hawkins. Watts hasn't enjoyed the same luxury unfortunately.

Interesting that only 15% think he is a definite keep

Trade him for Armitage. We need more leaders

this is what's really hard ta the moment. My 8 year old daughter is struggling to stay interested in the footy while the demons are so bad, that's ok, I'm a bit the same, but the one thing she loves is Jack Watts', if he went, I think she would lose all interest in footy.

Its not a reason to keep him, but it does hit home that Footy can still be emotional, and personal.

I Love Jack, i know he is great around the club. I loved that he signed on when he had every right to leave after his treatment. I'm really passionate about this, i want Jack to stay and i want him to contribute to our rise. I know most fans are fed up with him and his non competitiveness. I love when he has the ball in his hands, more than not he sets us up, does not waste it. Needs to be stronger, needs to be more urgent.

Im in the minority i know. But im loyal, i love him, he is a great bloke and i want him to be a demon for life and a good one at that.

I think what may or may not drive this as a potential is what interest ( if any ) is shown by other clubs. Id be amazed in the MFC weren't at least open to hearing offers even if not putting a "for sale " sign up. Id also be surprised if Jacks manager hasn't already fielded calls.

Jack , as well as the Club need to have a good long think

this is what's really hard ta the moment. My 8 year old daughter is struggling to stay interested in the footy while the demons are so bad, that's ok, I'm a bit the same, but the one thing she loves is Jack Watts', if he went, I think she would lose all interest in footy.

Its not a reason to keep him, but it does hit home that Footy can still be emotional, and personal.

I Love Jack, i know he is great around the club. I loved that he signed on when he had every right to leave after his treatment. I'm really passionate about this, i want Jack to stay and i want him to contribute to our rise. I know most fans are fed up with him and his non competitiveness. I love when he has the ball in his hands, more than not he sets us up, does not waste it. Needs to be stronger, needs to be more urgent.

Im in the minority i know. But im loyal, i love him, he is a great bloke and i want him to be a demon for life and a good one at that.

You need a 'Not Applicable' on the third question for the people who picked keep; yes, I was one of them.

I'd keep him, only if just once he actually had a real crack at a contest. Body on the line fight like hell for the footy. Just once I want him to actually want to get involved in the tough stuff and not just dance around the back and conveniently turn away from where the ball is going.

Watts actually chasing someone down with his mythical foot speed is probably a bit too much to ask of him...

If just one time he showed he wanted the ball more then someone else and went in like Joel Selwood, Jordan Lewis, Nathan Jones or Luke Hodge does then Id keep him.

Jack watts is about as hard as a sack full of kittens.

Imagine if it was just Jack Watts against anyone going at the ball in a last ditch effort to win a Grand Final you could never back him in. Even a little runt like Dom Barry would still have a crack but Watts would just be two steps behind and easily shrugged off while he tries applies a token hands out attempt at a tackle.

The more I write this and think about him the more angry he makes me as football supporter.

Watts needs to stop worrying about his hair style and just show for once that he wants to play footy.

I think what may or may not drive this as a potential is what interest ( if any ) is shown by other clubs.

Colac south and Terang have shown interest,But they want a cardio stress test before looking any further.

He just doesn't have an appetite for laying a tackle, or actually holding his feet

I'm done

You need a 'Not Applicable' on the third question for the people who picked keep; yes, I was one of them.

noted

I voted to trade.

The fact of the matter is he has had plenty of time to develop and improve his game, and he hasn't. I'm not saying that it's Jack's fault and there are a number of others in the same boat but the bottom line is that we can't wait forever for players like him to develop. There has to be a time when we cut our losses and move on and this will be required to, in part, begin shedding more of the baggage that has held this club down for far too long.

A question for those who voted 'to keep', how long does he get?

Weekend's with Jack

As long as we keep him and select him each week like we have been doing, we are saying to all the players that its ok to go half arsed at any contest, one on one, tackle or any chase. Not good enough - the decision to keep playing him could also be contributing to the pi55 weak culture. Not only Jack's fault. The FD needs to HTFU.

Trade.

I would like to trade him, but we just signed him up last year! He's had a up and down year and I think with Roo's on his back he'll be better next year. We can't afford to pay out his contract this early. If he still stinks at the end of this contract. Delist him and make him change his name to Jack "me-off" Tambling.

Geee we have so many players that are capable of kicking the ball accurately we should offload some to other clubs.

Burn the witch!

Think you all need to look elsewhere, Jack is not the problem.

Geee we have so many players that are capable of kicking the ball accurately we should offload some to other clubs.

Burn the witch!

Think you all need to look elsewhere, Jack is not the problem.

Actually the problem is that we'd be satisfied with a player just because he CAN kick. yes there are a lot on our list that cant .

What this says is we've got our criteria as to what we need very very wrong. Jack is well skilled but is far from a good footballer . We have some who are good footy minded players but lack the basics.

We arent getting the raft of requisite aspects as to players right at all, well seldom and i suspect more from luck than good design ( in the past )

Jack is a problem, but he's not the only one. We need a different type of player.

At this stage he's not the one to get it happening, fair enough. But once it is happening, he will be valuable above most others - put it in his hands enough times and his clinical accuracy will seriously advance our cause.

We don't use him properly, and it does look like his confidence is suffering. But MFC is currently in extreme disfunction, and if the rest of the team can't pick things up, well, what happens to the MFC won't be Jack's fault.

He still leads and gets ignored. Why, when if he gets the ball it's on its way somewhere useful almost every time? How come he hasn't been instructed to go for home, rather than backwards? He doesn't need a free target the size of the side of a barn, like half the rest of the team...

He hasn't put on any upper body bulk yet, but most people eventually do. He's very thin, looked at side on. What happens to his physical impact if he gets a better balanced torso? I believe it may happen. Some take longer, and if he turns out to be bigger in a year or two, we could regret losing faith when we were rattled by everything else.

Very little is going well. I think we have to focus on upside, and he really has it in spades, in some areas. More than can be said for a big number on our list.

I remember him playing well, in games where others were not. Last year when he got votes we won. Against St Kilda round one this year, we saw some wonderful signs. I have seen his pace a few times, and it does exist. Like the whole club, his confidence is badly down at the moment, but I believe he has shown character over the journey.