6 hours ago, Vogon Poetry said:

I go a lot further.  I think the poster that "leaked" it should be banned.  I've got no idea if this is where the media got the story or whether it was from another source but on the assumption that Leoncelli_36 was given inside information he's hurt the Club and the player. If the MFC had wanted it public they would have announced it.

There are people on this site privy to confidential and potentially harmful information who show good sense and don't big note themselves by posting it.  We have a poster that didn't show good judgement and has hurt the club.  He's shown he's more interested in promoting himself than helping the club. 

I'd take away his ability to do that here.

 

 

What? An overreaction, one of many in his thread. 

As an unabashed and regular defender/supporter of Jack Watts, even I can see that there is clearly something to this 'rumour'.

Watts finished 5th in the B&F last year. He was the first or second forward written down on the team sheet each week. He won a couple of games off the back of his own boot. He is a versatile and experienced player now. He is absolutely a required and important player.

In short, he is plainly in our best 22, fitness and attitude permitting.

That he didn't play against the Bulldogs doesn't tell us that much (in itself). That his absence wasn't due to injury or being rested, and that Goodwin didn't mention him as a 'best 22 absence' after the game (despite mentioning Tyson, Kent as players who'd definitely come back in) did say a lot.

This seems to have been backed up in the interviews given by Gawn and Tom McDonald.

Watts is still clearly best 22 and I expect he will play round 1 against the Saints. I have however found this 'rumour' disappointing, even surprising, to read because every indication (from afar) seemed to be that he was having a really good preseason and that he was evolving into a leader around the club - and this seems not be entirely the case.

Ive no doubt he'll turn it around and will have a good season, but he shouldn't need to be kicked in the arse like this at this stage of his career.

 

17 hours ago, Melbournepotter said:

So he should explain why each player has been left out ? Perhaps he didn't say anything because there is nothing to say. He just thought he would try different combinations in the game. That would be a given I would have thought, seeing as Ita a practice game with virtually nothing riding on the result (apart from supporter confidence etc)

He should know by now how sensitive the media and demonland followers are to Jacks performance 

I am just saying a simple explanation along the lines you suggested would have killed any chance of the story being blown out of proportion and Yes his job is to explain ok?

17 hours ago, DeeSpencer said:

Max played a straight bat but it's pretty clear to me Goodwin is lighting a fire under Watts for a pedestrian preseason given the talent and strides he made last year. 

Watts had a great year, but he's still an unusual player because he's 196cm tall but doesn't use that height all that often as a tall structural player and his defensive pressure is really poor for a guy of his mobility. At his best he's great, when he's off he doesn't add much to the team. 

Our rebuild is a bit like Richmond's who got a bunch of stars but they failed to build the depth and versatility in how they played and were found out in finals. Watts reminds me of someone like Shane Edwards who was very good for a few years but never fired in a final and fell away this year. We need to make sure Watts isn't the same kind of player (even if he's 6 inches taller).

The challenge to Watts:
- If you want Spencer's 2nd ruck spot - make sure you are super fit and can run around the ground when in the ruck because we can't give you 3rd up help.
- If you want Weid's 2nd key forward spot - make sure you are strong in the air and forcing contests
- If you want Vanders' mid sized spot - then run super hard to present an option and most importantly chase and tackle with intent.

Yep it's the Barassi method - go harder on those with the natural talent because they have they potential to be elite players. Talent is nothing it's what you do with it

As a kid growing up we had an expression that prettt well sums all of this up

"Sucked In !!! " 

I love watching Jack play and would be staggered if he didn't play round 1. He was a large part of our improvement last year. Intensity has always been the issue and I would guess this is Goodwins way of ramping it up. I do find it strange though that the coach has been silent throughout this. Hopefully he will be picked against Carlscum, play a blinder and it will all blow over.

What I've learnt ?

Stu must be on holiday, otherwise this thread would be 20 pages.

Don't take too much notice of track watchers and their inside word.  Fun to read, but justa bit of fluff to sate the appetite.

I saw what you did there lol

11 minutes ago, ProDee said:

What I've learnt ?

Stu must be on holiday, otherwise this thread would be 20 pages.

Don't take too much notice of track watchers and their inside word.  Fun to read, but justa bit of fluff to sate the appetite.

He hasn't logged on for almost a month - reckon he might have been given an 'enforced' holiday.  Mods giving him the Jack Watts treatment.

7 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

He hasn't logged on for almost a month - reckon he might have been given an 'enforced' holiday.  Mods giving him the Jack Watts treatment.

That's what I meant...

8 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

There's one thing that annoys me more than Jack Watts threads. And that's people referring to Avocado which has been scooped out of its shell and slightly mashed or chopped as "smashed avo." That ad with the kids eating yoghurt is pretty annoying as well actually. 

I agree wholeheartedly Ethan, also smashed potato! WTF is smashed potato? A friend made some and I'm quite sure that it means that they are incapable of mashing. Incompetence at any level annoys me, oh and the Jack Watts thing is a beat up.

Stu's head would be spinning at 10,000rpm on this thread

If this is the worst thing happening at Melbourne then I'm ecstatic.

 

39 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

He hasn't logged on for almost a month - reckon he might have been given an 'enforced' holiday.  Mods giving him the Jack Watts treatment.

How sad.

10 hours ago, McQueen said:

Watts has been sent a message that will resonate with the rest of the list.

Its not a media beat-up, the interviews with Gawn and Tmac are clear evidence that Watts has reverted to his soft ways.

Anyone who can't see this should take their rose coloured glasses off.

There has been a few references to his performance at the intra-club.  Others will disagree but I think that's what it is about.

Intensity was down and the coaches have decided to act early to stamp it out. 

This is not bad news.

New coach, setting standards, all players treated equal, having to earn your position.

These are all great ideals but we all know that it doesn't work this way. There are always rules for some and not for others.

The coach has brought 2 of his mates in from the EFC, it's going to be interesting to see how he handles these guys.

Hibberd is known as not a great preseason track performer, will this hold him back from getting a game?

Perception is going to be key here to the playing group...

30 minutes ago, Stretch Johnson said:

There has been a few references to his performance at the intra-club.  Others will disagree but I think that's what it is about.

Intensity was down and the coaches have decided to act early to stamp it out. 

This is not bad news.

That was my guess as well but TMac specifically said that he had improved his training in the last 2-3 weeks (and ALFL.com said he trained hard yesterday and did goal kicking after everyone else had left the track) which implies it had dropped of prior to that.

They'll pick him this week.

12 hours ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Ox spoke to the club, he said it wasn't attitude based. He believes Watts didn't meet some KPI's.

 

11 hours ago, demon9 said:

Perhaps a running KPI required over Christmas... could be anything really

If Ox is right, those KPIs he didn't meet might not even be training or football related. He might have been late to a meeting, missed a sponsorship event or failed to complete his homework (where have I heard that before?)  He also may have been late to training, broken team rules in the intra-club or kicked with his preferred instead of his non-preferred in practice. Who knows? But as long as he knows which KPIs he hasn't met and learns from it, I'm OK with him missing one practice match. I suspect most of our top 10 players will only pay 2 out of three of these matches anyway.

11 hours ago, Dirtman said:

Having a go at his laconic style versus Vineys attack dog style which they want to entrench...perhaps?

Laconic doesn't mean lack of endeavour or drive, this is highly speculative and gueswork at best. 

Still our best AND MOST DANGEROUS forward IMV, sans Jesse!

2 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

He hasn't logged on for almost a month - reckon he might have been given an 'enforced' holiday.  Mods giving him the Jack Watts treatment.

The only difference being, stu isn't clearly in DLand's best 22.

25 minutes ago, picket fence said:

Laconic doesn't mean lack of endeavour or drive, this is highly speculative and gueswork at best. 

Still our best AND MOST DANGEROUS forward IMV, sans Jesse!

I'm looking forward to seeing Watts become the recipient of better i50 delivery. 

1 minute ago, beelzebub said:

I'm looking forward to seeing Watts become the recipient of better i50 delivery. 

8 Goal games....

2 minutes ago, P-man said:

The only difference being, stu isn't clearly in DLand's best 22.

Those bad hammies and dodgy knees have kept him in the magoos for a while now.

3 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

8 Goal games....

The real beauty of Jack is, should oppos become too fixated ( panicky ) about Jesse , then windows and doors open for Jack

1 hour ago, Clint Bizkit said:

If this is the worst thing happening at Melbourne then I'm ecstatic.

 

I just spent 10 minutes reading this thread, so I mean that's pretty bad for me