24 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Omg.. Jack isn't a protected species, he is a 25 year old adult who hasn't met the club expectations on his training standards. So in the other words, he has been lazy in his work ethic and has now gotten a kick up the bum that he thoroughly deserves. Jack has no one else but himself to blame. 

Goodwin is setting an elite standard that is primed to stand up in finals and if Jack cannot follow that then im sorry he gets left behind and made to work extra hard like all players do.

Why do we need to to continue to cuddle jack every single time? He is a grown adult who has coasted along his whole career for one good season in return.

Im sorry for setting a huge expectation on Jack, but fact is, he has been a huge disappointment so far in his career and decided that after 1 good year to take the pedal of the foot and back on cruise mode. Look at Max Gawn and Jack Viney. Both have had career best years and both have stepped it up another level during the pre season because they are driven to the fact they now know you have to back it up each year and strive to be elite in the competition.

I applaud Goodwin on his hard stance on this. Players love him and its shown already in the last 2 games that they are on the exact same page as him.

Dazzle, I'm not sure that you understand that I agree with you on every single point you just made, including dropping Jack if he's not performing.

Of course I'm 100% behind Goodwin setting high standards and kicking anyone in the a$$ who needs it etc..

My entire point is:  What is the benefit of playing this out in public as opposed to behind closed doors, leaving the public out of it?

My post suggested that Goody tell the media, "We're resting Jack for a few games to try some new players out," while kicking his backside as much as needed, away from the media.

Surely you've noticed the microscope that only Jack has been under for years now?
I know you know football Dazzle, but do you have much professional experience handling the media and performers?   
I assume we all want the best result for our team, it's just whether we get that by publicly berating one guy all the time?

1 hour ago, Lord Travis said:

It's just strange. The guy hasn't played a game since last year. He had a good year, kicked roughly 40 goals, was probably our best forward overall for the season, and yet somehow the club has taken away any positivity from that hard work and success and we're left with all this media negativity and these threads amongst supporters. I think they've managed the situation poorly, regardless of the outcome now, so whatever's happens happens I guess. Ugh.

I have two words for you:

"Personal responsibility"

13 minutes ago, ProDee said:

I have two words for you:

"Personal responsibility"

pretty simple concept. 

2 hours ago, Lord Travis said:

It's just strange. The guy hasn't played a game since last year. He had a good year, kicked roughly 40 goals, was probably our best forward overall for the season, and yet somehow the club has taken away any positivity from that hard work and success and we're left with all this media negativity and these threads amongst supporters. I think they've managed the situation poorly, regardless of the outcome now, so whatever's happens happens I guess. Ugh.

Agreed. I wonder what Paul Roos would say about this situation as an outsider with experience inside our club managing Watts. Roos was able to get more out of Watts than anyone else has.

5 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Goodwin is going to cop it big time from us and the media if the following events happen:

• We lose to St Kilda
• Our forward line is dysfunctional
• Watts is running around in some meaningless minor league scratch match
• Weideman gets 3 possessions and 0 marks
• Vandenberg has a disposal efficiency that matches his jumper number 

I fear the last 2 may occur if things go south and Watts misses the match.

But what if he gets picked, has a shocker and we still lose? It looks like he succumbed to the pressure and picked him when he shouldn't have. 

These things work both ways. If Watts earns his spot, then he plays. If not, then he doesn't. That's on Jack, not Goodwin. If Jack doesn't reach the clear standards that are given to him then it's Jack's fault and he is to blame. Simple. 

Arguably our best user of the footy, sort it out and get him in the team.

Must play round 1.

9 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

But what if he gets picked, has a shocker and we still lose? It looks like he succumbed to the pressure and picked him when he shouldn't have. 

These things work both ways. If Watts earns his spot, then he plays. If not, then he doesn't. That's on Jack, not Goodwin. If Jack doesn't reach the clear standards that are given to him then it's Jack's fault and he is to blame. Simple. 

that's probably true, but not getting enough game time practice before season start is also becoming an issue. pity casey don't start practice games a bit earlier

And this weeks Jack Watts thread is brought to us by......

24 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

But what if he gets picked, has a shocker and we still lose? It looks like he succumbed to the pressure and picked him when he shouldn't have. 

These things work both ways. If Watts earns his spot, then he plays. If not, then he doesn't. That's on Jack, not Goodwin. If Jack doesn't reach the clear standards that are given to him then it's Jack's fault and he is to blame. Simple. 

But the club's narrative last week (in interviews with T-Mac, Gawn & Goody himself) was "in the past 2 or 3 weeks" he's heeded the lesson and trained much better. Which has been confirmed by observers of the training sessions. In other words, Watts's improvement in training intensity started a week or two before JLT1.

So is leaving him out of 3 practice matches after he's remedied his mistakes the act of a strong club? Or is it the act of a club that's trying to act tough rather than be tough? To me, a strong club would have picked him last week, after he's been rebuked (very publicly) but he's shown that he's learned his lesson. 

I expect they'll leave him out of JLT4 and round 1.

Edited February 28, 20178 yr by Akum

What I'd really like to know is that is he strong enough now to be the whipping boy so the others don't have to take it and they can flourish? He  can take the disproportionate pre-season heat. We all know he took it unfairly in the past. I've been to training many times since November and know he is good enough. His skills are sublime and he talks like a veteran, it is not reported at all. if he was to be given a nick-name it would be "FEDEX", as he always delivers!

S. Goodwin 3 Votes, is going to run this juggernaut hard and that is why we have him. Let him play the games of the media. Like Sheedy, a little deception is OK.

There are a few people who deserve a game in our fabulous team, and it has been through exceptional skill and hard work. J. Watts is one of them. Another is ANB, who quickly turned into my favorite player on the weekend. Standing at the southern end of Casey with people I normally don't socialise with as I sold the last of my 3 utes 6 years ago. I now have a soccer Mum SUV. It is intimidating and humiliating and practical at the same time, no-one sees the carnage inside.

ANB is a brilliant link and pressure player, go and count the number of touches he has that end up in a goal. he has that goal sense. He is undersized however his ferocity is immense. Another one for intensity is Hogan, I'm a big guy, but I'd be scared of him in the centre square. And if all is to be believed his tank for running is already there.

I love our team and bleed red and blue, let's support them and stop ripping shreds off them before the season starts. This is a new demons!

 

 

 

 

Simple answer to the question posed: if he is fit and well, AND meets the coach's expectations, YES.    Is not, NO,

Same goes for every player every week. 

11 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Simple answer to the question posed: if he is fit and well, AND meets the coach's expectations, YES.    Is not, NO,

Same goes for every player every week. 

Spot on.

The thing I like about us at the moment is there is no guarantee of a game. Players need to earn their spots

I wouldn't give Jack a game until he earns it. Could be round 1 or 5 or 20. I don't care as long as we are winning games

11 minutes ago, monoccular said:

Simple answer to the question posed: if he is fit and well, AND meets the coach's expectations, YES.    Is not, NO,

Same goes for every player every week. 

agree 100%.

Though the media love to grab a "kick Jack Watts angle".

Clearly Jack would be in our BEST 18 !!

The poll is missing my option:

I hope so

I've come to the conclusion that the players and coaches have a behind the scenes competition where they either pull a name out of the hat or have a calcutta type thing where the winner is decided by article/forum posts about or mentioning said player. Goodwin has backed Watts in massively and wants a sportsbet type payout prior  to round 4. And therefore start again to win again by seasons end. Plus it would raise cash for end of season trips........

The whole group are in on it obviously and just p*ssing themselves behind closed doors

Edited February 28, 20178 yr by jako13

Surely he gets a game over Harmes, Vandenberg, Bugg and ANB - all of whom cannot dispose of the ball.

2 hours ago, Akum said:

But the club's narrative last week (in interviews with T-Mac, Gawn & Goody himself) was "in the past 2 or 3 weeks" he's heeded the lesson and trained much better. Which has been confirmed by observers of the training sessions. In other words, Watts's improvement in training intensity started a week or two before JLT1.

So is leaving him out of 3 practice matches after he's remedied his mistakes the act of a strong club? Or is it the act of a club that's trying to act tough rather than be tough? To me, a strong club would have picked him last week, after he's been rebuked (very publicly) but he's shown that he's learned his lesson. 

I expect they'll leave him out of JLT4 and round 1.

True - however, how long had he not heeded the warning prior to improving the standards?  Why weren't his standards better from the moment he returned to pre-season training?  The club may be sending a message that putting in a few weeks of good training isn't enough to get himself back in the side.  There may be much more to it than that.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have Watts in the side than not, but this is down to him.

8 minutes ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

Surely he gets a game over Harmes, Vandenberg, Bugg and ANB - all of whom cannot dispose of the ball.

But all of whom have trained to the standards set by the coaching group, something Watts clearly hasn't done often enough.

Again, he is easily best 22, but whinging at the coaching group for this is naive.  Jack needs to lift and train for more than just a few weeks at the acceptable standards the club expects of him to get himself back in the side.

Of course he should [censored] well play! FMD!

Perhaps all the media attention is also brought on by the fact as to how much the general public is interested in Jack Watts. 3 to 4 active Demonland threads about Jack Watts clearly shows people are somehow fascinated by the enigma that is Jack Watts. Surely if no one was clicking the links to all the herald sun/the age articles then the articles would dry up.  I think the media keeps on writing articles and discussing Jack Watts in length, because somewhere out there, people are generally interested in what's happening in the life of Jack Watts. 

This article is a good case in point. It's been written purely because Jack left the track early today due to him feeling unwell (a cold perhaps?). Surely no other player would receive an article from such an insignificance event during a pre-season - seems to be more what you'd read leading up to GF week. 

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-demons-jack-watts-forced-to-leave-training-early-due-to-illness-20170228-gun52o.html

 

6 hours ago, Fifty-5 said:

Wow no wonder he's been left out!

You do realise that journalists read this site? 

i'd be very annoyed if he doesn't play.  I'm nervous about 'new' coaches getting all hard arse and what not?  The vibes are bad.  With regards to watts i mean but clearly not the team which seems to be ticking along nicely.  I'm a JW fan.  

Edited February 28, 20178 yr by pinkshark

6 hours ago, Rob Mac...... said:

Good post Lord T.
The club is not at all obliged to explain anything about inner workings of the team to the football world and we're better off keeping them in the dark.
In 63 years of watching footy, I've never seen a single player from any team put under the microscope and publicly flogged anywhere near as much and unfairly as Jack Watts has been from day one !   It's been emotional abuse and Jack's admirable handling of it doesn't mean any of us know that it hasn't hurt him deeply and hurt his playing.  Many here assume it's water off a ducks back to Jack, but we don't really know that.

Roos handled Jack well (kind/supportive) and got results.

Even if Jack came back run down, drunk, stoned, with several hookers on the go and told Goodwin to shove it when confronted (none of which probably happened) I think they should have publicly said:

"We're resting Jack for a few games to try some new players out."  No drama.

Privately they should have told him the truth and worked to remedy whatever problem they perceived.
Keep the opposition guessing.

Very well said.  It just seems a bit like an ego statement from Goodwin.  He's probably a tad excited he has the reins in his hands.  

32 minutes ago, pinkshark said:

i'd be very annoyed if he doesn't play.  I'm nervous about 'new' coaches getting all hard arse and what not?  The vibes are bad.  With regards to watts i mean but clearly not the team which seems to be ticking along nicely.  I'm a JW fan.  

Exactly what are these 'vibes'..

Christian Petracca was on SEN today and he mentioned he was quite close to Goodwin and treats him like a brother.. 

Is it so hard for people to understand that the player have MASSIVE respect for Goodwin and love playing under him. Its proved in the last 2 games.

I like Watts vut im a bigger fan of Goodwin and what hes done.

22 hours ago, Demonland said:

The is not a thread about Jack Watts. He can be discussed ad nauseum here:

We needed a new poll on the homepage so this thread is purely to state your opinion on whether he should be picked for Round 1.

Simon Goodwin should take full responsibility for his thread appearing! Bultish KPI s. If he isnt our most influential and potentially damaging forward alongside Jesse then why give him a three year deal! Hear this!... Smoke and mirrors and psuedo and questionable jumping through hoops might just backfire!

Play round 1 ?? Well would you prefer Neal Bullen or Dion Johnstone! Cmon, this question is one I find absolutely ludicrous!!

Play round 1 sheesh, if he doesn't Im pushing for a royal enquiry!

Edited February 28, 20178 yr by picket fence

DD36 - I cannot agree with you that Watts has been a huge disappointment for this club.

Firstly, no one can seriously contend that any player on the list should be selected each week even if their form, ability or attitude wouldn't warrant it. Watts, like everyone else, should have to earn his selection. No one here is disappointed with Goodwin for enforcing elite standards; some here are just slightly dismayed with the club's 'communications' about in the circumstances.

Watts has remained absolutely loyal to this club for the whole of his career to date, and I will be very surprised if he doesn't play out his entire career at the MFC. In fact, I expect he'll play well over 200 games for the club. He is super popular with the players and staff. He is a sublime disposer of the ball. He reads the play well. His marking is fantastic. He has X factor. So much so, last year we won games off his own boot. He finished in the top 5 in the B&F. And I expect he will have another really good season this year, and will be a very important/influential player for us.

To suggest that he's been a huge disappointment for the club is therefore plainly unfair. We've had a stack of 'huge disappointment' first round picks over the last decade, but Jack Watts is simply not one of them.