I salute Jack Watts

[dazzledavey36 54,899]

In light of the Tom Boyd story i think its sad what he's going through  and i wish him nothing but all the best in his recovery and a peaceful mind. 

I read an article on Boyd yesterday saying how he's copped it since being drafted as a number 1 draft pick. I was taken back a bit because everyone has forgotten one Jack Watts who's copped fat worse barrage of abuse from members of the public to big media personalities. Do they not remember the round 2 Essendon game in 2013 when he was booed by 50 thousand people when he was subbed off?? 

If it was one person who could have easily put his hand up in the air and said "I've had enough, see you later" its jack Watts. Yet every week he fronts up with a smile on his face and just goes about his business as usual.

My respect for Jack Watts has now gone through the roof. I admire your resilience mate! You'll always be a MFC champion to me.

[Smokey 4,389]

Can't like this enough.

He is certainly a part of the fabric that makes up the heart and soul of this team

[Delusional demon 82 1,197]

He's probably (along with Nathan Jones) the one most deserving to hopefully have a premiership medallion by the end of his career. If we ever break through then I hope he's a big part of it 

[Deeoldfart 8,030]

Spot on dazzle.  Top post!

[Dees2014 2,377]

21 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

In light of the Tom Boyd story i think its sad what he's going through  and i wish him nothing but all the best in his recovery and a peaceful mind. 

I read an article on Boyd yesterday saying how he's copped it since being drafted as a number 1 draft pick. I was taken back a bit because everyone has forgotten one Jack Watts who's copped fat worse barrage of abuse from members of the public to big media personalities. Do they not remember the round 2 Essendon game in 2013 when he was booed by 50 thousand people when he was subbed off?? 

If it was one person who could have easily put his hand up in the air and said "I've had enough, see you later" its jack Watts. Yet every week he fronts up with a smile on his face and just goes about his business as usual.

My respect for Jack Watts has now gone through the roof. I admire your resilience mate! You'll always be a MFC champion to me.

Yes Jack is the sort of quality person and extraordinarily talented footballer you can build a dynasty around. We have a few of them: Viney, Oliver, Petracca, Salem, Tyson, Gawn, Jetta, the Macs, Hunt, Hogan, Frost, Garlett and hopefully soon Brayshaw. It is a very impressive bunch. In that, we should never forget the extraordinary contribution of Nathan Jones. He has held us together in our darkest hours. Let's hope he will reap the whirlwind over the remainder of his career. He certainly deserves it.

Goody has a lot to work with thanks to Roos. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by Dees2014

[drdrake 3,163]

No one could argue with this post.  The difference between Jack and Boyd, Jack was a number 1 pick that stuck with his club dare to say the support network he has built at the club is a strong one, Boyd did the right thing by Boyd took the million a year, he has to expect that being that young you will be under immense pressure both internal and external  

[Stretchyourself 42]

Love it!  That resilience he's developed has also made him the go to player when the game needs to be won, when the heat is on.  How calm was he when he kicked that goal on Queen's birthday! He's our man! 

[Bitter but optimistic 22,239]

11 minutes ago, Deeoldfart said:

Spot on dazzle.  Top post!

As above.

[Dee Zephyr 19,267]

Fantastic post!! 

Definitely lifts the mood around the place after reading nothing but negativity all week in regards to injuries, suspensions and king hits.

Watts is an intelligent and well spoken young man and won't have to worry about life after football but yet he conducts himself with absolute class and dignity on the field.

His work ethic cannot be questioned and we all hope to see him back soon doing what he does best.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2017 by Demon77

[praha 11,240]

It's very difficult to ignore the influence of social media and online communities in this sudden rise in diagnosed clinical depression, not just among pro athletes but also in the general population. It's also most likely to affect men but it's still a taboo topic that we don't talk about much. Depression has always been male-dominated statistically, and ironically, part of the reason we don't talk about it much is part of the reason why it exists: because there's just this hidden rule that men don't talk about their feelings. "Why would we talk about male depression? Grow some balls!" This leaves the person feeling worthless and "broken". 

That said I feel part of the reason there is this sudden rise is because the league is still transitioning into the professional era, and the rise of social media has caught it off-guard. Information spreads lightning fast and you can't get away with anything these days. We went from 20-year-old kids earning $50k a year to 20-year-olds potentially earning $1 million a year within a 10-year period. In that period we went from the "stone age" of the internet to what is now the modern era where literally EVERYTHING is mentioned in some capacity online. Clubs I feel have struggled to address this. Thinking back to 2010 I remember thinking how clubs should encourage players to have social media managers to ensure all posts, responses and moderation is done externally. Guys like LeBron James post themselves but he has an entire team dedicated to moderating his social media profiles and filtering out responses from people he doesn't know directly.

I understand that sometimes depression is unavoidable and the harsh reality is that sometimes a person really is "broken" regardless of the situations around them. It is hard to break but being in a position that Boyd is in, it would have magnified it. I assume that now clubs will be far more aggressive in there psyche evaluations before they draft a player. Something like this should be picked up a lot sooner so that it can be addressed earlier. Given scrutiny and media coverage surrounding Boyd, I'm very surprised the club didn't actively stop him from accessing social media.

It's a very tough situation and the OP is right. We don't know what Watts is going through though, he could very well be depressed but we might never know. It's different from person to person. But yeah he appears to have dealt with the criticism extremely well. But not everyone has that capacity.

[dazzledavey36 54,899]

8 minutes ago, praha said:

It's very difficult to ignore the influence of social media and online communities in this sudden rise in diagnosed clinical depression, not just among pro athletes but also in the general population. It's also most likely to affect men but it's still a taboo topic that we don't talk about much. Depression has always been male-dominated statistically, and ironically, part of the reason we don't talk about it much is part of the reason why it exists: because there's just this hidden rule that men don't talk about their feelings. "Why would we talk about male depression? Grow some balls!" This leaves the person feeling worthless and "broken". 

That said I feel part of the reason there is this sudden rise is because the league is still transitioning into the professional era, and the rise of social media has caught it off-guard. Information spreads lightning fast and you can't get away with anything these days. We went from 20-year-old kids earning $50k a year to 20-year-olds potentially earning $1 million a year within a 10-year period. In that period we went from the "stone age" of the internet to what is now the modern era where literally EVERYTHING is mentioned in some capacity online. Clubs I feel have struggled to address this. Thinking back to 2010 I remember thinking how clubs should encourage players to have social media managers to ensure all posts, responses and moderation is done externally. Guys like LeBron James post themselves but he has an entire team dedicated to moderating his social media profiles and filtering out responses from people he doesn't know directly.

I understand that sometimes depression is unavoidable and the harsh reality is that sometimes a person really is "broken" regardless of the situations around them. It is hard to break but being in a position that Boyd is in, it would have magnified it. I assume that now clubs will be far more aggressive in there psyche evaluations before they draft a player. Something like this should be picked up a lot sooner so that it can be addressed earlier. Given scrutiny and media coverage surrounding Boyd, I'm very surprised the club didn't actively stop him from accessing social media.

It's a very tough situation and the OP is right. We don't know what Watts is going through though, he could very well be depressed but we might never know. It's different from person to person. But yeah he appears to have dealt with the criticism extremely well. But not everyone has that capacity.

Best post i have read in a long time mate. Kudos to you.

If you want a perfect example go and read the disgusting comments on Tom Buggs instagram. Its vile cyber bullying to the extreme.

[Gator 17,332]

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

My respect for Jack Watts has now gone through the roof. I admire your resilience mate! You'll always be a MFC champion to me.

To admire Watts' resilience is to assume Boyd isn't resilient, when most would have you believe clinical depression is far more complicated than one's capacity to work through adversity. 

I like your post, but at the same time I realise that depression is a complicated issue and some are more prone to susceptibility than others.  

Even then, I'm not privy to Watts' mindset and you're making assumptions you're not necessarily equipped to.   Although, I expect your educated guess re Watts' mental health is probably correct. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by ProDee

[hardtack 10,537]

59 minutes ago, praha said:

It's very difficult to ignore the influence of social media and online communities in this sudden rise in diagnosed clinical depression, not just among pro athletes but also in the general population. It's also most likely to affect men but it's still a taboo topic that we don't talk about much. Depression has always been male-dominated statistically, and ironically, part of the reason we don't talk about it much is part of the reason why it exists: because there's just this hidden rule that men don't talk about their feelings. "Why would we talk about male depression? Grow some balls!" This leaves the person feeling worthless and "broken". 

That said I feel part of the reason there is this sudden rise is because the league is still transitioning into the professional era, and the rise of social media has caught it off-guard. Information spreads lightning fast and you can't get away with anything these days. We went from 20-year-old kids earning $50k a year to 20-year-olds potentially earning $1 million a year within a 10-year period. In that period we went from the "stone age" of the internet to what is now the modern era where literally EVERYTHING is mentioned in some capacity online. Clubs I feel have struggled to address this. Thinking back to 2010 I remember thinking how clubs should encourage players to have social media managers to ensure all posts, responses and moderation is done externally. Guys like LeBron James post themselves but he has an entire team dedicated to moderating his social media profiles and filtering out responses from people he doesn't know directly.

I understand that sometimes depression is unavoidable and the harsh reality is that sometimes a person really is "broken" regardless of the situations around them. It is hard to break but being in a position that Boyd is in, it would have magnified it. I assume that now clubs will be far more aggressive in there psyche evaluations before they draft a player. Something like this should be picked up a lot sooner so that it can be addressed earlier. Given scrutiny and media coverage surrounding Boyd, I'm very surprised the club didn't actively stop him from accessing social media.

It's a very tough situation and the OP is right. We don't know what Watts is going through though, he could very well be depressed but we might never know. It's different from person to person. But yeah he appears to have dealt with the criticism extremely well. But not everyone has that capacity.

Great post... but I think there are two ways of looking at social media's role in this.  Yes, it can be a platform for cyber-bullying and a public domain microscope where at any given time a player is scrutinised by one and all.  However, there is a positive side as well, in that social media provides a public platform for people to openly discuss the black dog and this has seen so much of the stigma that was previously associated with it, removed; there was a time when no sports person (or for that matter, Jo(e) public) would admit to depression as it would be seen as a weakness.

It's hard to know whether social media has been a cause or a solution.  I like to think it has encouraged more people to open up and discuss issues that affect them; there will always be bullies regardless, but hopefully there is now much more support to counter that.

Edited July 6, 2017 by hardtack

[Wiseblood 24,637]

@dazzledavey36 - spot on and great post, mate.  Well said.

@praha - your post was a ripper as well and is a good summation of where we are at in terms of the money being thrown around the effect social media can have on players, younger ones in particular.

I'm glad in some ways that these players are learning how to deal with depression and are getting to a point where they are confident to talk about it and step away to look after themselves.  Sadly, Boyd won't be the last player to step away from the game for depression, but hopefully clubs know how to deal with it better than they did 5 years ago.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,754]

14 minutes ago, hardtack said:

Great post... but I think there are two ways of looking at social media's role in this.  Yes, it can be a platform for cyber-bullying and a public domain microscope where at any given time a player is scrutinised by one and all.  However, there is a positive side as well, in that social media provides a public platform for people to openly discuss the black dog and this has seen so much of the stigma that was previously associated with it, removed; there was a time when no sports person (or for that matter, Jo(e) public) would admit to depression as it would be seen as a weakness.

It's hard to know whether social media has been a cause or a solution.  I like to think it has encouraged more people to open up and discuss issues that affect them; there will always be bullies regardless, but hopefully there is now much more support to counter that.

I don't know if you're right or not, but well expressed food for thought.

[MudDogs Gawn Win.. someday 499]

1 hour ago, Delusional demon 82 said:

He's probably (along with Nathan Jones) the one most deserving to hopefully have a premiership medallion by the end of his career. If we ever break through then I hope he's a big part of it 

No one deserves a Premiership medallion. They have to earn it. I just hope they are both just hungry enough to say [censored] this.. Let's fkn make it happen!

[jackaub 1,402]

Dont get inolved with social media

It is a destructive force and now a whole generation see them selves through that distorted mirror

No wonder some are experiencing difficulties coping

Refreshing that TOMIC told the truth about how he really feels and was castigated again for that 

 

[nutbean 8,838]

I was thinking about this when Cloke took some time out. Yes - I understand that these guys have chosen a very well paid profession that includes them being in the public limelight. Their chosen profession is playing in front of a lot of very passionate ( and often irrational supporters and media who don't mind going for the jugular if it will "sell more papers".

I do believe that some of the vitriol thrown at footballers is completely unwarranted and beyond the pale and am not surprised that it affects their mental health. Matt Jones in an articles said that he received tweets that talked about his butchering the ball and the happiness it would give one supporter if he never played again. 

That Jack Watts has stood up under what i consider the harshest barrage of criticism over the 5-10 years is a testament to his resilience and the support he obviously receives from those close to him.

[nutbean 8,838]

2 minutes ago, jackaub said:

 

Refreshing that TOMIC told the truth about how he really feels and was castigated again for that 

 

It is always refreshing when a sportsman tells the truth. He was not castigated for telling the truth  - he was castigated for what his truth is.

Tomic ( like many "rock stars") know that their talent has put them in a position that has them very well paid for what they do. They sometimes forget where that money is coming from. It comes from us the public. People pay to see Tomic and his opponent perform and for him to act in the manner he does disrespects these people who have paid that money. If you don't really care then go play local tennis where people are forking over good money to see you play.

It is the same with AFL footballers. When a football breaks team rules by drinking or turning up unfit to preseason and they are cut slack on here. I don't get that. Our memberships, our buying of team merchandise, our sponsorship, our viewership of TV meaning huge TV rights payments pays for these blokes to play. If a player cannot be professional then that's ok - go play park footy with your mates where you are not taking good coin from us.

(rant over)

[deebug 1,754]

I remember when Jack said how he has gotten used to people saying terrible things about his football, then he said it's his mum who finds it hard to cope with such comments.

I felt for Jack and his family after Jack had said that. Jack has held his head up high through out all the hate that had been thrown his way: and i respect him for doing so, and hopefully he can be part of helping out great club to that one day in September, or October?

[rpfc 28,410]

1 hour ago, ProDee said:

To admire Watts' resilience is to assume Boyd isn't resilient, when most would have you believe clinical depression is far more complicated than one's capacity to work through adversity. 

I like your post, but at the same time I realise that depression is a complicated issue and some are more prone to susceptibility than others.  

Even then, I'm not privy to Watts' mindset and you're making assumptions you're not necessarily equipped to.   Although, I expect your educated guess re Watts' mental health is probably correct. 

Yeah, I was going to post something similar to this.

 

Love the post, DD36, Watts has been resilient to keep playing footy and to keep playing at the Demons.

But that doesn't mean that Boyd is any less resilient - depression is not about people booing you and calling you [censored].

But I did have a think about 'what if Watts took time out 4 years ago? How would that be treated?'

I think the most rancid edges of our football culture would have come out...

[PaulRB 6,362]

I think there's a lesson in the dangers of luring players and paying them based on their "potential" rather than their output to date (as it was more-so in the past). Boyd was greedy, naive and ill-advised to take the huge contract offered by the dogs, as he was (and still is) not able to consistently perform at the level such high pay levels assume. The resulting self-doubt, guilt and vulnerability to criticism while a sad state for anyone, was, in several ways, self inflicted. 

I'm hope Hogan and our other young guns don't fall into this trap and set themselves up in this way. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by PaulRB

[Lord Travis 10,730]

Said it a number of times on here, Jack is probably the most mentally tough and resilient footballer I can remember in my life time. The amount of abuse and negativity he has copped his whole career from the media, club and supporters is insane. The fact he has pushed through it, stuck with the club and is now a really good footballer is a credit to him and how tough he is. Love watching him play and hope he is part of our next premiership. He deserves it.

Kudos Jack!

[faultydet 7,594]

11 minutes ago, PaulRB said:

I think there's a lesson in the dangers of luring players and paying them based on their "potential" rather than their output to date (as it was more-so in the past). Boyd was greedy, naive and ill-advised to take the huge contract offered by the dogs, as he was (and still is) not able to consistently perform at the level such high pay levels assume. The resulting self-doubt, guilt and vulnerability to criticism while a sad state for anyone, was, in several ways, self inflicted. 

I'm hope Hogan and our other young guns don't fall into this trap and set themselves up in this way. 

Although this is a Jack Watts thread (and the o.p is a damn good one), I think both Hogan and his manager should be admired for the way his recently signed extension played out. No doubt there would have been some Boyd-esque offers put forward, but the deal was done with us, and and the rumours put to bed.

 

As for Watts, he is no doubt stronger mentally than I gave him credit for. The amount of criticism he has endured may have sunk lesser men. He has improved, improved, improved while under a blow torch. He deserves recognition for the way he has emerged.

 

Hoping the guy can celebrate his milestone game with a great performance, in a winning team.

[Webber 10,468]

2 hours ago, praha said:

It's very difficult to ignore the influence of social media and online communities in this sudden rise in diagnosed clinical depression, not just among pro athletes but also in the general population. It's also most likely to affect men but it's still a taboo topic that we don't talk about much. Depression has always been male-dominated statistically, and ironically, part of the reason we don't talk about it much is part of the reason why it exists: because there's just this hidden rule that men don't talk about their feelings. "Why would we talk about male depression? Grow some balls!" This leaves the person feeling worthless and "broken". 

That said I feel part of the reason there is this sudden rise is because the league is still transitioning into the professional era, and the rise of social media has caught it off-guard. Information spreads lightning fast and you can't get away with anything these days. We went from 20-year-old kids earning $50k a year to 20-year-olds potentially earning $1 million a year within a 10-year period. In that period we went from the "stone age" of the internet to what is now the modern era where literally EVERYTHING is mentioned in some capacity online. Clubs I feel have struggled to address this. Thinking back to 2010 I remember thinking how clubs should encourage players to have social media managers to ensure all posts, responses and moderation is done externally. Guys like LeBron James post themselves but he has an entire team dedicated to moderating his social media profiles and filtering out responses from people he doesn't know directly.

I understand that sometimes depression is unavoidable and the harsh reality is that sometimes a person really is "broken" regardless of the situations around them. It is hard to break but being in a position that Boyd is in, it would have magnified it. I assume that now clubs will be far more aggressive in there psyche evaluations before they draft a player. Something like this should be picked up a lot sooner so that it can be addressed earlier. Given scrutiny and media coverage surrounding Boyd, I'm very surprised the club didn't actively stop him from accessing social media.

It's a very tough situation and the OP is right. We don't know what Watts is going through though, he could very well be depressed but we might never know. It's different from person to person. But yeah he appears to have dealt with the criticism extremely well. But not everyone has that capacity.

Outstanding, praha. It's a transformed world for exactly those reasons you outline. Back in the 90's it was considered quite a professional challenge for us to manage the psychological issues surrounding a player's time out of the game due to something as simple as a 4 week hamstring. Now they have to deal with the expectations that come from bulging salaries, and the consistent scrutiny and criticism from both pro and social media. These twenty-something men, who we have no right to expect come with an inherent ability to deal with these things, are walking straight into a s**tstorm of psychological peril. We are seeing the tip of a huge iceberg I suspect.