Farewell Jack Watts

[binman 43,105]

11 minutes ago, Redleg said:

Actually thought some of Jack's best games were when he had to help out in the ruck and ran himself into the ground.

While initially I wanted to protect him and keep him away from the ruck, both he and Pedo played some great games while Max was out and they filled in in the ruck. It gave us more mobility around the ground and a bit more unpredictability.

Maybe that is a good option for Jack, spending some time in the ruck and then becoming another mid who can drift forward and kick a goal or help set one up.

I 100% agree. Playing in the ruck gets him involved in the game more often and when he gets the ball whilst playing in the ruck his brilliant disposal skills and elite vision mean any clearances he gets are usually really damaging. 

Also i think he surprisingly good at directing taps to advantage.

I think his hammy meant that he was unable to play in the ruck when he came back and it really hurt how much he could impact games.

[Seetrollgetttroll 89]

Absolutely not. I understand the speculation, but given Watts returned early from a torn hamstring and had a few bad games as a result, I'm not going to make as much of it as most people sdid. How about Gawns return from injury? His end to the season wasn't very good at all. It can happen and as unfortunate as it is, has happened to someone who's spent his entire career under the microscope in Wattsy. Besides, it's not like he had many opportunities against North and GWS.

I just hope that in future when Watts is having trouble getting into the game, Goodwin doesn't just keep him in the forward line when he can make an impact on the wing / half back flank with his high IQ, terrific evasion and elite footskills given the move is made. 

And of course, if someone offered as something huge, I'd take it but I wouldn't openly be shopping him. Besides, someones trade value is higher if the club vying for his services thinks the players club wants to keep him so providing we are looking to trade him I hope we leave that to the media 

[leave it to deever 17,511]

If we get a great deal yep. He is hardly indispensable. He might need a change. 

On this years form and every other aside from last year he is no loss at all. Lovely bloke hounded by the media and handled poorly by the club by playing him too early.

He may well be a very good player for us but we can't be sure on previous form. The problem with taking 8 years to develop is that there isnt much room to have a slump. (ie not sure if thats all it is)

 

Edited September 7, 2017 by leave it to deever

[dimmy 1,307]

There is probably nobody in the AFL insofar as "middle"players who deliver the ball as well as JW. So why would you trade one of the people who are probably the best in the club ?  Especially when poor disposal is our weakness !!!

So NO !!!!!!

P.S> I will concede that if he had 4 or 5 more possessions a game , he would be a superstar !

So the coaching staf need to find ways to involve him and himself a little more .

[Demons11 7,031]

2 hours ago, CityDee said:

Jack carried us at times this year. No way . Dont see threads about Tex walker being traded ? Tex had terrible games this year may as well not have been out there and he had some good games it aint easy folks . 

Walker has more credits in the bank than Watts 

[CityDee 738]

4 minutes ago, Demons11 said:

Walker has more credits in the bank than Watts 

Look at the last year they have both been up and down and both valuable is my point.

[MudDogs Gawn Win.. someday 499]

On 06/09/2017 at 9:39 AM, PaulRB said:

Noticed on 360 footy that Jack Watts was nominated as our most likely trade player... so figure I'd ask the question. 

Do we trade Jack Watts? Or not? 

He'll no. His name is a click bait special!

came back poor after injury. So may have never really gotten back to full fitness..

was at his peak v the dogs.. had he continued on that form he would of propelled us to top 4 not just the 8!!

Edited September 7, 2017 by Mud Dogs Gonna Win

[Demon Disciple 12,174]

53 minutes ago, Mud Dogs Gonna Win said:

came back poor after injury. So may have never really gotten back to full fitness..

I think they rushed a few back from injury too soon. Him and Viney definitely came back way too soon and we paid the price for it. Poor player management in my view.

[bobby1554 1,244]

4 hours ago, DSP said:

Such as?

Vince, Hannan, Harmes, theres 3 just for starters, who let us down big time in the most important game we played this year!!!

[jumbo returns 6,741]

I'm very tired....

I think I'll go home now.....

[deelete my account 1,194]

3 hours ago, Demons11 said:

Walker has more credits in the bank than Watts 

He's also #1 for goal assists in the entire competition. Probably one of the most valuable players running around.

 

Edited September 7, 2017 by Wrecked Owl Dees Function

[Akum 2,660]

There are only two ways Jack will leave Melbourne:

(1) He gives the slightest twitch of a hint to anybody that he may be open to leaving. Clubs would take this to mean that his relationship with the club had broken down and lead them to believe that they could get him for massive unders.

(2) We delist him or refuse to renew his contract or tell him he won't get an AFL game no matter how well he plays for Casey. In which case we get nix.

The idea of "throwing him to the market and see what we get back" is hilarious. 

[chook fowler 19,459]

8 hours ago, beelzebub said:

What's with all the Watts' what what ?  eh what !!

That's not very bright - only 4 watts

[spirit of norm smith 16,476]

Wattsy stays.  Get it .

[GoD's67 111]

Roos said in his book, Watts will be a better player in a good team, where his skills can stand out.

Harmes, ANB, Stretch, OMac, Brayshaw are still all young and a lot of people on Demonland want to bury them, give them another year or two each and then judge them. 

As to no stars, give Oliver & Petracca another year each, Gawn & Hogan a pre season and an injury free year and see how they go.

Our best this year was really good, beating Crows by over 40 points after being four goals down was terrific, belting the Dogs, winning in the West. 

But our consistency was poor and we fell off the perch from round 15 onwards. Yes we have 10 players on our list who won't make it so do every other club bar GWS! Hopefully our delisting will get rid of 8 of them.

Spencer (can't consistently win at VFL level, let alone AFL)

Trengove (I fell bad for him, but is too slow)

Kennedy (Butcher)

White (not good enough)

Lumumba (clean up from last year)

Garland (others gone past him)

Hulett (seems to have got worse)

Tim Smith (not big or fast enough)

If we can get a Lever & Gaff type in the draft it would work well for the Demons.

We blew our spot in the finals thinking we were already there, precelebration needs to disappear. A decent run with injury and reasonable draw (6 day breaks & timing of interstate trips), improvement from the under 50 gamers and we should improve in 2018!

[Ethan Tremblay 30,873]

Watts' upside is far better than anything we will get for him in a trade. 

/thread.

#He'sstaying. 

[mattjm 151]

30 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Watts' upside is far better than anything we will get for him in a trade. 

/thread.

#He'sstaying. 

agreed. but watts has been poo 7/9 years. thats liam jones figures

[Cheap Seats 3,310]

Maybe watts should become a defender then

[Maldonboy38 6,403]

Aaah, the yearly Jack Watts reflections, timed so perfectly to coincide with sneezing, red eyes, and the joys of Spring! 

Trading him has to be founded upon one principle - do we improve by doing it? At the momet, we have a very good list, even if the existing potential remains for the most part unproven. What are our gaps and which gaps could Jack help fill?

Need no 1. Key defender. No

Need no 2. 2nd large forward. No

Skillful outside deliverer. Yes. So if we can get a skillful outside deliverer who has Jack's amazing kicking skills and awareness, who is ready to go now, is more consistent and a natural competitor, and has 5+ years experience, we should consider trading him. But there aren't any that are presenting, and we can't spend 5 years developing one.

So keep him until some current MFC player overtakes him, or a player from another team becomes available who could improve his place on our list. 

[JackDeMan 42]

Definitely trade him. He needs a huge kick up the bum to get the best out of himself. That a player with around 150 games needed to be disciplined at the start of the season is an absolute disgrace. He should have been selected into the leadership group. That the players didn't, and that he was not selected for the pre-season games for not working hard enough in the pre-season, suggests to me that he is a player we can trade. BTW, he did play a pretty good game against Collingwood in the last round, but that's the tease. Trade him while we can - bundle him up in a trade for Jake Lever.

[JackDeMan 42]

On 9/10/2017 at 10:17 PM, GoD's67 said:

We blew our spot in the finals thinking we were already there, precelebration needs to disappear. A decent run with injury and reasonable draw (6 day breaks & timing of interstate trips), improvement from the under 50 gamers and we should improve in 2018!

We blew our spot in the finals because we lost 5 games that we were expected to win (Freo at the MCG, North at the MCG, Hawthorn at the MCG when they were going bad, North at Hobart, and Collingwood at the MCG), and we won only 3 games that we were expected to lose (St Kilda Round 1 at Etihad, Adelaide in Adelaide, and West Coast in Perth). Even up that score and we are in the finals comfortably. And the reason we lost those games - inconsistency - one bad quarter in each game. Nothing to do with interstate trips, 6-day breaks, or injuries.

We can only improve if we understand why we had those bad quarters in those games.

For example, in the last game against Collingwood, most comments have been about our low tackle count in the first quarter. But a low tackle count is the end result of other things that you do, or don't do. I watched a reply of that first quarter, and we weren't close enough to the Collingwood players to lay a tackle, suggesting our structures at stoppages was out of whack, or we weren't running hard enough. I suspect both.

Either way, we need to send a very strong message to the players that you get the results you deserve, and not working hard enough in the pre-season (which was what Jack Watts did) means you are not good enough to make the finals.

BTW, it is not only Jack Watts that needs a kick up the bum. Dom Tyson's kicking is atrocious, even when it seems not to be . Under no pressure in that last game, he kicked the ball out of bounds, when he was trying to deliver it to his team-mate. And Tom McDonald is the worst short-kick in the game, bar no-one. At least those two players prepare hard, and compete hard, but they have to improve in their skill deficiencies, otherwise they won't be a part of the next Melbourne Premiership team, whenever that is.

[binman 43,105]

1 hour ago, JackDeMan said:

Definitely trade him. He needs a huge kick up the bum to get the best out of himself. That a player with around 150 games needed to be disciplined at the start of the season is an absolute disgrace. He should have been selected into the leadership group. That the players didn't, and that he was not selected for the pre-season games for not working hard enough in the pre-season, suggests to me that he is a player we can trade. BTW, he did play a pretty good game against Collingwood in the last round, but that's the tease. Trade him while we can - bundle him up in a trade for Jake Lever.

Please JDM. He. Can't. Be. Traded. Unless. He. Wants. Out. He. Is. A. Contracted. Player.

Sure. They. Could. Threaten. Him. To. Play. VFL. But. That. Would. be. Silly.

By. The. By. He. loves. the Dees. 

[Skin Deeamond 339]

46 minutes ago, JackDeMan said:

We blew our spot in the finals because we lost 5 games that we were expected to win (Freo at the MCG, North at the MCG, Hawthorn at the MCG when they were going bad, North at Hobart, and Collingwood at the MCG), and we won only 3 games that we were expected to lose (St Kilda Round 1 at Etihad, Adelaide in Adelaide, and West Coast in Perth). Even up that score and we are in the finals comfortably. And the reason we lost those games - inconsistency - one bad quarter in each game. Nothing to do with interstate trips, 6-day breaks, or injuries.

We can only improve if we understand why we had those bad quarters in those games.

For example, in the last game against Collingwood, most comments have been about our low tackle count in the first quarter. But a low tackle count is the end result of other things that you do, or don't do. I watched a reply of that first quarter, and we weren't close enough to the Collingwood players to lay a tackle, suggesting our structures at stoppages was out of whack, or we weren't running hard enough. I suspect both.

Either way, we need to send a very strong message to the players that you get the results you deserve, and not working hard enough in the pre-season (which was what Jack Watts did) means you are not good enough to make the finals.

BTW, it is not only Jack Watts that needs a kick up the bum. Dom Tyson's kicking is atrocious, even when it seems not to be . Under no pressure in that last game, he kicked the ball out of bounds, when he was trying to deliver it to his team-mate. And Tom McDonald is the worst short-kick in the game, bar no-one. At least those two players prepare hard, and compete hard, but they have to improve in their skill deficiencies, otherwise they won't be a part of the next Melbourne Premiership team, whenever that is.

2064.

[Judd's Granny 24]

Would I trade him for the right price - Yes 

Would I actively try to move him on - No way

I would think Dom Tyson will be on the trade table long before Watts.

Dean Kent is currently being shopped by MFC at players request.

 

[GoD's67 111]

12 hours ago, JackDeMan said:

We blew our spot in the finals because we lost 5 games that we were expected to win (Freo at the MCG, North at the MCG, Hawthorn at the MCG when they were going bad, North at Hobart, and Collingwood at the MCG), and we won only 3 games that we were expected to lose (St Kilda Round 1 at Etihad, Adelaide in Adelaide, and West Coast in Perth). Even up that score and we are in the finals comfortably. And the reason we lost those games - inconsistency - one bad quarter in each game. Nothing to do with interstate trips, 6-day breaks, or injuries.

We can only improve if we understand why we had those bad quarters in those games.

For example, in the last game against Collingwood, most comments have been about our low tackle count in the first quarter. But a low tackle count is the end result of other things that you do, or don't do. I watched a reply of that first quarter, and we weren't close enough to the Collingwood players to lay a tackle, suggesting our structures at stoppages was out of whack, or we weren't running hard enough. I suspect both.

Either way, we need to send a very strong message to the players that you get the results you deserve, and not working hard enough in the pre-season (which was what Jack Watts did) means you are not good enough to make the finals.

BTW, it is not only Jack Watts that needs a kick up the bum. Dom Tyson's kicking is atrocious, even when it seems not to be . Under no pressure in that last game, he kicked the ball out of bounds, when he was trying to deliver it to his team-mate. And Tom McDonald is the worst short-kick in the game, bar no-one. At least those two players prepare hard, and compete hard, but they have to improve in their skill deficiencies, otherwise they won't be a part of the next Melbourne Premiership team, whenever that is.

Really, injuries don't impact performance. Why were the Swans 0-6!