Farewell Jack Watts

[Lord Travis 10,294]

Looks set to go to Geelong. Can we milk pick 20 for him?

[hardtack 10,161]

26 minutes ago, DaveyDee said:

Sorry my fault. Nothing personal. Should have wrote many of the older brigade of Demonland posters can dish out the criticism they just cant take it. As a newbie it is a aloof community. 

I think you'll find that many (not all, of course) of the older brigade are the more reasoned posters on here... if you look through the posts, the most vitriolic seem to be by posters who join at times like this (Watts being traded off etc) to do nothing more than sink the slipper.

I've always been a Watts fan, but I would never go so far as to say he has consistently been of much value to the club on game day over the past 9 seasons. Yes, he lifted and helped win us the QB game against the Pies, but as Aristotle once posted on a Forum, "one swallow does not a summer make".

Can't agree with your other post: "I find once a person reaches xxxx+ posts I ignore them, figure they are not objective and share a group think mentality".  The numbers of posts are most often a reflection of the time someone has been a member on these boards; they are certainly not a reflection of a poster's ability to remain objective. As far as "group think mentality" goes, this being a supporter's forum would tend to indicate that we are all guilty of group think when it comes to supporting the Dees.

Oh, and the following should have said: "As a newbie it is a AN aloof community"

Edited October 9, 2017 by hardtack

[jumbo returns 6,555]

There's no emotion in footy...

Omg

[frankie_d 1,410]

2 minutes ago, hardtack said:

...

Oh, and the following should have said: "As a newbie it is a AN aloof community"

This is what makes D'land special 

Next thing you know, we'll be discussing the subjunctive.

[puntkick 325]

On ‎8‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 9:20 AM, Crystal Dees said:

I'll wait for the movie  ?

It'll be titled The Enigma File

[hardtack 10,161]

1 minute ago, frankie_d said:

This is what makes D'land special 

Next thing you know, we'll be discussing the subjunctive.

Are you talking about the use of preterite-present verbs and some irregular weak verbs in which case the past subjunctive differs from the past indicative, but only in the singular form?

[mo64 5,267]

5 minutes ago, Lord Travis said:

Looks set to go to Geelong. Can we milk pick 20 for him?

Yeah. He's worth more than Gary Ablett. We'll get their 2nd rounder or whatever compensation they get for Motlop.

[beelzebub 22,408]

2 minutes ago, frankie_d said:

This is what makes D'land special 

Next thing you know, we'll be discussing the subjunctive.

start a thread.....oh wait......... 

[faultydet 7,593]

34 minutes ago, DaveyDee said:

Sorry my fault. Nothing personal. Should have wrote many of the older brigade of Demonland posters can dish out the criticism they just cant take it. As a newbie it is a aloof community. 

Do me! Do me!

 

Ok, I'll start.

You are wrong, and maybe an idiot.

Your turn........

 

[Age 404]

One can only hope that this will be our Trent Croad moment - the hawks supporters thought it was the end of the world trading him away but they ended up with a decent player in return for it - a lot better pick than what we will get for Watts but we seem to struggle with top 5 picks anyway!

It turned out ok for the Hawks, let's hope it works out for us! (My hope though has been seriously eroded over the years, this could be my last bit left...)

[beelzebub 22,408]

Surfwear does  well out of the Bellarine 

[Cards13 9,117]

58 minutes ago, Vogon Poetry said:

I don't know why I'm bothering posting in this thread and I've not read all of it, thankfully, but the thing that amazes me most is the vast majority of posters are so committed to one side of the debate or the other.

Personally, I think there are two valid points of view and I can see both arguments. It's a bold move by the footy department, it has not been well handled and it's very unfortunate for Jack who clearly wants to stay.

There can be no winner in this debate and that people put so much emotional investment into it is staggering.

Yes it is really interesting to see the whole thing play out and how Wattsy brings out so much emotion in everyone, here is hoping it works out to be a win win for all parties. 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

Surfwear does  well out of the Bellarine 

I hope for his sake they don’t send him to Norlane for a clinic. All the Cats will receive back afterwards are a pair of Skwosh board shorts and a tuft of blonde hair.

[Willmoy1947 3,815]

Really if this decision is as hard for us, the merry men, including me, as it would be for Goody and the Club, and i remember all the times when he (Jack) used to laconically turn around after getting the ball and saying to myself "move it on Jack/Jessie move it on", i really am in a dilemma with this. That instant is where the problem is. The game doesn't want that any more, that deliberation. The game wants, and i agree it's gone past me, less deliberation and more "instinctive and cohesive team speed" that must be maintained at all times, it's the effect. 

[DubDee 21,451]

Hopefully Geelong's strong culture can do the same job it did with Blease on Watts!

cannot believe the outcry on here regarding Watts.  He has played one year at an acceptable level (for a player of his talent) out of 9. you cannto talk about his good qualities without commenting on the negatives.  he's been dropped almost every year aside from last

[frankie_d 1,410]

40 minutes ago, hardtack said:

Are you talking about the use of preterite-present verbs and some irregular weak verbs in which case the past subjunctive differs from the past indicative, but only in the singular form?

I was thinking about this issue, and realised that if Fowler were to hand I would have more to contribute...

[FarNorthernD 5,848]

37 minutes ago, mo64 said:

Yeah. He's worth more than Gary Ablett. We'll get their 2nd rounder or whatever compensation they get for Motlop.

As Mo says the Cats have other priorities than Watts. It would be interesting to see just how low Melbourne would go to get rid of him. I’m assuming they would take anything in the 20’s but would pick 35 get the deal done? If he is still a Melbourne player on the last day and someone offered up 48? 

[3Dee 1,153]

seems a lot of online talk that previously rubbished him now seem interested

Edited October 9, 2017 by 3Dee
tired

[Straight Sets Simon 23,113]

The brilliant thing about this situation is if we don't get a good enough offer for Watts we simply don't trade him and he can use this experience as a much needed and final kick up the bum.

[deejammin' 2,096]

IF Watts is so average then why are three finals teams trying to get him?

The answer is either he has value and they believe they can make him an asset to their team. An indictment on our ability to get the most out of talented players and a big negative against Goodwin +Macca.

OR

The teams think they are getting him so cheaply it’s worth the punt. Which shows how stupid our strategy in pushing him out and bagging him publicly has been if we intended to trade him as we are getting so much less than his value that other clubs think it is worth the chance on an average player. Especially when we resigned him and refused to trade as recently as LAST YEAR when he had value.

Stupid either way, regardless of Watts’ actual potential we have hurt our ability to get what he is worth, while also giving him up to better teams than us with less to trade for our betterment.

Not to mention Jack is so well liked by our players and members that this is a potential culture killer. One of the reasons we have inspired loyalty in guys like Hogan, Petracca, Gawn, T.Mac, Viney and hope to in Clayton Oliver etc is guys like Jones and Watts who have been so loyal in the dark times and bleed red and blue. Pushing one of these guys out, when they don’t want to go, for less than their value, while hurting their reputation publicly, to a better team will seriously bite us the next time we ask a player to take less pay for the good of the club. Loyalty is a two way street and this will bite us. 

Badly handled, colossally stupid, culture killer. Strike one Goodwin. Give up too much for Lever/not have Lever perform, strike two. Miss finals 2018, strike three. We could be a basket case in our FD in one year and look back on this idiocy as the catalyst. So dumb, so infuriating.

Edited October 9, 2017 by deejammin'

[DTJ 95]

I'm so surprised at all the comments on here, angry that MFC are looking to trade Jack. He's always been timid and defensively hopeless, every chase is a token gesture and he only tackles when the only other option is getting out of the way.

Don't get me wrong - great bloke and a perfect finisher but a defensive liability that I'd be happy to see playing at a different club. Might do alright in a Tom Lynch type role with no defensive responsibilities.

[Demon Dynasty 16,086]

20 hours ago, ProDee said:

Where was this "reported" ?

I'm interested in reading this report.

SEN Pro

[deejammin' 2,096]

11 minutes ago, DTJ said:

I'm so surprised at all the comments on here, angry that MFC are looking to trade Jack. He's always been timid and defensively hopeless, every chase is a token gesture and he only tackles when the only other option is getting out of the way.

Don't get me wrong - great bloke and a perfect finisher but a defensive liability that I'd be happy to see playing at a different club. Might do alright in a Tom Lynch type role with no defensive responsibilities.

Jack has deficiencies, no doubt. But he definitely could play well in either a link up man Lynch style role or in an outside mid/backup ruck role ala Grigg at Richmond.

I guess he’s getting forced out as we have so many good options in those roles. Vandenberg as link man? If he can get on the park and hit the side of a barn with his kicking? Tom Mac if he could hit anything with his field kicking? Can Pederson who while good at times is 30, has had one good season and is approaching the end of his career? Weiderman who takes no marks at afl level? Hogan, but then who kicks the goals? There’s no better link up man option in our list than J Watts. 

Ourside mids? Stretch? Salem? 

Backup ruck? T Mac? Who plays back then? Or forward? What if Max gets injured? No Spencer, no Watts? T.Mac and Pederson rucking a whole season. 

Jack has deficiencies but his strengths are exactly what we lack. A link up outside player with good skills who is a great kick for goal and performed admirably this year as a backup ruck. We have no better replacement. So let’s trade him for next to nothing to make a point about contest being king, genius!

[Demon Dynasty 16,086]

19 hours ago, Stretch Johnson said:

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/jack-watts-hopeful-of-staying-with-demons-20171003-gyt96i.html

What was actually said. 

 

19 hours ago, the fork said:

This completely contradicts comments I heard him make on Trade Radio last week in which he stated that he thought Melbourne couldn't  have handled what is an unfortunate situation any better. Mentioned both coach and Josh positively. 

 

19 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

This is exactly what I heard as well.  Unless someone can provide evidence to the contrary, I don't believe his stance on the matter has changed.

Reading between the lines Connors has no doubt advised Jack "it's time to move on mate, Can't fix what's already broken", whilst keeping the slimmest crack open in the door just in case as well as being diplomatic about it (publicly) in order to get the best deal for his client.  Watts being the genuinely nice guy that he is, it's just taken a while longer than many others for it to sink in that the club he truly loves playing for has actually turned its back on him and thrown him under the bus with 2 years remaining ...

...."On Jack Watts, Connors said he would love to stay at Melbourne, but is gathering interest at other clubs.

“That’s been thrown at him for the last five years and I think he’s just getting his head around that he needs to consider his options,” Connors said"...

Courtesy AFL Nation Friday 6 Oct

[Demon Dynasty 16,086]

18 hours ago, Wiseblood said:

You talk absolute drivel sometimes, 'bub.  The above is based on nothing.  Jones didn't push any agenda - he was asked one question about Watts and answered it honestly.  Jones didn't bring it up, the media did.  Stop making up conspiracy theories.

 

He could have just as easily said "No comment or "I'll leave that up to the powers that be" Wise surely?

Edited October 9, 2017 by Rusty Nails