At the break of Gawn

Really? Simon was bad mouthing him at a corporate function that he was invited to as a guest speaker. The bad mouthing happened during a group conversation after the official proceedings (i.e. not said publicly)

He's been doing it at other social events too. Heard a description of Watts' leading patterns that was far from complimentary.

Excellent post. I'm unashamedly a JW fan, but I think the big thing is that Goodwin has a role that he has wanted Watts to play and he has failed to deliver. Goodwin looks at Watts' height, strength, and says "fly for the ball, crash packs, bring the ball to ground if you can't mark it". Goodwin is a subscriber of the Richmond model, not the Adelaide model. The problem with this for Watts is that he isn't that sort of player, and never will be. Watts strength had always been a lead up player who can deliver the ball well into the 50, and can kick any goal from a mark inside 50. Roos understood this and knew his limitations. Goodwin tried to change Watts and failed. Whoever recruits him, hopefully Longmire, will understand the type of player he is and not try and turn him into a Travis Cloke who he has never been. It's Jack's fault for not being flexible enough to play a new role, but I also blame Goodwin for trying something which was clearly not going to work and was too stubborn to realise this and overlook all the other great assets Watts possesses.

Perhaps the FD can work out a compromise to appease the supporters? My suggestion: Trade Watts to a Victorian based club and then hire him as a part-time goal kicking coach. Win-Win.

Bit over the top to put TMac in that bracket. Rance had 2 or 3 AAs at Tmac's age. Also don't think anyone on our list is going to be better than Martin. Hogan might be better than Riewoldt if he ends up staying with us and learns how to kick.

Perhaps he meant go from the media? Regardless, G Lyon is probably one of the most damaging ex-clubman going around. Unlike Richo who has an undying love for this former club and will never say a bad word about them, G Lyon thinks Melbourne were fortunate to have him and he's always the first to kick us when we're down in the media. To add further salt to the wound, he assisted with the hiring of Mark Neeld. Would we ask G Lyon to present the premiership cup next year? Hell no.

Yep, definitely not wanted anymore. Goodwin can make it sound a mutual thing all he likes in front of a Channel 7 camera, but it's obvious who's breaking up with who. I wonder if all the media speculation about Watts is also deemed as a distraction to the club? Jack obviously has no control over it, but I wonder if Goody & Co, are concerned with all the media scrutiny that comes with Watts and they might be worried that a successful team with Watts playing in the 2s would always cast a negative story about Watts rather than focusing on the success of the football team. Goodwin clearly gets frustrated with all the questions surrounding Jack.

Watching Jack Riewoldt today just reminds me how important it is to nail yours set shots

Basically just means they don't care if he stays or goes. He's not going to create too much of an inconvenience at Casey all year, but the media attention will be ridiculous, so perhaps that's another reason they want him to leave.

After watching the interview, I got the impression that the FD doesn't feel he's part of their plans and basically said, you can try your luck exploring other clubs to get better opportunities, but if you stay you'll be certainly battling an uphill battle to be selected based off your current playing style and preparation i.e. you'll be on the outer. Since how he's contracted he doesn't have to agree to the trade, but I can understand why he wouldn't want a whole year playing Casey.

Back to old ways? The 2016 JW was still there for 2017 until his hamstring injury. I'd still rate his 2017 season over his 2015, 2014, 2013, etc etc.

I don't see how the 9yr thing makes a difference? He was 8 years last year and they gave him a three year contract. Surely the expectations should only be how he is serving his current contract rather than how he served previous ones?

I somehow get the feeling that his papers were stamped after his issues in the pre-season. I get that Watts should have came back with a desire to be even better, but I think after 8 years of bashing, he probably thought he could reward himself with a trip to the US/Bali knowing that he had gained the respect of his peers. He clearly made a mistake and from listening to interviews, he definitely regrets the way he handled his off-season. In regards to his 2017 season, he clearly came back underdone, and Goodwin when asked about his demotion, purely said that Watts' form was off and even Jack himself was disappointed with his return. A guy who thinks he's doing enough doesn't get frustrated or disappointed with his own form. He was hampered by the hamstring injury which led him to not being able to do all the things he wanted to do freely, like running to space, leading, pressure acts etc. Any leg injuries, especially hamstrings, are difficult to recover from and cause you to be hesitant in risk of doing the same injury. They also kill your endurance levels as you can't do any vigorous cardio exercises for a number of weeks. A broken arm is fine - as you won't lose any cardio fitness over the break. In addition, it takes at least 2 weeks for an AFL player to get back to the speed of the game after a lengthy lay-off with an injury that affects your running. This was seen with Gawn, Jones, Hogan (after illness), Joel Selwood even. I think it's overly harsh to trade him after 3 poor weeks where he lacked match fitness because of his injury, and I can't see that being the only reason which why I think it either has to do with the pre-season, or something else is at play. His first VFL game was ok, his second he was listed in the best (and had a big influence on the game for those who watched), and was again listed in our best players against the Pies on his AFL return. So, from the day he signed his 2016 contract, he's put in 3 really poor AFL games and now he's being traded? It has to be the pre-season thing plus something else.

Agree - The official MFC media response has been deafening with silence.

They are some good points, but Hogan's second efforts and pressure are worse than Watts. The key forward can't get away with doing nothing on that front.

Haha yeah true. Was just pointing out that he's not the only one without a perfect tenure.

The same number as Nathan Jones.

I reckon Max Gawn also equals that stat.

True, but I reckon he'd be disappointed if Goodwin starts to erode the culture in roads he'd made at the club. Watts would get hounded by the way he prepared on game day because he'd come in relaxed and not serious enough. Neeld hated him for that and would isolate him from the rest of the group. Roos taught the FD that these deferent personalities can still excel with the right coaching and guidance. He accepted Wattsy's differences and realised not everyone is a Jack Viney. He knew how to motivate him and got the best out of him.

If it was true, then the media criticism would be just the tip of the iceberg you'd think.

I'm also hearing rumors that it's Nathan Jones who wants Watts out. I wonder how crazy this can get?

From Paul Roos: You can't always harp on people's weaknesses. That's the problem that certainly existed before I got to Melbourne," he said. "Every player has got weaknesses. Wattsy responded when you talk about his positiives – he's an elite kick, he's an elite decision maker, he's a very good player. https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/09/28/roos-and-schwarz-urge-dees-to-re-think-watts-trade-plans/ So... the guy who taught Goodwin how to coach, who rebuilt this club, and extracted the best year out of Watts is telling him not to trade him. Hmm, I know who I'd listen to.

Read the comments on Facebook about saying he was getting kicked out... The best n fairest is going to be awkward if he's there. I wonder if Goody and Macca will ask him not to come?

Adelaide also has the best captain in the league and a great leadership group. Tex is a lad who can have fun but is as selfless as anyone out on the field. We've had an uncommunicative, angry and downtrodden midfielder who doesn't posses any leadership qualities who just bombs the ball in. Then we now also have a young kid who just loves a tough ball get and plays 16hrs of pc games on his days off. I can't see this club going anywhere until we have a proper leader. Jettisoning guys who don't fit the "serious persona" won't get us anywhere.

I can't wait to see who we're going to blame all our problems on next year.