I admit I know very little of Jack Watts' junior career and it would be great to hear from those who have seen a bit of Jack Watts before MFC. I have seen some clips and read his reviews. After watching him a couple of times in the flesh and a few times on the box. I now have myself attempting to evaluate exactly what type of player he is.
What style of player will he become? I have changed my view. I expected him to end up a hard running athetic forward capable of a high flying pack mark in the mould of Riewoldt. I now see him in the James Hird mould. He has a great knack of snaffling the footy with one grab either in the air or on the ground. He also seems to be able to attract the footy to his hands even when out of position with great agility and co-ordination. He can then get himself clear with poise and class. So far he has shown a tendency to stay on the ground and avoid the packs. This leads me into my second question.
It appears that Jack Watts is not placing himself in contested situations. Is this by his design or on the advice of our coaching staff? I have a feeling that it may be the latter.
The third question is: Should a player who actively avoids contests be consistently playing AFL football regardless of the reasons? If a player or the club hasn't got confidence in the players body to withstand a contest, should that disclude them from playing senior footy until the player's body is ready. I can understand that a player may be given a taste of what is required in the big league for a couple of games. Should they be playing on a weekly basis. I am not necessarily looking at Jack when I ask this question.