Mad_Melbourne

The skills that Jack Watts does have can't really be taught imo, most players eitehr have good skills or dont, sure they can get better but you can not teach a player to dispose of the football at an exceptional level. I think in an AFL system naturally a players skills will get better, but it is rare that someone whose disposal is not elite when drafted moves into this category. Players usually take safer options in order to ensure their disposal is much more likely to reach a target. Vision is much the same, coaching can teach a player where to look but cant ensure players will be there, whilst game plan can do its very best to do that its not something coached, again opinion. Some players naturally can see the play moving and where to put the football in order to best benefit the team. did the list pretty quickly and kept finding players i wanted to re-sign

I really cbf arguing about Watts and making another thread on him but these two points i have highlighted are purely speculation, think about the players that were drafted and developed in that time and think about how many are still on the list. This is clear evidence of poor recruiting, but it is also massive evidence of poor player development that has hindered the club for the last however many years. It was the coaching team and the recruiting teams job to get the right people into the club and develop them in the best way possible and we have not started to do this until recently and the addition of Brendan McCartney will further this. The club has a value on players, the fact that they didnt trade him was mainly due to the fact that we rate him higher than other clubs and are not willing to let him go seeing as he is a player who has played 60 games in the last 3 years. Players have deficiencies and his are highlighted by the experts on the forum more so than anyone, but still was picked for 20/22 games this year and had patches of reasonable form playing off half forward and moving through the wing. He does have to eliminate lapses of concentration from his game, because whilst people continually mention his lack of competiveness there has also been instances this year which highlight the things he can do that not many others can. The tap back on the goal line to gartlett highlighted his game awareness that not many would have. His disposal is still the best in our side and there are multiple instnaces where he is in the right spot and able to hold his ground in order to mark the footy. Yes he has clangers, but as mentioned, all players have clangers his are just highlighted more than most. I am doing what i hate, so i will stop talking about Jack Watts, every bloody thread turns into a Watts thread and as soon as i saw that you were the recent comment i knew something would be about him but i was intrigued to read it. T. McDonald, Tyson, Kent, Vince, Jetta, Spencer, Frost, Watts, Dawes and O. McDonald seem most important to resign and roughly in that order in my opinion. Can see players looking to hold out til the end of the year but Tyson, Vince and Jetta will probably be made over the summer i think.

i reckon it should be just Jack Watts, imagine the drama that would follow that. would be good for a laugh

This debate keeps drawing further and further away from my point, my statement was that I was optimistic, whilst I acknowledge his weaknesses, I see the aspects that he can bring to the side as the main reason he has stayed on the list and if he is able to combine this with a full pre season and consistent form in the VFL he will play AFL games this year. I also think it is a big year for him, for the obvious reasons that he is being given one last chance. So in relation to your quote, the club is optimistic about what he can offer to the side and therefore that warrants the extra year? Do i rank him in our top 30, no, but Roos and co have a knack of playing players based on form and was able to play a large chunk of the side next year. Sometimes I think you just like to type, because alot of what you are saying is in support of my initial statements but laced with a condescending and negative tone.

if this was Roos opinion of him, then surely he would have been delisted rather than offered a 1 year contract? im not disagreeing with the fact that he does want runners, but why would the club as a whole offer him an extra year when he was out of contract and could easily have delisted him and offered the spot to another player in the draft or even viv michie? This is true, his disposal count is really poor for VFL, but he also was able to find the goals quite often and was able to often exploit the space behind the zone, which is a really handy asset that we have seen Jeffy do quite often this year. The stats per game for him are often skewed also due to the fact that he was coming back from injury and working on his game time, that being said he would want to find more of the football and increase his pressure acts in order to push for a spot.

I'm not disagreeing with his poor aerobic capacity, but these things can be worked on. Whilst he is working from a long way back, the things that he can bring to our side are things that we lack and therefore that is the main reason the club will have stuck with him and give him the one year extension. He definitely needs to string together a full pre season and a run of games without injury to put his name into contention, but I am optimistic that he adds something and if he can do so will be pushing his name up for selection.

Players have their deficiencies, its hard to put together a really solid tank when he has been spending most of the last two seasons on the sidelines. I dont think he will play 22 AFL games this year, but really hoping he can put together a season of 15 vfl games and 5-7 Afl games. Has reasonable finishing ability on top of his breakaway speed and these are skills that can translate to AFL level

The thing that annoys me with this, whilst I am willing to admit it has happened, is the fact other players have been seen to do the same thing, but it is allowed to slide under the radar. Patrick Cripps, who will be an absolute gun, was a victim of a similar head ducking last year resulting in a turn over and goal, yet did the media make the issue as big as when Watts happened to do it, not at all. Watts is unlucky that both opposition and Melbourne supporters and the media scrutinise him more than any other player in the league. Im most optimistic this season about Jayden Hunt, he provides something that our side lacked last year. Whilst Kent and Frost both add this speed to the side, with a good run with injuries Hunt could show why their is faith in him and why Roos has high faith in him.

Could do it with players who have played the most games over the last three years. Maybe take the top 5?

I am adamant that Frost will play 3rd tall/ruck and it makes perfect sense to keep the rest in a reasonably settled backline. Any major injuries and Frost can be used in defence but he will play as a forward especially to start with that's for sure

I agree with the desire of quality disposal coming out of the backline and its why i hope we keep Salem there 1-2 more seasons before his impending move to the middle. White could very well get the rookie elevation at the end of next season if he puts on another season like he has, which really emphasises the good work done by the recruiting and development team with Harmes and vandenBerg this year!

just type the heading into a google search and you should be able to click a link and read it

This is a real stiff call considering he really has only played one AFL game and got caught out 3-4 times in complete no mans land resulting in opposition goals. Whilst he definitely gave a great showing of himself, Grimes is still ahead of him and rightly so seeing as a long term injury is the only way he will be getting a game and it is unlikely the club will promote him ahead of Viv Michie.

Petracca

As stated earlier, game was watched last year. Also stated didn't get the opportunity to see much of him this year. My main contention was before the draft I felt his athleticism would be an issue for him to progress and lowered his chance of success in my opinion. But I also stated I have complete faith that Jason Taylor and crew know lots better than I do so therefore I am coming round to his many strengths outweighing his, imo, lack of athletic ability.

i agree, i have never said that i am correct, all i stated was that he looked slow and had a large turning circle and that was why i was sceptical about him leading into the draft! although, i feel it would be more matches that most of the posters here were able to see and probably gives a better indication than a highlights package. Does that mean all posts on this forum are basically redundant, especially on draftees as they probably have seen minimal of all players?

Highlights clips are exactly that, you see when the ball is in his area and very rarely do they show the work in the lead up to that or his sprints in order to create a lead. Regardless of your viewing of his highlight clips, did you actually get to see him play football in order to formulate an opinion or do you stick to watching highlights clips to base your views on a footballer. It worked with your initial views of Clayton Oliver, who we picked at three and once it looked like that was going to be the case you backflipped on your views. The comparisson of Wiedeman to Boyd is a fair one, in my opinion as they are similar type of footballers and whilst i hope nothing more than to see Wiedeman succeed now that he is in a Melbourne jumper, it did not change that before the draft I was underwhelmed by what i had seen of him. I have full faith in Jason Taylor and the recruiting guys and back them in to do their jobs, but that still does not mean that in the game i saw he looked slow and as i did not get to see him at the carnival this year it is the only real vision of him i can run with.

From the game I watched, his turning circle looked rather large, thats not to say you cant be a good footballer with one e.g. Travis Cloke, even Jesse Hogan has a reasonably large turning circle. Athletiscism is not all that is required to play as a good key position forward, but it is clearly a debatable issue. Key forwards running 3.24 in the 20m is not good speed and he does not look quick on the field, but he does as stated by Jason Taylor "attack the ball in the air" It is clearly an opinionated statement, but it was from watching him play in a game for the eastern ranges last year. My view on players is hardly gospel, but how many times did you see him play in order to form an opinion or is it all based off other peoples views? Quigley has a good eye for talent and had him at 18...

I was not so concerned by his beep, it does usually take a little bit longer for the taller players to build a tank historically, but from his footage and a game i saw of him (granted it was last year) i thought he looked really slow and had a turning circle of a truck, this really reminded me of Tom Boyd and I personally think that those charecteristics really make it tough to succeed in a key position at AFL. That said, he attacks the ball so well in the air and finishes his work, it is tough to make the tranisition to AFL level and I would love for him to be a success story. Before the draft i was not as sold, but that said as we picked him up I probably was a bit more easily swayed. Sanderson has a great footy mind, I remember once having a quick chat to him at an airport lounge and he was really accomodating, but i doubt he would say a bad word about the draft class as it is not in anyones interest for him to really harp on the negatives.

I personally am not sold on Wiedeman, athletically I think he will struggle, that being said, the more i read about him and a few of the conversations i have had with people who know what they are talking about, think that he would have been the premium forward in the draft had he played the carnival. Either way, he interviews really well, he comes across as a really good kid and that is a great start, now he just needs to put the effort in on the track and put some good performances in at VFL and we will be laughing.

Externally, that was the offers received. Regardless of whether he is rated externally or not, I personally am of the opinion he is in the best 22 and obviously from there it's form dependent as we have more depth.

How do you know this, the club made no statements about trading of Jack Watts and unless you are on the inside there is no evidence of no clubs being interested. What I have heard, was more that clubs were interested but thought he was worth something similar to Toumpas but Melbourne wouldn't not trade for anything less than a late first rounder, early second rounder. Jack watts will play round 1 and in my opinion has every chance to play 20 games.

Newton is injured, not sure on time frame ankle ligament or something of that ilk. Did it last week still on crutches

He will be one of our starting wingers/high half forwards, then it is up to him to keep his form up so that he stays in the side. He played some decent football on the wing, where he used his speed to take the game on and his disposal is almost the most damaging in our side, so he should be pivotal for us moving forward. Im an unashamed fan, would back him in for 18+ games and a contract extension.

Whilst the stats seem underwhelming, im pretty sure both were for around 60% game time, playing more of a forward flank role. I think hes got the goods, just hope he can translate it to afl level.