binman

100% agree on all accounts. I watched the game whilst cooking and loved it and really felt connected, Sung the song with gusto after the game and loved the players's joyous rendition. It really feels as if they are part of the club and i think the women's team will be a huge benefit to the MFC, not leat in terms of building our supporter base. So exciting and great reward for the rela investment we, along with the doggies, have made in this space. Go dees.

100% agree on all 3 counts. Yes he can drift out of games at times (as seems par for the course for specialist small forwards) but he is a very important player in our set up. One, he has the ability to hit forward targets and can do so with bullet passes, across the face of goal kicks and well weighted kicks into space. Two he has great vision and sees and hits targets others don't. Three he has pace, something we seriously lack. Four, he reads the play beautifully, a skill that in some senses can't be taught and is a natural small forward. And five, our game plan (which of course is very similar to that of the Hawks, Crows and perhaps even more so the doggies) is all about run and gun and getting the ball into our forward half before the opposition can flood back. This, combined with the number of poor kicks we have, means the ball is pumped in quickly and often comes to ground. With this game plan quality small forwards are critical, not just in terms of scoring but stopping the ball slingshot back out our offensive area. The hawks have Rioli, the Crows Betts and the dogs about 3 who play this role. We have Garlett.

Credit where credit is due Saty has, as i have said before, mastered the subtle wind up

No i think you are right ie knocking the ball on being part of goody's strategy to keep the ball moving forward. it was noticeable in the JLT how often players elected to knock the ball forward, rather than grabbing it. The other part of the strategy is to have multiple players pushing hard forward to be in a position to collect the ball. Trac does it all the time. A spectacular example was the tap on by Harmes to Spencer, who goaled, against Wet Toast.

Chromecast. I bought one for this reason (watching footy) but since i have bought it have used it for all sorts of other reasons, for example casting movies and you tube content from website, streaming spotify and even the cricket on ABC radio last night. It comes pre loaded with a number of apps eg Spotify, netflix, youtube A very neat bit of tech and only $60. In this thread Choke gives an excleent how to set up guide (which my son follwed to set up). Super easy - almost plug and play.

The demon"s very own Snake Baker

Which is fine. Because the GF will be at the G!

Not trying to be cute but we have one current A grade star in Gawn and two likely A grade star players in Trac and Hogan and enough others like Clarrie and Salem who might also get there. At the end of this season we will be looking for players based on need for certain positions to be covered (eg another quality tall defender) - not an A grade star for the sake of an A grade star.

I reckon his leading skills are fine. it would help if his teammates kicked it to him, which until last season they didn't seemed inclined to do

In modern speak this is called 'walking it back'. Well perhaps not walking it back but certainly softening your stance. IIRC correctly you were adamant Spencer would not be picked for round 1, that Goodwin was not that stupid. That said i agree. I wouldn't play Spencer either, primarily because as you say it robs us of run, which will be critical against the saints. Dunn's lack of run (and inability to play zone) in the corresponding game last year killed us and effectively ended his career at the dees. For what it's worth i don't think he'll get picked. The JLT was important to keep him match ready and motivated because he is a critical piece of the puzzle if Gawn has to miss one or two matches (that's all i can countenance writing). They might go with the two ruck man is some games though, just not against the saints

And perhaps the plan is to give a good hit out today, in which case getting loads right would be tricky if he had played even limited minutes last night (plus risk of coppunf say a corky ans not being able tp play today)

That's good. He certainly has competition for spots this year but i have a lot of time for frosty and reckon he has significant upside. His athleticism, ability to play tall but most of all his pace and ability to run though lines are all super valuable traits in modern footy and our game plan in particular. I would be very surprised if he is not regular in our 22.

I think the pr people call this getting out in front of the story

No spin required. Tbe club have handled wattgate pretty well in my book. My only knock is goody should have got on rhe front foot and been clear from tbe get go (ie prior to the first jlt game) watts was not selected because of training standards. There was always going to be speculation because watts stirs strong emotions and that would have calmed things a bit

12 month ban please mods.

My predicted quote from goody Jack has worked really hard in the last 3-4 ans has been training witg the right intensity. This is the level he needs to stay at and im confident he will. Jack will make a big contribution to our side this year and will rip the saints a new one....

Agree on all three points. The second game against Gold Coast is a great example of what he can bring to the table. We were woeful that day and he was the only one who really performed. Apart from the fact he kicked the winning goal (a difficult kick, particularly given his record from that spot was poor - 1 goal 6 - according to the fox stats), he kicked 3 in a low total and gut ran throughout the last quarter. His match winning goal came soon after terrific contest with 2nd and 3rd efforts on the wing (at the two minute mark of the video below) and he was knackered, sucking in the big ones just before he marked it. As is is often the case (because he makes good decisions and doesn't turn the ball over) he was put back late in the quarter and made a match saving mark in the GC goal square. This video gives a great example of what he gives us. He stood up when it counted, willing us to win that game and it is worth remembering our late season charge at the finals would have not got off the ground if we had lost the GC game.

Always so negative

Since 2000, in my opinion Jack Watts has been better than the following number 1 picks: 2007 Matthew Kreuzer Carlton 2009 Tom Scully Melbourne 2010 David Swallow Gold Coast 2011 Jonathon Patton Greater Western Sydney 2012 Lachie Whitfield Greater Western Sydney 2013 Tom Boyd Greater Western Sydney 2014 Paddy McCartin St Kilda 2015 Jacob Weitering Carlton 2016 Andrew McGrath Essendon

No, sorry i can't agree with this. Whilst no viney (who is) Wattsy's competitiveness and grit was terrific last year. As was his gut running and ability to stay in the contest. For Pete's sake he was our second ruckman last year and regularly had blokes 10-15kg heavier jumping into him. And while i'm at it i'm a bit over suggestions he was just ok last year. He was fantastic and won at least 2 games for us, played every game and really only played 2-3 poor to average games. He had a better year than Hogan. Which is why he came 5th in our B & F. If he has a similar year this year he will be in AA discussions at the end of the season. Whilst i'm disappointed he has not met internal KPIs let's not make the mistake of rewriting history. Make no mistake if we are to make the finals we will need Watts playing. Full stop. he is as important to our chances as Hogan. And i have no doubt Goodwin knows this. This quote from him is very instructive: "WHEN Jack comes back in the team we're going to have a really good player on our hands" PD has had his fun and must be chuckling at how long the Watts thread is and the fact this one keeps growing. It also provides him plenty of opportunity to ventilate his 'disappointment' in Jack (is there a psychologist in the house?). But let's keep things in the proper perspective. I for one will back Jack in and expect him to reach the heights of last year and be a key factor in our rise up the ladder. Anyone up for any bets?

Perhaps but Ziebell is only a few notches above a journey man and has long hit his ceiling. i guess my point is disappointment is relative. Am i disappointed that Watss has not delivered on the promise ALL number 1 draft picks bring with them when drafted (and not just in our sport). Yes, i would have loved a Reiwoldt or Hodge. But am i disappointed we selected Watts in the 2008 draft? No, not when you look at the likely other choices - and that includes Hurley who is a sook and probably would not be close to the player he is now if he had experienced the woeful development Watts has had to endure until the last 3 years or so (which not surprisingly conicides with his improvement as player - Watts that is). For context here is the last 25 years of number 1 picks. Not many Reiwoldts in this lot: 1990 Stephen Hooper Geelong 1991 John Hutton Brisbane Bears 1992 Drew Banfield West Coast Eagles 1993 Darren Gaspar Sydney 1994 Jeff White 1995 Clive Waterhouse 1996 Michael Gardiner West Coast Eagles 1997 Travis Johnstone Melbourne 1998 Des Headland Brisbane Lions 1999 Josh Fraser Collingwood 2000 Nick Riewoldt St Kilda 2001 Luke Hodge Hawthorn 2002 Brendon Goddard St Kilda 2003 Adam Cooney Western Bulldogs 2004 Brett Deledio Richmond 2005 Marc Murphy Carlton 2006 Bryce Gibbs Carlton 2007 Matthew Kreuzer Carlton 2008 Jack Watts Melbourne 2009 Tom Scully Melbourne 2010 David Swallow Gold Coast 2011 Jonathon Patton Greater Western Sydney 2012 Lachie Whitfield Greater Western Sydney 2013 Tom Boyd Greater Western Sydney 2014 Paddy McCartin St Kilda 2015 Jacob Weitering Carlton 2016 Andrew McGrath Essendon

From that list the only player who is close to Watts in terms of consistent output and therefore value for selection is Hurley. And Hurley in my view is incredibly over rated. I suspect most recruiters if selecting from that list right now would choose Hurley 1 and Watts 2nd (i'd have them around the other way because i suspect Watts will continue where he left off last year and end up being a more valuable player than Hurley over his caeer).

Leoncelli36 or jack Watts?

It is possible off field 'issues' and training standards are linked and so both have been problematical (and therefore the posters who seems to contradict each other are, in fact both correct). If he has been partying a bit hard it would clearly have an impact on his capacity to push himself super hard in training - unless you are Ben Cousins. In my view off field activities are no ones business - until such time as it affects training or playing or standards (or of course it brings the club in to disrepute eg Dustin Martin or involves something like family violence etc). Whatever the cause or reason the bottom line is he has not been training at the required intensity. Which as i have said before is simply not good enough, particularly for a senior players and perhaps the most talented player on the list. How embarrassing for him to have a young whipper snapper like trac have to say something in an interview like "jack knows what he has to do, he is STILL an important player for us''. Lucifer i see your point about the fact this has been going on for months but i am assuming they have addressed it with him. An until the last 2-3 weeks he has failed to fully address the issue. Yes this is a guess but to my mind if true his makes it Jack's behavior worse, I put Jack in my top 10 all time favorite player list so i can barely be a bigger fan but i fully support the approach taken by Goodwin and the club. And i'm really annoyed and frustrated with jack to be honest. i hope he is selected in Round 1 because that will indicate he has fully addressed the issue of training at the required intensity. But i hope they don't pick him if he has not done the work. there can only be one rule.

The two are not mutually exclusive - in fact are usually one and the same