binman

It's a confidence thing. Should be dropped for a few to Casey to sort it out.Insert joking symbol

Dees2014 I'm one who thinks that you may be talking out of your hat. But I really, really hope to be proven wrong. If so I will be the first to chow down on humble pie.

This is what is nonsense. By all means lets acknowledge where he's at: one of our most valuable players and one of the first handful picked each week, as demonstrated by the fat he keeps getting picked, he doesn't start as a sub and his statistical output. That is where he is at. What is this nonsense about 'a path back". A path back from where? By all means dees fans should highlight what Jack can improve (eg his competitiveness in the air) just as they would abut any player (eg "Tyson needs to improve his kicking and stop getting caught holding the ball') but peddling untruths hard"and myths (Watts is soft, doesn't work hard, is on thin ice in the side, would benefit from a spell in the seconds, adds nothing to the team blah, blah, blah) should be left to other other teams' supporters and fuckknuckle clueless football commentators. Any way this is a futile effort so i better stop posting in this thread, after a final comment. Watts is a valuable MFC player who has stuck fat when the easy thing to do would have been to swan of to another club and play regular finals (something a truly soft player would do). I'l be there on Sunday cheering him on (and no doubt wincing at the bone headed MFC supporters giving it to him when he makes an error)

As BB siays not really much of a pro Watts argument but what his resilience does show is that he is professional about his training, injury management and preparation. For the last 2-3 years coaches, MFC players and DL training watchers alike have commented on how hard Watts works at training, which should, but won't for some, dispel the myth that he doesn't work hard to reach his potential. Or perhaps i'm wrong and his capacity to reach 100 AFL games in a relatively short period is just another example of his luck not hard work. Perhaps all his coaches have just gifted him games because he went to Brighton Grammar and is a nice kid.

Oh for pets sake Bob do you honestly think roos would have picked him all last season and again this year if he wasn't best 22? Watts would be one of the fist picked not on the fringe. 4 games? Don't worry about that sample size. Look at at last years stats. In particular look at goal assists, goals and score involvements. The coaching staff do. But if you want to focus on the four he has played, he was OK last week, OK against the crowd (in conditions that didn't suit him), average game against gas and one of our best in our win against GC. On what basis then would he be dropped?

Top job dom

Great stats Rev, ta. Third in marks. No 1 for goal assists. Shows his value. Would love to see his GPS figures Where can i find those stats

I disagree but perhaps we are at cross points The public debate (as opposed to ongoing critiques of his game on DL) in the last couple of weeks has been on whether he ducked his head in Adelaide and again against the tigers - not whether he goes hard enough in the air. In fact i don't recall any one outside of DL discussing how hard he goes for marks. But as i recently posted i agree that he should commit himself to more marking contestants as he has a habit of staying down for crumbs but as i also said i think he really addressed that against the tigers flying for lots of marks. I admire someone who works to address issues and Watts has addressed many of his short comings, for instance his appetite for contested ball and tackling skills. Jones did it with his kicking and i hope Tyson and Viney do the same

Yes I agree that part of jabbers post is fair. But I can not recall one other occasion watts has been accused of ducking his head (which is what this faux 'crisis' is about, not taking his eye of the ball)

Indeed. He has almost played 100 games of afl and it has never been an issue. Two dropped marks in the wet and it is a crisis.

I agree

...but telling the club someone else was driving

On those comments you'd have to say Grimes is a lock. Beyond Grimes however it is not so clear. Not effusive about the Toump but gave Spencer and Riley some praise so perhaps those two come in

i think that is a valid criticism. I made a similar point after the Crows game ie his instinct seems to be to crumb rather than fly for the mark. This was highlighted when the ball was kicked high to our half forward line and we had a two on one, with our two being Garlett and Watts. Watts left it for Garlett who as the crumbing forward correctly left it for Watts. Neither competed for it and the crows player marked it. It was this passage of play that would have caused most concern for Roos not the dropped mark. And it is this propensity to stay down they would have focused on before the tigers game. I was pleased then to see Watts compete really hard i the air in the tigers game and whilst he didn't clunk many he jumped at almost every high ball and into packs. In fact i though he competed really hard in the air and again whilst he didn't clunk any halved number of important contests, one of which Hogan roved of the spill funnily enough giving it off to Newton who had a shot on goal (i think he kicked it actually). He also wet up as third man in a few rucking situations. To me this is a good example of a bloke who takes things on board and is prepared to work at his craft. There are a number of other examples, for instance his increased tackle and contested possession numbers.

We have won 2 games thus far. In the one in the conditions that best suited watts he was in our best. So what is all this palaver about being out of form? Watts is by far our most important player in terms of our capacity to put a score on the board. By far. To win a team needs to score more than the opposition. While that remains the case watts is safe. To be honest the blow torch should be on Tyson. He was poor against the tigers and at one point cost us what could have been a crucial goal. In that passage of play he turned the ball over twice and got caught holding the ball. Imagine if watts had done that. Anyway I'm going to assume you're trolling and stop defending jack. As TDI says if he is good enough for roos he's good enough for me

You obviously don't rate roos

Not sure who they should bring in but I'm predicting they'll select Grimes to play the lock down jetta role and the toump for Kent's defensive forward role with time in the middle. Good call on watts and how's third man up roles. Saw a bit of that against tigers

The other thing was in the second and 3rd q he played at HB (I missed the first q) but in the last q started up forward and on ball. I wonder if giving him less time in the second half (to rest him?) and playing him forward is an indication he is a good chance to replace Kent in that defensive forward role. I agree that he missed some targets but was very physical. I reckon Grimes is a lock and good cover for jetts.

Funny you should say that. In the second half I ssf behind our bench. Quite interesting to hear the players coming on and off and their comments (who have I got? Pick up 20 etc). The toump was on the sidelines, came on but called back off less than 5 mins later. Not happy. Very loudly yelled 'that was the worst fuckibg rotation ever'

Not sure if reported but I was at the Casey game and bail was concussed. Didn't play second half, indeed I don't think he even came back to the bench after going to the rooms

I agree TDI. I was there and he had little impact. By the by a nice spot to watch the footy. Good memories as the last time i was there as that famous game at the end of the home and away season in 87. I reckon it is a real boon for the bullies having their admin, social club, merch shop at their own training ground. Good set up. Bit jealous actually. Good to see H there supporting the boys and i just love listening to the coaches address. Lots of talk about brand (eg 'our brand of football')

From the Hun: 'ON THE BLOCK: It’s hard to see Paul Roos making any forced changes after such a spirited win. Jack Watts lifted his intensity after a disappointing performance against the Crows and laid four tackles along with 14 disposals and a goal.' As Clint rightfully says Watts wasn't soft on Friday night and of course he wont be dropped. Roos has been crystal clear what his players need to do to remain in the team. Run both ways and play their role. Watts does both. A coach brave enough to drop an ex captain and much respected player would not hesitate to drop Watts if he wasn't meeting those two non negotiables. It really is ridiculous how a handful of commentators (and some DL posters) have run with this notion of him ducking his head and being soft. Equally ridiculous how some recommend dropping him as some sort of sign that his play is not acceptable. Such a position surely must relate to prefixed ideas about Watts that are unlikely to change, even when there is evidence to the contrary. It is also amazing how the goal posts shift for Watts. People criticized him for lack of intent, not tackling enough, not beating opponents one on one and not competing in the air and when he achieves those things (as the stats attest to, as does the vision and the fact he gets picked each week) suddenly it is the perceived ducking of the head, which some seem to be suggesting is a chronic issue when in fact it has rarely occurred and i would argue didn't this week. Watts brilliantly out points his opponent in a one on one duel, doesn't mark it but wins the ball and turns on a dime. What does Commeti say when he miskicks the ball - deplorable effort. Despite the fact that he had a man on his tail and he didn't kick the ball to an opposition player or on the full. It just went out of bounds, unlike Brayshaw, a brilliant kick of the ball normally who under no pressure kicks the ball straight out on the full entering the forward 50 (at a crucial time i might add). Watts drops a ball in the driving rain and it is evidence of his softness but Cross drops a similar one, Garland drops an even easier one (all by himself and when the rain has eased) and a tiger player drops a sitter. Barely a word said about those though. No mention - anywhere that i have seen- is made of his effort in the last second or so of the first quarter to fly into a pack, running with the flight of the ball. This is often seen as the very epitome of braveness yet Watts does it and gets no kudos. What about his effort to redeem himself after coughing up the ball with a miskick on the half back flank (which by the by came after he had gut run from the forward line tracking the ball as the tiges moved it forward) and the tiges scoring a point from the turnover? On the resulting (fast) kick out he wills himself to the opposite pocket and dives across the boot of a player having a shot on goal causing him to miss. Crucial - but again no praise and many of those with fixed ideas would say that it was simply a poor kick and Watts efforts had no bearing on it. What about Watts gut running? Look at where he gets so many of his possessions - in the back half. Remember he is a forward. I'd bet London to a brick that outside of our mids he leads the GPS stats (Saty could you check this at training please). But his critics would just say he jogs around at half pace and picks up easy kicks. Bollocks. Look at the goal he he got. He tackled Rance on the wing and caused him to handball our way and cough it up (though his critics would say he just got lucky and Rance made an error - he seems to get lucky a lot). He then ran with the MFC player, directed him to kick it to a leading player, kept running forward and then doubled back to offer the lead. After that gut running he was able to mark the ball under intense pressure from Martin (though not in the rain as i mistakenly posted previously). Does he get kudos for this gut running? No. The focus from some is on his lucky 50 meters. That was a crucial goal as was the goal he set up with the beautiful 15 meter handball he gave to Vandenburg (after snaring the ball from the pack - though i'm positive some would say this was lucky). Roos said Jones had improved because he had become a team player. Watts has always been a team player and this was just another example where he put his team mates into scoring positions (as opposed to firing away himself, which a more selfish player would have), as was the beautiful handball he fed to Newton about 20 metres from goal (Newton missed) and the tap out where he went third man up from a stoppage at the same end that ended up with Tyson. Kudos? Not a one. As someone noted that video of Watts bloopers on the AFL site is an absolute disgrace and the club should ask them to take it down. Even better they should produce a highlights package from the tigers game showing the plays noted above and the others he did, eg the marking contests he halved, bringing the ball to ground (something he has been roundly criticized for not doing - 'all we want is for him to compete!' yet when he starts doing it not a peep from this critics).

Interesting article, particularly given he has reviewed the written decision. Based on Darren Kane's assessment of the findings an appeal by WAD seems unlikely. But that can't be true. He must be in EFCs pocket. Because as DL knows, Dees2014 has impeccable sources saying the big bad WADA wolf is going to eat EFC alive and BB is similarly adamant they will come in over the top. I hope they're both right, i really do but as i have said for some time i have my doubts

These are the figures the coaching panel worry about, not how soft 'fans' and dimwitted commentators asses him to be. 7 contested possessions? I'll be that is more than at least half the team. 4 Goal involvements, 2 goal assists and his own goal? In a low scoring game? Again as i have said before he is by far our most significant player in terms of involvement in goals and directly creating them. For a team that struggles to kick 100 points he is vital to our set up. Depends what you want but i prefer we win games so i prefer Watts in the side. I think i'm right to assume Roos does as well.

The rain was sheeting down at that point. It was still drizzly when in the last he clunked the slippery pill on the lead and held despite the push that gave him 50 (and a goal). But i guess that doesn't suit the narrative some 'fans' prefer. For the record he took 3 marks, as many as Jamar and Howe and more than Dawes, Garland and Tyson (who had 0). He also laid 4 tackles, the same number of tackles as Cross and more than half the team including fellow forwards Dawes and Hogan edit: i was supporting your comments Bossdog not disagreeing