binman

I agree he is at minimum standard, assuming you mean his minimum standard, if that makes sense. As you say the way he has played most of this season is minimum required standard, particularly his competitiveness. As someone else pointed out one of the impressive things about this season is how consistent he has been across games (but not as you have said always within games). This is super important as we can see the impact of forwards going missing in some games, in particular Kent and Gartlett. As i have said before 40 goals is what he should have been aiming for, though i would have been happy with 30-35 (perhaps setting the bar to low). Hard to argue that Gunston is the better player. At the moment. He has the runs on the board - though i would argue as permanent forward who's key go is marks on the lead he has benefited from one of the best mid fields ever and had Franklin, Roughie, Rioli and Bruest to keep defenders busy. But i can see Watts being better eventually as he is as classy and with his capacity to play up the ground he has few more strings to his bow. He will also benefit from an improving midfield and a forward line that soon will not be far off the Hawks one i just mentioned. But he would need to go up a level and also put 2-3 more really good seasons together. To go up a level he will need to keep being consistent, but also have a handful of games where he get 20 plus possessions (dragging his disposal average up above the 15 or it is at the moment) and one or two games per season where he blitzes the opposition and bags 5 or 6 goals. I think he has both of those things in him as he builds toward 150 games, his confidence keeps rising and the team around him keeps rising. We'll see. Perhaps my call from 3 years ago that he would make AA might come true. That might be a good bet! By the by i'm loving the avatar PD - warms my heart every time i see it and has allowed me to migrate to two of my favourite ever dees players.

Do it for Nasher redleggers! My dees mate reckons im crazy but i am super confident we'll win this one. In fact i predict a 40 point plus win. We match up supwr well against the pies, primarily because i don't think they have worked out their zone defense, which they need to to combat our high press game.

Thanks samael. A shame for viv. He'll get there. I hope.

Yet posters will continue to say all we need to do is win games to be rewarded with Friday night games. Like North and the bulldogs. Not. Prime time exposure continues to be ignored as a critical element of equalisation. I wonder why. Not.

Yep, that's my take. In particular i reckon he has not met the competiveness threshold in the last 3 weeks, most notably last week. Roos rule number 1. All players will be competitive

No, that can't be true. Seriously?

Calling Webber

Its funny you should say that. I was wondering if there was a chance he might get picked. I heard Viney say in an interview (to burgs?) the docs had said he'd be out for 3 weeks bu that he would be right sooner. Tough little bugger who would have kept running and doing weights so won't have lost any fitness. Put his hand in a big glove and let him play one handed.

Ok Stan, but apart from beating the Lions what did the Romans ever do for us...

Agree. The bit i have seen of the weed he just looks like a pure full forward. Natural leading patterns and terrific attack on the ball in the air. Not in build but he reminds me a bit of jason dunstall. Love that he's learning his craft at Casey. Once in seniors a triangle of watts, hogan and weed (out of tge square) will be a formidable forward line, particularly with Petracca as a wild card. Cant wait.

Nup, no they're not. Thank god. Gossage is a trained journalist who i actually have a bit of time for. Langdpn and hardie are dumb asre jocks that pander to the lowest common denominator

Agree. Harmes hasn't done enough last few weeks. Plenty of scope for improvement and a few weeks back at casey with some specific things to work on will be good for his development

He mentioned in a post match interview with burgs that he played wing but saw himself moving into the mid as an inside mid. I see him as our sam mitchell. Tough inside mid, good by hand, good vision and a good organiser

I reckon he plain misjudged it. He had 3 mtres on his opponent and wouls have known that. If he was going to shirk a contest he would have more of an effort to disguise it. That said it was a big stuff up. It ruined a terrific bit of ball movement and should have been a sure goal as if he had marked its (as he should have) he had a player wide, free and running to goal. Critical point in the match too. Whilst talking about garlett why on earth would the conditions of not suited a crumbing small forward?

Not me. My favorite time slot. Home by 5pm in time to cook dinner and avoid using up too many brownie points

Yep. And Hogan was completely unprepared for it. Dropped him and ran off. Very low act and one i's suggest the dees won't let go. I hope Viney plays next time.

Here is vision. Dog act. I hope Cegalr plays next time we meet them: http://www.afl.com.au/video/2016-06-06/off-air-vision-ceglar-gets-hogan

Gold

Totally agree with the bolded bit. Both got it spot on. Agree with the rest your post as well H_T and given that i have to say good points well made I was going to make a similar point about experience as the one you made in the second bit i bolded. Impossible to replicate the experience gained - and more importantly the development and learnings - by playing a high pressure game against the team who have won the last 3 flags lining up at Casey. Whilst i'm not adverse to them sending him back to the VFL at some point to consolidate his learnings or to ask him to focus on developing a specific aspect of his 'craft' however i'm firmly in the keep in the ones camp. And i'm a Dunn fan. Besides he played ok on the weekend and whilst some may not rate Burgans' analysis i assume most rate the footy IQ of Roos and Goodwin. Or perhaps not (cue calls of Roos admitting he got selection wrong on a number of occasions). They keep on picking him so i can only assume they think it is the right decision. But what would they know? Have to admire Roos. He has selected three super inexperienced players in Wagner, Hunt and OMac and thrown them in the deep end down back. True to his word he is about building a list that can win multiple premierships not protect his win loss ratio. Gutsy for a coach in the final year of a storied coaching career. Goodwin - who with demons fans, will reap the benefit - must love him.

Pfft. Those two wont get 4 between them. Hell the Pies will struggle to kick 8 collectively. I really hope Cloke gets selected. He is a complete liability. He doesn't do scoreboard damage and provides no run or forward pressure. For pete's sakes he barley scored a goal whilst in the VFL. All the hoo ha about Cox is based on the story not the reality. I'll worry when he starts getting more than 10 disposals.

Ta. Still a 2pm start means i can catch thye firts half then wander over to the g for the crows game. There should be more of these opportunities.

The Saints are pretty lucky to not cop more stick in the media for their losses. Much of the footy media still bracket us with them i reckon but whilst its tru they beat us they have been absolutely smashed on several occasions and we haven't. That suggest they have fair way to go.

I agree on both fronts. I'd like to see jack back himself and take on players a bit more and as you say use his pace to advantage. he has shown a bit more preparedness to do so of late but geez i'd love to see him take on a defender, burn him off and have a shot for goal. Perhaps this is a confidence thing (though Jack is a team player) in so far as playing his whole career under constant scrutiny and fear of being lambasted (or as occurred for a period booed) might negate the natural instinct to take risks. Perhaps now that his spot seems assured and he is not being criticised all the time he might play with a bit more freedom. Like PD i'd also like to see a bit more consistency from Jack, not so much week to week as i reckon he has played at a pretty consistent level this season - but within games. Whilst playing permanent forward ends itself to feast and famine (the ball being in the forward line depending as it does on the work of the midfield) he has gone missing at times in matches - a point he has made himself. I'm also waiting to see a four quarter effort where he gets 20 plus touches, kicks multiple goals and is clearly best on ground. I reckon he'll have such a game before season's end. Dare i say it - a break out game. No i dare not.

Oh I almost forgot. Prodee here is your avatar for the next 6 months (link address here)

I make very few threads - in fact in my time of posting I think I've only made two. I was waiting for a Jack Watts thread to pop up to post on it but it hasn't come. So here we are. For those that might have forgotten or are new to Demonland Prodee and i (and Ron Burgundy for that matter) had a bet in the preseason. It was made in November last year and to quote from my post at the time: 'I'll wager he will play more than 10 games and if i lose will take a 2 month sabbatical form Demonland. If he plays more than 10 you change your avatar for two months to a pic of Wattsy of my choosing' ProDee accepted the bet and to his credit said if he lost he would keep his Jack Watts avatar for six months. He also said to Ron that: 'I'll change my avatar to Binman's choice for 6 months from the day he plays his 11th game (won't happen) and you can dictate my signature for the corresponding period.' Well Jack played his 11th (consecutive) game of this season today and had yet another decent game. Why the title of the thread? Well whatever you think of Jack Watts one thing you can't criticise him for is his durability. Debuting in round 11 2009 jack has played 126 games of AFL as of round 11 2016. Leaving aside (asinine) arguments about whether some of these games have been gifted to him the fact remains he has been incredibly durable. Of course luck plays a part and perhaps the churlish might say his lack of competitiveness has helped him avoid injury but he clearly prepares himself well and works bloody hard. He gets very little, if any recognition or credit for this durability. Prodee's rationale for his wager was a totally reasonable one. His argument was that Roos had a put a premium on picking players who were competitive and he felt Watts would not measure up. However he got this wrong. Watts is one of the first picked. Not once has his selection been in any doubt. Not even here on DL where Wattsy's harshest critics lurk in red and blue camouflage. Watts has measured up on the competitiveness stakes. No question. If he hadn't Roos would have dropped him. So big tick there. Prodee correctly predicted he would play permanently up forward. IIRC correctly he said that a pass mark for goals would be 35 -40 (I said 30-35). Again a reasonable suggestion. Well he is on target to surpass 40 goals averaging bang on 2 goals a game this season. So another big tick. It remains to be seen how he will go in the bluey (another Prodee measuring stick – and again not an unreasonable one) but I’m guessing he’d be top 10. So a half a tick there. He is one of our fist picked and one of perhaps only 12 players who are a lock each week. So a tick there. I would like to see him average 20 disposals a game and would love for him to play a real blinder, but he has been more than serviceable and has been a key factor in at least two of our wins. So a big tick there. There was a thread suggesting he was our most important re-signing. Well that’s plain silly. Hogan is clearly our most important re-signing of those coming out of contract (though Gawn is our most important player I would argue). To suggest anything else is crazy. But as a point of reference about Wattsy’s form this this season the stats comparison to Hogan makes for interesting reading (and yes i know stats lie - i'm not suggesting he is as good as Hogan). Not much between them and I imagine Hogan just loves the service he gets from Watts. Player Statistics Comparison Jack Watts Name Jesse Hogan Melbourne Demons Team Melbourne Demons Midfield, Forward Position Forward 126 Career Games 31 Sandringham Dragons Origin Claremont March 26, 1991 Date of Birth February 12, 1995 25yr 2mth Age 21yr 3mth 196cm Height 195cm 92kg Weight 101kg 2008 National Draft Last Drafted In 2012 Mini Draft Round 1, Pick #1 Last Draft Position Round 1, Pick #2 Melbourne Demons Last Drafted By Melbourne Demons 2016 Stats for Season 2016 11 Games 11 9.6 Kicks Per Game 10.4 5.0 Handballs Per Game 4.6 14.6 Disposals Per Game 14.9 6.3 Marks Per Game 7.4 2.0 Goals Per Game 2.4 0.6 Behinds Per Game 1.7 1.3 Tackles Per Game 1.2 1.6 Hitouts Per Game 0 2.9 Inside 50s Per Game 2.6 0.9 Goal Assists Per Game 0.8 0.6 Frees For Per Game 0.9 0.9 Frees Against Per Game 0.4 5.6 Contested Possessions Per Game 6.6 9.4 Uncontested Possessions Per Game 8.7 12.0 Effective Disposals Per Game 9.8 82.2% Effective Disposals % Per Game 65.8% 2.6 Clangers Per Game 1.8 1.1 Contested Marks Per Game 2.4 2.1 Marks Inside 50 Per Game 3.4 0.1 Clearances Per Game 0.1 0.4 Rebound 50s Per Game 0.4 1.4 One Percenters Per Game 1.6 0 Bounces Per Game 0.3 82.3 Time On Ground % Per Game 91.3 $393,000 AFL Fantasy Price $448,000 74.7 AFL Fantasy Score Per Game 83.0 $402,500 Supercoach Price $446,500 71.6 Supercoach Score Per Game 80.4