Ouch!

In terms of the threat of Lever going into the draft, lets not forget that Nth hold pick 3, and have stupid amounts of money that they were using to try and get Martin and Kelly. They are not a destination club, but they can certainly match our financial offer to Lever if the draft is the way it heads...

Betts? Lynch? Sloane? Talia? I’d argue they are A graders... sure they are committed ,but they also got smashed in the grand final by a team with some superstars and a bunch of lesser skilled players with higher intensity and a massive home crowd behind them....

Isn’t that Gawns account? I reckon he is just stirring the pot!

.... 5 months Pffft, try harder Hawks Paul MacNamee didn't last 4 with us!

*Waves to Jack* Jack I've been waivering back and forth between whether you stay or go, but happy to back you in for some Skwosh merch! PM me!!!

I might be nitpicking, but someone not being selected in the first place doesn't amount to being dropped in my books. But at least I know what people are referring to in terms of being dropped twice.

Lever coming to our club does squeeze out a tall player. How can it be any other way?? He is a tall defender. I know we need depth, but when those players are more valuable on the market than at Casey as depth, then Watts is probably being identified by the club as having the most value to another club on the trade table that either isn't untouchable (Hogan, Gawn, TMac) or 'depth'.

I keep hearing he got dropped twice this season.... but I can't recall the second time? can someone please clarify when that was? I only recall him being dropped after his injury. Very happy to be corrected though.

I'm happy if Watts stays, but here is the crux of things. If we are bolstering the backline with Lever, that squeezes out one of TMac/Omac or Frost. Most likely scenario to play TMac up forward alongside Hogan, and at some point in the future Weideman. Person that gets squeezed out of the forward line is Watts, and he's too valuable a commodity to have play @ Casey, so Goodwin wants him to test out the market to see if we can get get a trade arranged and strengthen the list elsewhere. Harsh reality of football I guess. But based on how Richmond won with a mosquito fleet up forward a lot of other clubs will be trying to emulate that. Meaning only one ruckman, and most likely two key forwards. Grigg was the back up ruck for Richmond in the grand final. GWS this year have been exposed for being too tall and probably playing people who are too talented to miss out on playing, but not a good balance for the 22 (Cameron, Lobb, Patton, Mumford) Can anyone put Hogan, Watts, Gawn, TMac, Lever, OMac, Frost/Pedersen/Weideman in the same line up with the way the game is headed? If any of these are excess to our needs then we need to identify their worth as currency. Watts is the player seen as both convenient ('in a rut') and also to be values by rival clubs... Assuming Gawn, Hogan and TMac are untouchables...

I interpretted the difference here as Goodwin trying to make a reference to Watts career as a whole, where I think Watts is looking at his form for the last two (up to the injury) and thinking that he had made progress and was in pretty good form.

Hopefully Watts manager and Roos and any other people giving Watts advice through this period are telling him the following... 'If you stay, you have to work your ar$e off to prove yourself to the club, the players and the supporters.' 'If you go, you have to work your ar$e off to prove yourself to the club, the players and the supporters.'

I think that's a reasonable assessment of his season isnt it?, although I think his pre-season might have indicated a lack of commitment to the team's goals I think another thing that is a little odd is when he pinged his hamstring, I remember the club and Misson indicated that it was very minor and he would be back pretty quickly....(1-2 weeks max!) that explanation dragged out over his rehab time (4 or 5 weeks?) which either indicated the conditioning staff misjudged or misrepresented the injury and how significant it actually was, or Watts rehab of that injury wasn't as good as it should have been. Is my recount of this different to others here on DL?

To be honest if Watts came out and said "I'm staying and will prove myself to the MFC and force the coaches hands in terms of earning a place in the best 18.' That would have the be the best outcome for all parties. It shows Watts is going to shoulder responsibility for whats happened in his career to date, and prove doubters wrong. Not sure that will be the outcome. However if he is only worth a second round pick (thats 30+ if we are talking Sydney or Port) then he's more value to the club as a player surely!

You seem really determined to see a mega-trade occur ......

Did Reid sign a new contract with the Swans?? I'd prefer him or George Hewitt to Tippett Agree with the others that it's likely to be for picks though.

Zanotti files are also reporting the CEO at the Hawks who has only been in the job for 5 months has been given the sack.... Not sure how much credence to give that guy on facebook,

He's saved his career, but I think Liam Jones needs to play a full season out before assessing.

Care to name a player that has managed to turn around their career after 9 seasons? Isn't it the players responsibility to get the most out of their career as much as it is the coaches? Watts has been cuddled, given rockets, played in defence, forward, wing and ruck. I thought last year was a really promising season and that this was his turning point, only to see him let it slide over the preseason, not turning up in condition. I don't blame him for the form after his hamstring injury, but I do blame him for his preparation at the start of the season. I always liked to compare Watts to Goddard, but the penny dropped for Goddard after about 5-6 seasons. Jury still out with Watts unfortunately.

The irony is seeing the large amount of changes clubs like GWS, Adelaide and Geelong are likely to undertake to improve their lists. Yet Watts being offloaded is seen as 'destroying' the fabric of our club I like Watts, and he's been a loyal servant. I'd be happy if he stays, but I'll back the football departments call, and if they want him to look at options out there, I'll back them in. He is very much what the prototype forward *should* be. Maybe at another club he will fulfill that potential, but I am not convinced he will with us.

and Mumford.

yet Gibbs is not worth 2 first rounders on the flip. Intriguing that three players from their grand final team in Level, Sloane and Cameron might be out. GWS sound like they are about to make some big changes as well. Just goes to show that making finals exposes holes in your list perhaps even more than missing finals altogether.

Firstly, well written piece RPFC. Overall I don't have too much of a problem with Goodwin in the media, but I think he has shown signs of frustration when the media harks back to our whipping boys constantly. I don't think the club handled the Watts thing at the start of the year that well. They should have come out straight up with the comment that he hasn't hit the targets/objectives over the preseason and until he does then he won't be played. Instead there was a bit of unnecessary commentary for a couple of weeks in the preseason games. Goodwin showed signed of frustration when again Watts was dropped midseason, and the media seemed more focused on Jack Watts than the MFC. In terms of who is leading the club, I think we have the leaders in place and they are the same ones sans Roos. It's just that Roos was 'perceived' as the voice of the club and he was very strong and vocal about the hand over of the club and the timeframes around that. I think the club now has an even spread of players, coaches and admin who know their role, but they just don't need a microphone. Take a look at the Swans, they are run fairly similarly, Longmire isn't a 'mouthpiece' he just gets on with the job, same with Harley, Kennedy and the other people at the club... It's a no fuss process where people seem confident in the roles that they play.

Fair question. Again, I think he can play small and tall defender at a pinch he plays a third tall. Admittedly I am probably thinking about him at his best which is behind him... that said I still see value keeping him on this list, and not as a delist and wipe contract.

If the Pies are interested in Weideman, I've got no problems if we listened because surely the proposal would be 'overs' due to the 'nostalgia' aspect. Highly doubt MFC would be stupid enough to entertain the bid, but could be worth a giggle listening to them.

Nah, respectfully disagree on the versatility. I think Garland still has versatility at his best (which we still need to assess) pretty certain. Vince can play the lock down role, but isn't really a midfield option any more. I don't expect either to be lock for the 22, but with a list size of 38-40 and then rookies on top I'd still prefer with our list demographic having some veteran players like Garland and Vince than an untried rookie.