Jack Watts

[Tigers of Old]

Watts doesn't appear to have the prerequisite mongrel for a KPP. Silver spooner.

 

[tigertim]

FJ may have been a bit biased with Watts being a Brighton Grammer boy.
*has heaps of talent but only showed it at APS level
* is a cat of the highest orde
* is always looking to get loose rather than be a genuine target...see cat reference
* would need remedial work to rebuild him, is damaged goods and fair chance he is gone for good ala Tambling

All things being equal I wouldn't go anywhere near him. The only Melbourne player I would consider is Lyndon Dunn.

lyndon Dunn? Evn Melbourne tried to get rid of him last year didnt they? Surely Trengrove Grimes, Clarke, Howe, Frawley would be better value?

 

[Leysy Days]

Think the Ghosts posts lost its relevance when Dunn's name cam about.

Would be a gun in the right system. Melbourne is a cancer. Even guys like Trengove have gone backwards and look poor. This was a kid tearing up the SANFL as a 17 year old. It's development.

Agree Barnzy.

Trengove's plateau is astonishing. This kid would be a star at any other club.

Melbourne are a disease for young footballers. Need be wary of writing talented guys off on form in that jumper.

 

[Tony Braxton-Hicks]

Do we have a NEED for a player like Watts? I think we have him covered.

 

[year of the tiger]

Not sure about that. He doesn't seem to like the physical contact. Not an exactly ideal characteristic for a key forward.

Now this is saying something, but I think our long lost Post had more desire for the physical stuff than Watts, big pass for mine.

 

[Tigers of Old]

Trengove's plateau is astonishing. This kid would be a star at any other club.

Trengove has had a lot of injuries and was made skipper. Watts doesn't have the same crutch.
Watts 'development' is an excuse for a soft player.

 

[TheCan]

Ummm ur on drugs?
Frawley is just About the only one worth poaching

 

[Inspector]

Ummm ur on drugs?
Frawley is just About the only one worth poaching

Jeremy Howe?

 

[CarnTheTiges]

Dud of the highest order. He IS melbourne imo. He just encapsulates everthing about the Dees to a tee. I would go to bed sick for days if we recruited him.

Spot on. He belongs at Melbourne. Let's just leave him there.

 

[Darth Tiger]

Nathan Jones would go alright as a replacement for Tuck in the midfield ... as for Sylvia - a massive pass.

 

[Streak]

Watts 'development' is an excuse for a soft player.

Yeah, spot on.

You can't fix a pea-heart.

 

[Smoking Aces]

Sam Blease, Luke Taspscott....these two have been seriously hurt by the lack of development Melbourne offer. I would look at these two.

 

[Tigertool]

Yeah, spot on.

You can't fix a pea-heart.

I thought the same about Bowden though.

 

[Baloo]

Watts will never be a star, let alone worthy of a top 10 pick. The more astute afl watchers had picked this from day 1.

NicNat was always then true #1 pick for that draft, despite being fairly raw.

 

[PurpleSneakers]

Sam Blease, Luke Taspscott....these two have been seriously hurt by the lack of development Melbourne offer. I would look at these two.

Was thinking those 2 myself. From memory Tapscott in his U18 year was a foward/mid prospect fairly skilful with some tricks capable of kicking multiple goals, sort of a Chapman type. Melbourne have played him almost exclusively as a back pocket, seems to have squashed any flair or creativity out of him completely.

Blease has pace and cut us up one game in particular a year or 2 ago, we couldn't touch him.

For the right price I'd look at both, particularly Blease for his pace.

 

[Leysy Days]

Watts will never be a star, let alone worthy of a top 10 pick. The more astute afl watchers had picked this from day 1.

Pretty big knock on FJ Baloo. Need to stop laying into the club.

 

[WesternTiger]

Pretty big knock on FJ Baloo. Need to stop laying into the club.

And you Leysy! :hihi

 

[MTiger]

Rather than playing at Casey, Melbourne have decided to help his (Watts) development by having him sit in the stands and watch his mates suffer at the 'G

 

[brigadiertiger]

Rather than playing at Casey, Melbourne have decided to help his (Watts) development by having him sit in the stands and watch his mates suffer at the 'G

Is he injured or just dropped?

 

[pahoffm]

It's worth noting that guys like Hawkins, Kennedy and Roughead all struggled early on in their career, this is typical of the uphill battle a KP forward faces when entering the AFL.

For what it's worth, I would roll the dice with Watts if the price was reasonable, an early second rounder would seem reasonable for a former number one pick.

In this day and age, gun ruckman rarely fail, that's been proven over and over with the likes of Leuenberger, Ryder, McEvoy, Naitanui, Kreuzer, Vickery, Ottens and McIntosh. The last top ten bomb was nearly ten years ago with a plodder named Meeson, and that was one of the weakest drafts in recent memory.

On the flipside, we've had an inordinate number of KP forwards failing to deliver - Watts, Hanson, Gumbleton, Grant, Henderson, Thorp, Dowler and (Hurley???)

The lesson in all this? If in doubt, pick the talented ruckman ahead of the talented KP forward, unless there's an absolutely ironclad case that the forward will make the grade.

I think the error occurs because of the competitive nature of heights and weights from TAC to AFL.

A 194cm forward has a definite height advantage in the TAC, but when they arrive in the AFL, the height advantage isn't there, and usually there is a weight disadvantage for the junior recruit.

As we see in VFL today, a Stringer at 191cm, 92kg, good height & weight, with good GROUND skills as well as marking skills, and very good creative and kicking skills, is the one with the talent to break through into AFL.
Time will tell whether Stringer will make it.