Senior 4. Jack Watts

[Tulip]

You also forget to mention that he wants to stay and will further negotiations when his manager gets back to Melbourne.

 

[d33my]

You also forget to mention that he wants to stay and will further negotiations when his manager gets back to Melbourne.

Source? I'm assuming the post-match presser (didn't watch it).

Good news if true.

 

[Tulip]

Source? I'm assuming the post-match presser (didn't watch it).

Good news if true.

That

 

[Demon JP]

Seems something has clicked, noticed it since the Freo game, hopefully the spell down back has done him a world of good

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Vs Dogs.

Really good game from Jack on the weekend, he again worked hard and his intensity was up - there were a couple of moments that he was a little too casual in front of goal (the one where he ran around to make it a snap) but all in all it was an excellent performance.

His willingness to tackle and engage physically was a highlight and he did really well to kick 3 goals on Dale Morris in the first half.

Went missing in the last until he took a great mark in defence, but given where the ball was heading that's to be expected.

8.5/10

 

[jhong]

The way Jack has stepped up the last few weeks is encouraging , maybe he just likes playing forward (i know, Captain Obvious ) . Some of his palming off was pretty smart .

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

vs Geelong

A pretty unfortunate day for all key forwards - Podsiadly had 22, but he was the exception and spent about a half in defense as well.

Hawkins had 8, Dawes 4, Howe 6, Fitzpatrick 1.

Add to that that we got the ball inside 50 19 times for the entire game and there isn't much left to say.

Oh, and the heavens opened.

Watts kept up his intensity, was clean on the ground and won 9/10 disposals in the contest - only one mark though.

That's good enough for me on a day like yesterday.

One thing that did annoy me was that he kept trying to take marks above his head when the ball was resembling a bar of soap, chest marks Jack!!!

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Time to update the reviews - over the past two weeks we've had the good and the bad!

vs Brisbane

Jack had a pretty good game against Brisbane, Neil Craig certainly thought so with him getting a vote, and he was used in a variety of roles; deep forward, high half forward and in the ruck around the ground (although the latter far too much for my liking).

I guess the upside of him developing his ruck skills is that it will increase his physicality, and probably his confidence in his physicality.

Anyway, to the game - he had a fair bit of scoreboard impact, with four score assists and two behinds (unfortunately posters); this was really an 'almost game' because despite a pretty good performance it could have been a standout one had things gone his way (there were also two marks on the lead which slipped through his hands - possibly due to the conditions).

I thought he used the ball excellently until he began to tired (due to him being thrown all around the ground) he had 20-21 touches, 10 or so marks - a good step in trying conditions because he's normally struggled up in Darwin and/or Cairns.

7.5/10

vs Norf

Only the 9 touches, which was disappointing - but again spent a ridiculous amount of time in the ruck a role in which he clearly didn't know how to draw the ball.

Of course we also only had 20 I50s.

He spent the majority of his time up forward (probably not enough in my books) and behind the ball as well when Norf got their run (s) on... unfortunately Norf's transition footskills also meant that it was pretty hard to play as a loose man, as they were regularly hitting up leads and not bombing the ball in.

His first quarter lacked intensity, for the first time under Craig and I thought it was the same with a fair few of the other boys too - possibly the Darwin trip showing, probably they just weren't switched on.

After 1/4 time his intensity was good and he got involved defensively, laying 7 tackles for the game - which I believe to be a career high.

5/10; pass mark for the 7 tackles as a key position player.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

vs GWS

Did ok - presented well, got shit service.

Took a brave mark for his first goal.

Used the ball well.

Head dropped due to terrible delivery.

6/10

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

vs Suns

Pretty good game, he used the ball excellently - although early on he seemed to struggle to adjust to the slippery conditions when marking.

Was baffled he wasn't thrown back forward late in the game, sure Fitzy and Davis tried hard - but none of them really looked too dangerous in terms of scoreboard impact...

Two nice goals from outside 50.

He didn't have a tackle, which surprised me - but he had an (equal) team high for 1%er's which makes up for it.

7/10

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

vs Fremantle

Not good by a long stretch.

Got moved into the back line after our forward line didn't receive an inside 50 for the first 20 or so minutes, and actually did pretty well there for the first half.

Positioned himself well, competed pretty well (contests with DeBoer, Fyfe and Walters prime examples - two of those saved goals), used the ball well - really actually helped us steady the game a bit

Then came the 2nd half, now he wasn't alone in these efforts (not that anyone else on the board would recognize that) and we did only have one on the bench so most blokes would have been ****ed- but when you come out during the week and say what he did, you just have to give a better account of yourself then what you did in the second half Jack.

One effort a contest (if that) sums it up, even used the ball in a pretty pedestrian manner.

I imagine a few senior teammates will be very dirty with him.

24 touches.

3/10.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

vs Adelaide

A good solid game I thought, certainly had an impact while up forward - took a nice grab, kicked a couple of goals and presented well.

Was shifted to the backline in the classic 'save the game' move from Craigy, which I wasn't a fan of - Adelaide were just using the ball inside 50 to well for it to work.

Work rate and intensity were good as well, still needs to consistently hit top gear though - instead of sitting in 4th most of the game and only getting into 5th a few times a quarter. (assuming you're in a 5-speed)

One thing I was pretty happy with was his 2nd goal (from outside 50) - it was actually his defensive work which lead to the initial turnover, then Davey and Sylvia put pressure around the spill and it came back out to him.

6.5/10

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

vs Bulldogs

Another 4-goal haul against the Doggies, although this time from only 7 touches - it was a reasonable game from Watts overall.

He worked fairly hard when we had the ball, but his defensive mindset was poor in general (though there were a couple of moments) - not sure if this is mainly a fitness or mindset issue, probably a mix of both!

One thing that I noticed was that he was really hesitant in marking contests, this year in general his contested marking has been well down on the last two years (averaging 1.3 ish in both 2011 and 2012 - down to about 0.7 this year) - obviously there are some confidence issues there.

Solid game considering our terrible delivery to him, there were times when he was leading with a couple of metres on his man on the flank or in the 50 and we just missed him completely.

All three media sources I pay attention to (Age, HUN and AFL.com) had him in our best 3 players IIRC - which I found surprising.

6/10.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Okay, a brief 'review' - can't be bothered studying so thought I'd hack this out in a few minutes!

Season 2013
Stats:
Disp - 14.8 per game (5.1 contested - 77.2% efficiency)
Marks - 5.3 per game (0.7 contested)
Goals - 22 (1.2 per game)
Tackles - 1.6 per game (and 1.7 once per-centers per game)
DT/SC - 67.4/76.2

I think it's fair to say that the expectation surrounding Watts' season from a BigFooty point of view was that he'd reach around an 8/10 kind of rating (top 3 BnF, leading Charlie votes when the time comes, etc) - clearly he didn't reach that level.

As always he had his moments both great and poor - his consistency improved after Neeld was sacked, with seven of his last eleven games returning > 80 SC points.

His contested marking was well down on 2011 and 2012, averaging just under half of his numbers in those years - you could see his hesitation in going for the ball in a marking contested, just doesn't have the confidence at the moment.

Intensity was up and down, particularly his defensive side and when the team was getting smashed - obviously it's hard as a forward when you get 30 I50's but you still have to present to give yourself a chance.

Pretty much the definition of an 'okay' season from Jack and, as always, his ball use stood out - 22 goals when he'd spend pretty much a half up forward and a half down back (on average) per game is solid, if unspectacular.

In terms of a season rating, between 5.5 - 6/10 is in line with that 'okay' vibe in my 'rating system' .

Season 2014
I think we all know what will happen, supporters will get over this season - declare their renewed faith in Jack and expect an instant jump into 'very good player-dom' in 2014.

Roos seems to believe Jack would be best suited to a wing role for Melbourne, so assuming he takes the job there could be a different set of KPI's for Jack.

Just spit-balling but you'd say he'd need to average > 20 disposals (low 20's - he's a fairly 'high damage' player), 7 marks, and a goal per game to say he'd had a good first season on the wing.

Of course, playing midfield, he'd need to get his tackling numbers up - around 3 per game.

I think we'll just wait and see, but I don't doubt that the media will be all over him from a potential improvement point of view come mid Feb.

Hopefully Roosy can instill some real confidence and belief into Jack and the team for next season.

 

[Powerstufff]

"We're starting to understand what it's like to play real AFL footy, for the first time since I've been there." Speaking on Foxtel's "On the Couch" 2nd June 2014.