Mega Thread All things Jack Watts - 2014

[GHardeman]

Second best. Watts is the best kick of the footy I've seen. Bar none.

I assume you mean the best kick of the footy at Melbourne. Half the Hawthorn team are as good as anyone has ever been in position kicking, and that McKenzie at the Gold Coast will be valued in the future for his long positional arrows. There are many excellent long positional klcks going around now, Broadbent at Port, Smith at Adelaide, Goddard at Essendon just to start.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

I assume you mean the best kick of the footy at Melbourne. Half the Hawthorn team are as good as anyone has ever been in position kicking, and that McKenzie at the Gold Coast will be valued in the future for his long positional arrows. There are many excellent long positional klcks going around now, Broadbent at Port, Smith at Adelaide, Goddard at Essendon just to start.

Watts is an excellent set shot, too.

 

[GHardeman]

Watts is an excellent set shot, too.

Agreed but there are some excellent examples of them as well, Bruest and Schulz without even thinking.

 

[LeverPuller]

I assume you mean the best kick of the footy at Melbourne. Half the Hawthorn team are as good as anyone has ever been in position kicking, and that McKenzie at the Gold Coast will be valued in the future for his long positional arrows. There are many excellent long positional klcks going around now, Broadbent at Port, Smith at Adelaide, Goddard at Essendon just to start.

Nope. The best kick.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen players who can kick damn well. McKenzie has the nickname Cannon for a reason, Birchall off half back is superb, Goddard is great.

But Watts's kicks have got something I've never seen: vision. He can kick it 60m to what looks like nothing only to hit a player running with the flight on the chest who is on the losing end of a two on one. His kicking is poised and simply sublime. Rather than looking up and waiting for a lead, Watts will put the ball in the spot the player should be before his teammate has considered it. But he'll do it in a way that his teammate can identify where the ball is going, where to get to and have the time to get there. They aren't floaters but they aren't absolute bullets.

And he does it constantly.

Occasionally it doesn't come off. I like to call it 'threading the needle' - it isn't easy to do and you don't get it every time. But he's got the confidence in his kicking and his vision to attempt these downright outrageous visionary kicks into space - where they advantage teammates and genuinely gain distance on the field.

 

[CTHORANGE]

Nope. The best kick.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen players who can kick damn well. McKenzie has the nickname Cannon for a reason, Birchall off half back is superb, Goddard is great.

But Watts's kicks have got something I've never seen: vision. He can kick it 60m to what looks like nothing only to hit a player running with the flight on the chest who is on the losing end of a two on one. His kicking is poised and simply sublime. Rather than looking up and waiting for a lead, Watts will put the ball in the spot the player should be before his teammate has considered it. But he'll do it in a way that his teammate can identify where the ball is going, where to get to and have the time to get there. They aren't floaters but they aren't absolute bullets.

And he does it constantly.

Occasionally it doesn't come off. I like to call it 'threading the needle' - it isn't easy to do and you don't get it every time. But he's got the confidence in his kicking and his vision to attempt these downright outrageous visionary kicks into space - where they advantage teammates and genuinely gain distance on the field.

Travis Johnstone had a similar ability

 

[LeverPuller]

Travis Johnstone had a similar ability

I think the difference with Trapper though was he wouldn't be as constant. There were games, sure - the Kreuzer Cup sticks in my mind - but he would often go completely anonymous. Watts doesn't seem to do that now. He certainly tries to get involved however he can in each game.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

I think the difference with Trapper though was he wouldn't be as constant. There were games, sure - the Kreuzer Cup sticks in my mind - but he would often go completely anonymous. Watts doesn't seem to do that now. He certainly tries to get involved however he can in each game.

Needs to do this for the rest of the season without fail for it to mean anything. A few more starring performances wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Topkent]

I think the difference with Trapper though was he wouldn't be as constant. There were games, sure - the Kreuzer Cup sticks in my mind - but he would often go completely anonymous. Watts doesn't seem to do that now. He certainly tries to get involved however he can in each game.

Jeepers mate he has barely just put together his first real quality half a season of AFL

Watts is certainly not the best kick ever
Do you not remember Aaron Davey in his prime or Trapper who would go missing but would also rack up 3 brownlow votes for fun when suited

Thats not to mention all the other clubs who have players equally capable of what Jack Watts does

He just stands out so much because he is surrounded by garbage like an average chick taking her fat mate to the bar

 

[LeverPuller]

Jeepers mate he has barely just put together his first real quality half a season of AFL

Watts is certainly not the best kick ever
Do you not remember Aaron Davey in his prime or Trapper who would go missing but would also rack up 3 brownlow votes for fun when suited

Thats not to mention all the other clubs who have players equally capable of what Jack Watts does

He just stands out so much because he is surrounded by garbage like an average chick taking her fat mate to the bar

"First real quality"

2011 he was 9th in the B&F and was damn good. Don't disparage him with 'oh this is the first time he's been good' - in 2011 we really thought he was coming good.

 

[Topkent]

"First real quality"

2011 he was 9th in the B&F and was damn good. Don't disparage him with 'oh this is the first time he's been good' - in 2011 we really thought he was coming good.

9th in the BNF is hardly his coming good mate, He was equal 9th with Jordie Mckenzie so Jordies 2011 was REAL QUALITY

9th is not real quality, thats a decent season maybe good at a stretch

I never said its the first time he has been good, But he hasnt even been a top 5 melbourne player regularly let alone the greatest kick ever

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Meh, Watts is better then the majority of Hawthorns 'kickers' because he can use his opposite foot just as well as his right.

He's a great kick, it's very difficult to compare the kicking of players who are great kicks IMO.

 

[Dee Won]

I thought he made a good adjustment to his game this match in terms of not getting caught holding the ball when tackled by being able to get foot to ball

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

We're slowly starting to see games like tonight become the standard rather than the anomaly. Needs to play 6 or 7 more like it this season, with a couple more like the Richmond/St Kilda games.

 

[Klyntonius]

His workrate has improved out of sight (as it needed to). Still a ways to go but he was giving multiple hard leads tonight which was good to see. Also, in the middle of congestion he's just able to find/buy time to find a good option like no-one else we have. I grow in more confidence every week that he's going to be the gun we've always wanted him to be.

 

[Bartram_Class]

His workrate has improved out of sight (as it needed to). Still a ways to go but he was giving multiple hard leads tonight which was good to see. Also, in the middle of congestion he's just able to find/buy time to find a good option like no-one else we have. I grow in more confidence every week that he's going to be the gun we've always wanted him to be.

Key point here.

Where others seem to run/handball back into traffic at all costs, Watts has ability to buy himself a second or two. His actual skills thereafter are second-to-none.

Tidy up the effort levels (which is really the reason we have a 75 page thread about him) and he'll be a genuinely good footy player.

 

[Topkent]

Thought he was really good today , one thing I saw someone criticize him for is his hand balling selling teammates into trouble , that's just plain wrong watts looks silly sometimes because he is able to buy himself space but his teammates aren't smart enough to get on the move an give him an option so it looks like he is running on the spot

First quarter he set up 2 shots with attacking play an also the kick to Dawes was elite

Still tackles like he is cuddling his missus but overall pretty good

 

[Dez!]

Gets sold in to s**t by teammates far too much, they must just see Watts and think "There's Jack, if I give it to him and we screw up he'll get the blame".

 

[Djcjdees]

Plenty of times where he leads 4 or 5 times, gets into a perfect spot to receive the ball, but because 95% of our mids/backs can't kick properly or don't have the confidence he isn't used.

He will always cop crap because he is not a hard at it in and under player, whatevs. Still easily the best decision maker and kick of the football (including set shots) in our team by the length of an elongated Flemington straight. He'd absolutely kill it in a side with half decent footskills.

 

[GHardeman]

Thought he was really good today , one thing I saw someone criticize him for is his hand balling selling teammates into trouble , that's just plain wrong

At the game, in Melbourne, I could see the options and often he was trying to bring in players who were close to him (in a team oriented way) but it was also clear there were better long options. Looks different on TV. Happy for you to disagree, don't get how it is plain wrong.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Gets sold in to s**t by teammates far too much, they must just see Watts and think "There's Jack, if I give it to him and we screw up he'll get the blame".

I reckon they think he'll be able to do something with it!

 

[SuburbanMe]

At the game, in Melbourne, I could see the options and often he was trying to bring in players who were close to him (in a team oriented way) but it was also clear there were better long options. Looks different on TV. Happy for you to disagree, don't get how it is plain wrong.

I watched it on TV - Had the same thoughts as you. You could see Watts trying to Draw a player to him on the lead because no-one was getting off their lazy arse to lead. perfect example of that is the terrible example of the huddle we were 'performing' after the first break.

 

[ponsdale]

I watched it on TV - Had the same thoughts as you. You could see Watts trying to Draw a player to him on the lead because no-one was getting off their lazy arse to lead. perfect example of that is the terrible example of the huddle we were 'performing' after the first break.

And that kick to Dawes later in the game, Watts waited until Dawes turned and lead back to him and then kicked it perfectly to Dawes advantage.

 

[Trav 20]

Nope. The best kick.

How old are you ?

You must be young, as I've seen far better kicks than Watts.

 

[LeverPuller]

How old are you ?

You must be young, as I've seen far better kicks than Watts.

24.

 

[Trav 20]

24.

Fair enough. You never saw Darren Jarman, Leon Cameron, Andrew McLeod, Buckley, etc.

EDIT: you did see a couple of them, but may have been a tad young.