Watts: raw or ready?

[spindoctor]

I know all you guys are excited about this take, which is rubbing off on me, but I know nothing about him - is he raw and needs work, or is he ready to debut this season?

By the sound of what you guys have been saying he will be the first gun player we've drafted in a long time. Be nice to finally have a strong key forward.

Is he strapping already, or is he all skinny like Hentschel? If he's skinny, then I won't be so happy...

 

[Stiffy_18]

197 cm / 86 kg CHF. He is skinny and is some 10-12 kg off his playing weight. Will need to beef up and might take him a couple of years to fill out but he will definetly be a gun. The best contested mark in this years draft by a country mile. Crashes packs, takes contested marks, kicks goals. He loves a contest. Very similar style to Jonathan Brown.

Watts is the sort of player you can build a forward line around. Just needs to beef up.

I am SO surprised that Gayfer hasn't been drafted. Invite him to training I say. Now there is a strapping key position player who should have gone 1st-2nd round.

 

[DaveW]

Here's GOALden Hawk's review of him:

Fergus Watts

Details:
Club: Wesley College
DOB: 21 Sep 85 Hgt: 193cm Wgt: 86kg
Position: Centre Half Forward
Natural foot: Right

Honours:
Victoria Metro 2003
All Australian 2003
National Draft Camp Invitee 2003

TAC Stats:
2002: 7 games, 0 goals, 9.1 PPG.
2003: 6 games, 6 goals, 15.5 PPG.

Profile:
The son of former Saints CEO Jim Watts, Fergus is a powerful centre half forward who runs straight at the footy and is one of the best marks in the draft pool.

Watts was captain of Wesley so didn't play much for Sandringham, but it was his performances at the carnival that drew attention. After an ordinary performance against SA, Watts was simply awesome in the final two matches.

Some of his marks defy belief. He will look out of the contest for sure and then all of a sudden soar across the pack, blonde hair flying, grabbing the ball and sending bodies everywhere. A couple of them had to be seen to be believed - real heart in the mouth stuff.

Watts' is so competitive and hard-at-it you almost fear for him at times. He has no fear at all. And the great thing is he will back it up at ground level too. Fergus will throw himself in packs and dive on the ball to keep it in possession or tap it on to his team's advantage.

The fact he played the final two games of the carnival with a broken toe shows how keen he was. His kicking is reasonable, certainly not the feature his marking is. He has footy smarts though, for example holding a handball off until his teammate had made enough space to run clear.

When he baulks up he will be a great sight on the footy field. I think the way he plays will lead to a lot of injuries, especially at centre half forward. I wouldn't say he is the complete package though. While Watts is great in a straight line his agility is pretty average. He can also go missing for long stretches and almost appear to lose interest. He is very much a burst player - can tear a game apart in 15 minutes.

I think he got slightly overrated after his performance at the carnival, but he was still pretty bloody good. Probably worth a late 1st round pick.

The bit in bold is the part that really has my mouth watering.

The "when he bulks up" bit would suggest that he's a bit raw and will take some developing. But that's normal for a big bloke.

 

[spindoctor]

Oh dear. I've just seen a picture of him and he is a beanpole. I'VE got much broader shoulders than him and I'm only 188 cm...

Adelaide seems to excel in the skinny bloke department...

 

[macca23]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
197 cm / 86 kg CHF. He is skinny and is some 10-12 kg off his playing weight. Will need to beef up and might take him a couple of years to fill out but he will definetly be a gun. The best contested mark in this years draft by a country mile. Crashes packs, takes contested marks, kicks goals. He loves a contest. Very similar style to Jonathan Brown.

Watts is the sort of player you can build a forward line around. Just needs to beef up.

I am SO surprised that Gayfer hasn't been drafted. Invite him to training I say. Now there is a strapping key position player who should have gone 1st-2nd round.

Agree with your comments re Watts Stiffy. In 2 years time when this kid has put on that weight he will be a star. I've seen him a couple of times and his contested marking is nothing short of awesome.

As for Gayfer, WTF?? Why wouldn't we have taken him at 67 even. This kid was tipped by many to be a first-rounder. After seeing him play, I thought he would have to be a first or second rounder at worst!! He's a big unit who CAN play!!

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by DaveW
The bit in bold is the part that really has my mouth watering.

The "when he bulks up" bit would suggest that he's a bit raw and will take some developing. But that's normal for a big bloke.

The bit in bold is spot on. He is a bit of a bean pole BUT 90% of younger talls are like that. Extremely happy with this selection. With the new weight program under way, he should bulk up over the next couple of years.

We got a gun key forward and the search for a ruckman continues

 

[Portia]

Krueger over Hall is astounding. Maybe the Crows rate Hall's `sook' factor extremely high.

At least Fantasia probably didn't screw up with Watts - though it was interesting to hear Chris Connolly commenting that Vic Metro boys are more likely to sook off home than other draftees.

 

[spindoctor]

Krueger is our project ruckman, Stiffy.

And Hudson is the ready-made back-up.

We just gotta hope they have it right!

Who knows, Hudson may just turn out to be the find of the draft.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by macca23
Agree with your comments re Watts Stiffy. In 2 years time when this kid has put on that weight he will be a star. I've seen him a couple of times and his contested marking is nothing short of awesome.

As for Gayfer, WTF?? Why wouldn't we have taken him at 67 even. This kid was tipped by many to be a first-rounder. After seeing him play, I thought he would have to be a first or second rounder at worst!! He's a big unit who CAN play!!

VERY surprised that Gayfer was overlooked. I would have snapped him up with 67 in a second. The fact that we didn't tells us one of the following:

* our recruiting group has no bloody idea (and after our 2nd round debacle, I am beggining to wonder)
* our salary cap is so tight that we simply cannot afford it.

Either way, I am not happy. More to the point why didn't we get Hall with our 2nd pick??????

 

[PrideOf]

Well, now that we've got Watts, I hope we throw tradition out the window and GIVE THE KID A GAME.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by spindoctor
Krueger is our project ruckman, Stiffy.

And Hudson is the ready-made back-up.

We just gotta hope they have it right!

Who knows, Hudson may just turn out to be the find of the draft.

Gott no problem with Hudson. We were always going to get a ready made ruckman with pick 58.

In the last 2-3 weeks I managed to get my hands on some tapes of both Hall and Krueger playing. Krueger is a ruckman that is not really good at actual ruckwork. His positioning in ruck contests is very suspect.

Hall is a real gem IMHO and Collingwood will have a gun in 2-3 years. He is freaky below his knees. Hall is a very quick player and is a good overhead mark who can also play forward. His ruckwork is great. Tap work very very good.

We are talking a 17 year old ruckman who is showing much better signs that a 20 year old who has been overlooked in 2 drafts. I must say as a 17 year old Hall is a better player than Krueger at 20.

Who would you rather have a cross between Michael Gradiner and Troy Simmonds (Hall) or a cross between Mark Porter and Mark Jamar (Krueger)??????

 

[Portia]

You guys definitely need to get Modra back to coach this kid in handling the pressure of being The Key Forward for the Crows. Thats got to be one of the toughest asks in football from a pressure perspective.

 

[DaveW]

Post-draft they were speaking to Collingwood recruiting manager Noel Judkins who said they were looking at Hall more as a CHB than a ruckman.

Perhaps he just wasn't viewed as an AFL-worthy ruck prospect.

 

[macca23]

Originally posted by Porthos
You guys definitely need to get Modra back to coach this kid in handling the pressure of being The Key Forward for the Crows. Thats got to be one of the toughest asks in football from a pressure perspective.

Actually Porthos we won't have to get Modra back - he is back!! He's doing promotional work with the Crows so he'll be there to pass that advice onto Watts.

 

[Portia]

Originally posted by macca23
Actually Porthos we won't have to get Modra back - he is back!! He's doing promotional work with the Crows so he'll be there to pass that advice onto Watts.

Good! He'll need it.

I take it he'll be getting #6 then

 

[DaveW]

Ben Hudson is only one syllable different to the last guy who wore number 6.

Give Fergus the number 1.

 

[Macca19]

Originally posted by Stiffy_18
VERY surprised that Gayfer was overlooked. I would have snapped him up with 67 in a second. The fact that we didn't tells us one of the following:

* our recruiting group has no bloody idea (and after our 2nd round debacle, I am beggining to wonder)
* our salary cap is so tight that we simply cannot afford it.

Or maybe he just isnt as good as he was rated. Surjan didnt get drafted either and he was highly rated. I read from quite a few people pre draft that Gayfer was suspect and was no where near the first round pick that a lot of people were saying he was. All the clubs must have agreed. There must be something dodgy about him if a supposed first round draft pick, and someone my club was supposedly gonna jump at with both hands, didnt get drafted at all.

 

[macca23]

Originally posted by Macca19
Or maybe he just isnt as good as he was rated. Surjan didnt get drafted either and he was highly rated. I read from quite a few people pre draft that Gayfer was suspect and was no where near the first round pick that a lot of people were saying he was. All the clubs must have agreed. There must be something dodgy about him if a supposed first round draft pick, and someone my club was supposedly gonna jump at with both hands, didnt get drafted at all.

I've seen him play a couple of times and he can play. He's a very strong mark, reads the play well, plays both ends and has a bit of sh*t in him. The negative is that he's not quick.

Having said that, you do have to wonder why nobody drafted him - is it a character thing rather than a footy thing??

I'd like him on our rookie list to have a good look at him though.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Originally posted by Porthos
I take it he'll be getting #6 then

I think so

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by spindoctor
Krueger is our project ruckman, Stiffy.

And Hudson is the ready-made back-up.

We just gotta hope they have it right!

Who knows, Hudson may just turn out to be the find of the draft.

Could be right about Hudson, as we tend to do better with later surprise picks.

I hate the term "project player" as they usually turn out to be duds!

 

[spindoctor]

'Project' is a dirty word...but who knows. As I said, I'm willing to give Krueger a chance before I write him off.

We have to hit luck sometime.

And I'll say it again: there must have been something seriosuly wrong behind the scenes for the Crows to pass on Hall. They were keen on him in the weeks leading up to the draft, so you suspect something was up.

 

[Portia]

I just saw Watts on the draft `highlights' and he seems genuinely stoked about going to the Crows.

 

[spindoctor]

Good. Hopefully that means he won't go ****ing off home if we make a good player out of him.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Originally posted by Porthos
I just saw Watts on the draft `highlights' and he seems genuinely stoked about going to the Crows.

Why wouldn't he be stoked about coming to a great club such as the Crows! Makes a pleasant change from some of the other Melbourne juniors we have drafted who have appeared hesitant. Welcome Fergus!

 

[spindoctor]

I daresay it will be fantastic for his development to have Carey able to mentor. Just see the improvement that Carey brought to Perrie, for example, he could be a great mentor for Watts.