We picked the wrong guy. :(

[cannons]

Its always going to be tough comparing players this early and doesn't do them any justice - especially rucks & KPP as they will take 3-4 years before you see anywhere near their best.

I think Watts & Nic Nat will both be great players in their own right. The decision between them basically came down to - do we need a KPP or ruckman more. They would also have rightly thought that Nic Nat would have to be much further away from having an impact than Watts. As its turned out that is probably not going to be the case. Nic Nat is already impacting games yet he still has so much to learn - much like Jurrah.

The only disappointing thing from a Melbourne point of view is missing the marketing & excitement of not having Nic Nat & Jurrah in the same side - I would watch that every week! Watts will be in the Nick Riewolt mould reliable & seriously good, but not that much fun to watch.

I disagree that the recruiters would have felt Watts was closer to making an impact at AFL level than Naitanui, when you consider that:

- Watts is roughly a full year younger than Nic
- Watts was never going to be a full-time footballer in his first year due to schooling commitments
- Watts had (and still has) a much lighter frame than Naitanui

In fact, I think Naitanui came into the AFL with a build that was almost ready-made for senior competition. Sure, his skills are appalling, but that isn't really something which hinders a lot of the things he does. What sets Nic apart is his physicality and multiple efforts at the stoppages, and because of that, it was pretty hard to see him not making a more immediate impact than Watts.

 

[thecotch]

Naitanui would also have the "Go Home" factor attached if he was drafted by Melbourne.

Why would he want to go back to Fiji?

 

[MaxHunt]

I disagree that the recruiters would have felt Watts was closer to making an impact at AFL level than Naitanui, when you consider that:

- Watts is roughly a full year younger than Nic
- Watts was never going to be a full-time footballer in his first year due to schooling commitments
- Watts had (and still has) a much lighter frame than Naitanui

In fact, I think Naitanui came into the AFL with a build that was almost ready-made for senior competition. Sure, his skills are appalling, but that isn't really something which hinders a lot of the things he does. What sets Nic apart is his physicality and multiple efforts at the stoppages, and because of that, it was pretty hard to see him not making a more immediate impact than Watts.

Why ruin a logical and well thought post with utter drivel....

 

[Crusty Demon]

The only disappointing thing from a Melbourne point of view is missing the marketing & excitement of not having Nic Nat & Jurrah in the same side - I would watch that every week! Watts will be in the Nick Riewolt mould reliable & seriously good, but not that much fun to watch.[/quote]

This is a crazy thing to say! Nick Riewoldt is one of the most watchable players in our game! If Watts becomes anywhere near as good as Riewoldt, I will be more than willing to part with my hard earned to go watch him play...

 

[Ghost of Grinter]

Its going to be a long while before we know if we
did pick the wrong guy.

But one thing is for sure is that Watts is a long way off
dominating games of footy, so expect talk to get louder
that we did pick the wrong guy, time will tell.

I think Watts was a safe pick and an ideal pick in terms
of building a structure around him - as Nick Nat wasnt
seen as a player who could kick too many goals prior to being
drafted.

Nick Nat does look like he could be one out of the box though.

 

[cannons]

Why ruin a logical and well thought post with utter drivel....

Fair point, it was a touch harsh.

Having said that, when you compare Naitanui's skills to those all other AFL footballers, they aren't exactly in the upper echelon.

 

[bluechipcats82]

Nic Nat was born in Sydney

 

[The Demon]

Why would he want to go back to Fiji?

Funny , but not quite as funny as your mob on the weekend!

 

[Crimson Azure]

Funny , but not quite as funny as your mob on the weekend!

Zing!

Can this thread be locked already?

Sick of seeing it.

 

[MaxHunt]

Fair point, it was a touch harsh.

Having said that, when you compare Naitanui's skills to those all other AFL footballers, they aren't exactly in the upper echelon.

More than a touch harsh.

Whilst his kicking needs work. His handball skills are exceptional.

No need to bag another player to justify why your team selected someone else.

 

[stretcharmstrong]

First off, Natia played absolute gem of a game, regardless of the opposition he was up against the fact that he had 16 contested possession means he was getting his hands on the footy first.

Im glad the majority of melbourne posters are saying give Watts time, and i agree his best footy is 2-3 years away. In terms of development i would say Natia is minimum 2 years in front of Watts.

I'd say his best footy is probably 6-7 years away, but he will be a good or even very good player in 2 or 3 years...

 

[2 Dogs]

This whole argument has a similar stink to when people were calling for Sylvia to be traded for a 6 pack of vic and a pack of ciggies. Some player immediately have an impact, others take time to develop. This obsession with needing results immediately is sickening. It's the feats of Buddy, Rich and Selwood that have everyone convinced that everyone walks into a team and automatically requires a tag. Patience is all thats required.

Drafts are like a horse race, there will always be bolters, but most of the time it's the stayers who end up producing the goods.

 

[cannons]

More than a touch harsh.

Whilst his kicking needs work. His handball skills are exceptional.

No need to bag another player to justify why your team selected someone else.

I wasn't really bagging Nic, as I stated, I think other parts of his game are where his strength lies, as opposed to his ability to dispose of the football effectively, even though he should improve in this area in the future.

In some ways, he's the opposite of Watts. Whilst Nic needs to improve his knowledge of the game and some of the more fundamental skills associated with it, Watts needs to improve physically.

But yes, the word 'appalling' was definitely hyperbole.

 

[Andy_Mac]

This whole argument has a similar stink to when people were calling for Sylvia to be traded for a 6 pack of vic and a pack of ciggies. Some player immediately have an impact, others take time to develop. This obsession with needing results immediately is sickening. It's the feats of Buddy, Rich and Selwood that have everyone convinced that everyone walks into a team and automatically requires a tag. Patience is all thats required.

Drafts are like a horse race, there will always be bolters, but most of the time it's the stayers who end up producing the goods.

Brendan Goddard was a similar situation.

I can also see people start to question Scully's selection at 1 with the likes of Martin and probably Cunnington hitting the ground running given their bodies are good to go.

On Watts though, if he could already bench press 135kg, like NicNat, then there would be cores for concern but given his current body barely allows him to pick up his kit bag AND the fact he has only played 3 games is really unfair on him. The other thing is the games Watts did play last year were easily our 3 worst performances of 2009, if he had of played in the 80 point Freo hammering I wonder if we might have viewed him differently.

I watched what I think ended up being his last game of last year against Frankston and you could visibly see the improvement. In his first couple of VFL games he struggled with the tempo, but you could see he was on top of his game; 25 odd touches and a couple of goals. All this from a kid that was about to sit his VCE exams.

 

[KickLongTackleHard]

While comparisons are always going to be made between Watts and Natanui due to our drafting decision, on football ability and background Jurrah and Natanui are a much fairer comparison. Both were picked with elements of doubt as to how quickly they would adjust to AFL and how much potential they will fulfill. I might be going on a tangent with this point, but it is nice to know we have Jurrah (technically from the same draft) who is probably the most similar player to Nic in the AFL.

On another tangent, we can't forget Rich is the real bolter of the 2008 draft and you could name a few others in front of the #2 selection as well.

 

[rick James]

Why ruin a logical and well thought post with utter drivel....

Actually he's 100% spot on. Nat simply can not kick a football, can not read the play and can not handball.

He is, as a footballer, completely useless. Perhaps his athleticism will make up for it, but the jury is well and truly still out. Right now, the fact is that Natanui is a very, very bad footballer and without his athleticism he would be lucky to get a game at EFL level, let alone AFL level.

 

[MaxHunt]

Actually he's 100% spot on. Nat simply can not kick a football, can not read the play and can not handball.

He is, as a footballer, completely useless. Perhaps his athleticism will make up for it, but the jury is well and truly still out. Right now, the fact is that Natanui is a very, very bad footballer and without his athleticism he would be lucky to get a game at EFL level, let alone AFL level.

ok..

 

[stickman11]

They are lucky they got the figian, the rest of their side sucks like shit.

Not sure one player will win them the premiership.

 

[Spartan]

Actually he's 100% spot on. Nat simply can not kick a football, can not read the play and can not handball.

He is, as a footballer, completely useless. Perhaps his athleticism will make up for it, but the jury is well and truly still out. Right now, the fact is that Natanui is a very, very bad footballer and without his athleticism he would be lucky to get a game at EFL level, let alone AFL level.

This is a Melbourne board and obviously you'll all entitled to your opinions, despite the fact that you need to put a 19yr old kid down because of your own insecurities about Watts.

If the hype about Naitanui is OTT, then the trolls about his kicking, handballing is definately OTT.

Apparently his disposal especially his kicking was/is atrocious however there were a number of examples of very good kicking on the weekend including:

1. Hitting Kennedy on the chest for a shot on goal running away from the centre bounce.

2. Snapping the goal running towards the boundary line.

3. Set shot from 50m out straight through the middle.

His handballing, especially in close was excellent. There was a passage where he was in a phone box and got a lightning handball out resulting in a Masten goal. There are numerous other examples to that effect.

His tackling, 1%ers, etc was great to watch and his ruckwork was brilliant. For those who care theres a youtube video of his highlights from the game.

Sure he has alot to learn but the kid has the potential to be (as Bruce would put it ) something 'special'.

Hats off to the Melbourne posters who appreciated his efforts and his talent instead of bagging him and rolling out the same old trolls.

 

[The Dr]

Actually he's 100% spot on. Nat simply can not kick a football, can not read the play and can not handball.

He is, as a footballer, completely useless. Perhaps his athleticism will make up for it, but the jury is well and truly still out. Right now, the fact is that Natanui is a very, very bad footballer and without his athleticism he would be lucky to get a game at EFL level, let alone AFL level.

Um....no.

 

[rick James]

This is a Melbourne board and obviously you'll all entitled to your opinions, despite the fact that you need to put a 19yr old kid down because of your own insecurities about Watts.

If the hype about Naitanui is OTT, then the trolls about his kicking, handballing is definately OTT.

Apparently his disposal especially his kicking was/is atrocious however there were a number of examples of very good kicking on the weekend including:

1. Hitting Kennedy on the chest for a shot on goal running away from the centre bounce.

2. Snapping the goal running towards the boundary line.

3. Set shot from 50m out straight through the middle.

His handballing, especially in close was excellent. There was a passage where he was in a phone box and got a lightning handball out resulting in a Masten goal. There are numerous other examples to that effect.

His tackling, 1%ers, etc was great to watch and his ruckwork was brilliant. For those who care theres a youtube video of his highlights from the game.

Sure he has alot to learn but the kid has the potential to be (as Bruce would put it ) something 'special'.

Hats off to the Melbourne posters who appreciated his efforts and his talent instead of bagging him and rolling out the same old trolls.

IT IS THE NAB CUP - I COULD GET 20 TOUCHES IN THE NAB CUP FFS. NEITHER RYDER NOR HILL WERE PLAYING - HE WAS PLAYING AGAINST SPUDS!

Yes, he has a lot to learn. For a start:

1. He can't handle physical contact, Jamar soundly beat him purely through roughing him up

2. He can't kick for shit

3. He can't handball for shit

4. He really, really does not understand the game - he can not read the play and often runs to the wrong space

5. And most importantly, for some reason Watts and NicNat get a lot of hype, even though there are about 5 other players taken in the top 10 last season who deserve far, FAR more kudos for what they've done. Ziebell and Hurley especially.

STFU about NicNat, so far, he's nothing special. And nor is Watts.

 

[rick James]

Um....no.

Um.. actually I know a bit about football, so yes. Bad luck, kiddo.

 

[Spartan]

IT IS THE NAB CUP - I COULD GET 20 TOUCHES IN THE NAB CUP FFS. NEITHER RYDER NOR HILL WERE PLAYING - HE WAS PLAYING AGAINST SPUDS!

Yes its the NAB cup. However that doesn't make his performance any less impressive. The highlights of his game was his work around the ground.. tackles, 1%ers, clearances, contested possessions, etc.. and it wouldn't really have mattered if Ryder and Hille were there.

Yes, he has a lot to learn. For a start:

Probably the only sensible part of your post.

1. He can't handle physical contact, Jamar soundly beat him purely through roughing him up

An 18yr old playing what his third game got 'roughed up'. He got hit in the ribs early in the game and that affected his game.

However to say he can't handle physical contact is both ignorant and stupid. I think you'll struggle to find a Melbourne player that averages more tackles/1%ers. The kid throws himself at the ball/players with no fear. I think he handles physical contact just fine.

2. He can't kick for shit

Kinda ignored the post above. The three examples above prove that he 'can kick for shit'.

3. He can't handball for shit

I'm starting to think you didn't see the game, or any of Naitanui's games for that matter.. cause his handballing has always been good.

4. He really, really does not understand the game - he can not read the play and often runs to the wrong space

I can partially agree with this, however the way he plays doesn't make this as much of a problem as it could be. His awareness is also getting better, as the game on the weekend shows.

5. And most importantly, for some reason Watts and NicNat get a lot of hype, even though there are about 5 other players taken in the top 10 last season who deserve far, FAR more kudos for what they've done. Ziebell and Hurley especially.

Agreed, the class from last year has some very talented kids. However that doesn't take anything away from Naitanui (or Watts for that matter). Credit should be given where credit is due, and Naitanui's performance on the weekend deserves a shitload of credit.

STFU about NicNat, so far, he's nothing special. And nor is Watts.

Woah.. slow down tough guy. Maybe instead of being a keyboard warrior and bagging kids playing at the highest level in our game you could just stay clear of the 'hype' threads.

 

[rick James]

FFS sake man its the NAB cup.. I mean... fu... I mean, like...... NAB cup man, seriously...

 

[Ghost of Grinter]

Actually he's 100% spot on. Nat simply can not kick a football, can not read the play and can not handball.

He is, as a footballer, completely useless. Perhaps his athleticism will make up for it, but the jury is well and truly still out. Right now, the fact is that Natanui is a very, very bad footballer and without his athleticism he would be lucky to get a game at EFL level, let alone AFL level.

Nick Nat is going to be a hell of a player.

Last year he had a very limited - or next to no - pre season.

Against Essendon you just see the fruits of a year in the system and
a pre-season under his belt. No doubt we will see more dominating
performances from Nick Nat in the coming years.

To say Nick Nat cant kick, handball, etc. Give him a chance.

I dont know why alot of Melbourne supporters constantly bag Nick Nat,
he is an improving ruckman with a hell of alot of scope.

Watts will be a superstar anyway, so Im not sure why be soo anti
Nick Nat.