Kicked 10 goals from some time playing mid in a school pre-season game, impressed my Father in Law. Watts was pretty highly rated by most experts around the junior ranks prior to draft day.
Iām fine with āpretty highly rankedā, even top 10. I just think he wasnāt pick 1 material. He never played on Hurley, Trengrove, Davis who were the three top defenders of his year (well, he played on Davis for about a qtr in the champs before Davis got injured). His one big performance (4 goals) at the champs was against a very weak NSW team matched up on a guy 8cm shorter. I think he was picked on potential rather than production. and hell, most players are, but a #1 pick is normally someone whoās a surer bet. The Dees took their life savings to the races, put it all on a 5-1 shot, and then blamed the horse when it only came in 3rd.
I said at the time that if i had the #1 pick that year i would have taken Nic Nat. And Iām very far from alone.
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Yep, pretty harsh.
He backtracks in his comments later in the article and says that heās welcome back at the club anytime.
Apparently Watts is s bit of a fan favourite so Iām sure they donāt want to hear their CEO saying stuff like that.
Reckon he failed at the Bombers
Fair points. And I was only commenting on school footy which probably lacks the depth of TAC Cup.
To be fair to the Dees, people were saying that he was the standout no. 1 pick that year.
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Thatās him justifying the trade to those fans
No relation. But hey!
Absolutely he did. He was there when we won the premiership in 2000 and then proceeded to make us as irrelevant as possible for the next decade.
Itās possible.
From what I have read he was well liked around the club. I just cant see how it helps.
Thatās not true. It was widely believed he would be taken at #1, but majority opinion was that Nic Nat was the better player and had the higher ceiling too. But Melbourne needed a forward and Watts didnāt want to leave the state and Melbourne told him they were going to take him.
Nic Nat was seen as the high risk high reward type player. I remember there were discussions as to whether he would slip to pick 5. Watts was always considered pick 1.
P.S. Donāt ever say that Iām wrong, because I donāt take criticism well and I will come after you with great vengeance and furious anger!
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That was the draft where Rich was rated pick 1 a couple of year out, but he didnt grow/short arms/man child.
I think I was hoping to get Rich at the time, Happy to get Hurley tho as he was rated top 3 as well (Natanui?Watts/Hurley) i think and thought he would be gone, plus we needed mids.
Emma Qaylehas opted for key forward Jack Watts of the Sandringham Dragons as her No.1 selection. If Melbourne agrees, that would send the 196cm youngster to the Demons. She has Chris Yarran from Swan Districts as her next pick, while teammate Nick Naitanui completes her top three.
EQ: Hi Nathan. Rich is a chance of slipping but Iām not convinced Essendon would choose him even if there. I think they will choose from Yarran, Hurley and Sidebottom at this stage. At the moment theyād be trying to suss out which players will be there at their second pick - if they suspect there will be an abundance of key backs left, they might go a smaller player earlier although really, at No. 5, youād be trying just to pick the best one there. If Dan does slip, then I canāt see him getting past Carlton at No. 6 now. - EQ
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My memory is that Watts and Naitanui were seen as the stand out talls, although both had risks, and Melbourne didnāt need a ruck (had Jamar) and needed a forward. Naitanui had some significant questions about him as well as Watts, such as would he ever get the game smarts to be more than an exceptional leaper who would then tackle like a mad dog.
Not entirely sure the question on Naitanui has been answered either.
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And Knights wanted Sidebottom.
He kicked 10 goals in the TAC Cup grand final.
Jbomber (and others) would/did approve. They wanted midfielders first.
Agree on nicnat. Been good (great even) but #2 worthy? Lloyd made the comment he gets alot of contested marks and contested possessions compared to uncontested marks/possessions which is good but it also shows he doesnāt know how to find space
We do need midfielders, but not sure anyone would do a straight swap Hurley for Sidebottom.
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Naitanuiās career has been cruelled by injury. Didnāt play at all this year after an ACL, and has played injured a LOT over previous seasons. But all thatās hindsight from a drafting point of view.
As for the contested vs uncontested thing, well, duh. Heās a ruckman with a freakish ability to win the ball in close. So you WANT him in close. NicNat gets more contested possession than uncontested for the same reason Jobe did.
Being so athletic he would be well served finding space and being the link up between defence and attack. Jobe gets those numbers because he is slow, nicnat isnāt slow. In fact, he is probably faster than alot of midfielders.
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