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The tanking dramas are over and there should be nothing on the minds of the Melbourne Football club besides playing football. Let’s talk about Jack Watts.
A former number one draft pick from the 2008 draft, Watts may unfortunately forever be remembered as the guy who was taken before Nic Naitanui.
With Michael Hurley (5th), Daniel Rich (7th), Jack Zeibell (9th), Phil Davis (10th), Steele Sidebottom (11th), Luke Shuey (18th), David Zaharakis (23rd), Jack Redden (25th), Dayne Beams (29th), Daniel Hanneberry (30th) and Rory Sloane (44th) all selected after Watts, Melbourne recruiters have been left red-faced.
As with all top draftees, Watts sadly carries the burden of godly expectations. It’s something he has not lived up to but this is the year he can silence some critics.
He’ll never silence them all though.
Drafted as a key forward prospect under ex-coach Dean Bailey, Watts never looked comfortable in the forward line. Although rarely delivered the ball by a midfield that seldom possessed it, Watts’ three seasons as a key forward delivered a return of 33 goals from 40 games.
Since the arrival of Mark Neeld as coach and Mitch Clark as the new key forward, both in 2012, Watts has had the luxury of playing across half back and on the wing.
Last season, Watts averaged 18.5 disposals per game which was the highest of his career. He also maintained 5.5 marks per game, a slight decrease from 5.6 in 2011 when he played as a forward.
Given the opportunity to read the play in front of him and run with the ball, Watts’ fourth season was his best and justified selection in the first round of the 2008 draft.
It’s unlikely he’ll ever live up to what was first expected of him but the arrival of Mitch Clark in 2011 and Chris Dawes in 2012 have freed Watts up to play the game more naturally.
As a defender, his running lanes have been more decisive and his disposal efficiency has drastically improved.
Prior to Dawes unexpected arrival, a Clark-Watts two pronged attack was fathomable with the potential to be dangerous. Alas, an improved season as a defender and the arrival of Dawes has firmly planted Watts in the backline.
Backline-forwardline swings have been a popular coaching strategy employed by coaches for players unable to meet expectations in the roles they were first recruited for. It could be argued that using Watts as a loose man in defence is a waste of his physical ability.
At 196cm and 91kg, Watts is perfectly sized to play in a key position role. Most of his time in defence has so far been spent playing loose to maximise the use of his disposal efficiency and surprisingly quick speed.
If he’s ever going to be remembered as more than the guy who was selected before Nic Naitanui, Watts needs to become a key defender and shut down the league’s gorillas.
He only needs to look as far as Fremantle’s Luke McPharlin for inspiration.
McPharlin is the guy that Fremantle gave up the 2001 number one draft pick for. They traded the first, 20th and 36th picks to Hawthorn in exchange for McPharlin.
Hawthorn subsequently drafted Luke Hodge, Daniel Elstone and Sam Mitchell with those picks. Ouch.
At Fremantle, McPharlin never become the key forward they had believed he would be. It was probably the worst recruiting decision the history of football until 2009 when McPharlin established himself as one of the game’s best key defenders.
McPharlin was the league’s dominant full back in 2011 and 2012. Last year he was awarded All-Australian honours at the position after being snubbed in 2011.
While game-changing key forwards in the AFL are as rare as controversy-free weeks, the role key defenders play often goes under appreciated. They don’t make headlines, they don’t gather many stats and they receive attention for their bad games more than their good.
The departure of Jared Rivers from Melbourne to Geelong via free agency opens the perfect opportunity for Watts to play one-on-one with the league’s strongest.
It’s unlikely Watts will live up to goal kicking expectation set upon him, but he can take his name off the list of worst number one draft picks by establishing himself as a key defender this year.
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