How Jack Watts went from maligned, skinny No.1 draft pick to one of most-popular teammates
It was the first touch of the footy no one will ever forget. Jack Watts was under fierce pressure from the outset. And ultimately it was indicative of his career. But within both clubs he played for, Watts was as loved as teammates get.
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The first touch of the footy Jack Watts had at AFL level was indicative of his career – he was under fierce pressure from the outset.
Playing for Melbourne against Collingwood in a memorable Queen’s Birthday game in front of more than 61,000 fans in June 2009, Watts took possession on the members’ wing at the MCG and was immediately gang-tackled by three Magpies.
It was a welcome-to-the-AFL moment for the skinny 18-year-old who had been the Demons’ second No. 1 draft selection seven months prior, when he was taken ahead of Nic Naitanui.
The hype was compounded by Watts receiving Melbourne legend Norm Smith’s No. 4 guernsey from another club hero, Ron Barassi before the start of the season and the Demons holding a press conference with Watts leading into the game.
They lost by 66 points, Watts made headlines and scrutiny continued to follow him all the way until his retirement on Thursday, 11 years and 173 games later.
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The 29-year-old had a season to run on his four-year contract at Port Adelaide but could not overcome the mental and physical toll of a serious leg injury sustained in Round 2 last season.
Former Melbourne teammate Bernie Vince told News Corp Watts was much maligned simply because of where he was a number-one pick, yet never let that get to him.
“You don’t choose where you get drafted,” Vince said.
“There was negative stuff the whole time at Melbourne.
“Whenever Melbourne lost, it seemed to be Jack Watts’s fault.
“He was very good at shutting outside noise out and was still that bubbly, happy self, even when he was getting whacked in the media.
“I was thinking to myself ‘if I copped this every week, it would get to me’, but it didn’t seem to get to him – he was the same person, which was an incredible characteristic.
“And his output was still incredible for the Melbourne footy club.”
Extremely proud of my great mate Wattsy. What a career! Epitomises resilience. He is as honest as they come, and attacks every situation with a smile and an energetic outlook. So excited for him and the next stage of his life. He will thrive!
— Jack Trengove (@jtren9) September 24, 2020
Watts played three games for the Demons in that debut season but was a regular by 2011.
He was sometimes criticised for inconsistent effort and workrate, but at his best was a wonderfully skilled, languid player who seemed to have time with the football.
His standout campaign was 2016, when he kicked 38.18.
In 2017, Watts exorcised some of those first-game demons by kicking the winning goal in a four-point thriller in the Queen’s Birthday match against the Magpies.
“He was one of the most skilful players,” Vince said.
“Under pressure I’d back him to kick a goal to win a grand final over just about anyone I played with.”
Close friend Jack Trengove, an ex-teammate at Melbourne and Port, backed that up, calling him the perfect player to kick to a leading forward.
“He provides all those skills that get disregarded too much in this day and age of footy,” Trengove told News Corp.
“He was a seriously good player that won’t get the credit he deserves because he’ll always get tagged as that number one draft pick.”
Watts never won a premiership, best and fairest or major accolades in the AFL, but if there was an award for the greatest teammate, he would have been a perennial contender.
“He’s a teammate you just love being around – he’s the life of the group or the party,” said Vince, who played with Watts from 2014-17.
“He wore a burgundy suit to my wedding … so he didn’t mind standing out and was an out-there personality, but very loveable.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re going well or poor or in the middle, he’s got that ability to make you feel better about yourself.”
Just as Watts enjoyed the big stage of the MCG, he thrived during the team’s social grand final, the end-of-season footy trip.
“He was always high in the voting,” Vince said.
“On the Melbourne trips they used to call it the Downlow and he was always one or two, most times one.
“If anything funny happened, he was there.
“He’s just entertaining, not just on footy trips, but in life.
“That’s why everyone loves him so much.
“When I’d go to Adelaide and catch up with him, we’d play golf, it’d just be a great day.
“You see all the tributes to him today and that’s because there’s not one person who wouldn’t get along with Jack Watts.”
Trengove met him on draft night in 2009, when he went pick two, a year after Watts was taken first.
“I got my name called out, my family was there and it was all exciting but didn’t know anybody and the first person to walk up to me and give me a big hug was Wattsy,” he said.
“He’s just so kind and caring, and you instantly feel loved when you’re with him.”
On Port’s pre-season camp in Queensland in December, Watts’s injury restricted him to training away from the main group but he was king of the supporters.
He was the first to interact with everyone from children to grandmothers, making anyone he chatted to smile.
“With those signing sessions that AFL players do every year, he was always the last person there,” Trengove said.
“He probably get rips behind closed doors from different fans but he just disregards all that and takes it as face value.”
Watts was hugely popular at Port despite only lining up in 21 games for the club.
He joined seeking a fresh start in 2018, in exchange for pick 31, and kicked six goals in his first pre-season match for the Power.
But he had a mixed first season form-wise and then a controversial summer highlighted by appearing to snort a legal menthol-based powder known as ‘Wiesn Pulver’ off a woman’s chest at Germany’s Oktoberfest festival, which he later called a “pretty shocking look”.
“I had weeks when I didn’t want to get out of bed and I never ever experienced anything like that,” Watts said after Port’s Round 1 win over his former side the following year.
“I’d cop more shit from people saying I’m no good at footy for a thousand years compared to what I’ve been through for the last few months.”
Just when a switch to half-back, which netted 22 and 19 disposals in the opening two rounds of 2019, seemed to revitalise Watts, he broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in what would be his last game – against Carlton in March last year.
Power football manager Chris Davies said Watts came close to putting his hand up for selection this season before coming to an emotional decision to pull the pin.
“When you look at Jack’s career, he hasn’t spent one minute of that 12 years not under the spotlight,” Davies said on Thursday, two days after Watts cleaned out his locker.
“And when you’ve spent that amount of time with scrutiny on you – some he’s brought on himself but the majority came about because where he’s been picked in the draft – there was a range of emotions.
“There was probably some sadness he got to a point where he realised he was going to move on but relief that he knew it was right to move on.
“He’s an amazing individual who brought an enormous amount of energy to our group.”
Watts’s manager Paul Connors called him one of his favourites.
“He’s been in the spotlight but he’s always positive,” Connors told News Corp.
Trengove said he was incredibly proud of Watts.
“Everything he’s been through, every challenge that he’s faced, he’s done that with the biggest grin on his face,” he said.
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Originally published as How Jack Watts went from maligned, skinny No.1 draft pick to one of most-popular teammates