Jack Watts to farewell Melbourne as clubs line up to acquire the former No.1 pick
JACK Watts will say his goodbyes at Melbourne’s best-and-fairest on Monday night as rival clubs line up to acquire the 196cm playmaker.
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JACK Watts will say his goodbyes at Melbourne’s best-and-fairest on Monday night.
Ironically, for someone who has copped so much flak over his football career, inside the club Watts is as popular as anyone.
But he knows it is time.
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As much as it disappointed him to be put up for trade last week, the 196cm playmaker accepts he will almost certainly be playing in different colours next year.
And Monday night’s farewell will be emotional.
Port Adelaide (pick No.29) loomed as the favourite, but Geelong (pick No.20) made a strong play when it took Watts on a tour of the Cattery.
You could see Watts flourishing at Simonds Stadium, playing a support role on a forward flank behind superstars Joel Selwood, Patrick Dangerfield and, most likely, Gary Ablett.
Coach Chris Scott is on a mission to add some more scoring power to Geelong’s forward half, with exiled Western Bulldog Jake Stringer set to choose Essendon.
Dangerfield said Watts would be a fine pick-up.
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“His best footy is as good as anyone in the competition,” Dangerfield told the AFL website.
“He has enormous potential.”
But there is a lot of interest in Watts, 26, from Port, too.
Port coach Ken Hinkley, captain Travis Boak, Brad Ebert and Hamish Hartlett have all met Watts and said how much they would love to have the Demon’s skill and creativity impacting the scoreboard next year.
The Power had a lot of entries in attack this year, but if anything, ‘Ken’s men’ lacked class and polish.
But this is the beauty of Watts. According to Champion Data, the 153-gamer was the second-best kick inside 50m in the competition over the past two seasons.
You can picture Charlie Dixon or Tom Hawkins licking their lips.
Port Adelaide looks to be getting Brisbane Lions clearance king Tom Rockliff as well, as part of a big push to enter the top-four next year.
And the thumbs-up emojis have been flying in all week on text messages from over the South Australian border.
Sydney could still come hard for Watts, but the Swans would probably have to trade out Kurt Tippett first to clear some salary cap room to land him.
We will watch that space.
Melbourne spearhead Jesse Hogan would prefer to keep Watts and is believed to have told his teammate as much when they spoke briefly last week.
If Watts is going, should Hogan think about making the same move?
Melbourne is adamant the answer is no, but you can bet your life Fremantle will again ask about Hogan when the club meetings begin on Monday at Etihad Stadium.
But back to Watts. We know he is a goal kicker, and even rucked admirably at times this year.
But what is under rated is his forward pressure.
It might be the biggest myth-buster in football, but Watts averaged 11.5 forward-half pressure acts per game, which is rated elite, and 24 pressure points a game, also ranked elite, this season.
That’s all the tackling, chasing, harassing and spoiling wrapped up into one Champion Data number.
It’s a bold call from Melbourne as it looks to bring in gun Adelaide defender Jake Lever and make finals for the first time in 12 years next season.
But Monday night will be tough for Watts.
He always wanted to be part of the September action.
It’s still possible, just not at Melbourne.
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