Jack Watts’ poor recent form means Melbourne has decision to make on whether or not it trades him

IT’S the Travis Johnstone dilemma, but with a different name — Jack Watts. Does Melbourne trade its No. 1 draft pick or does it keep him? VOTE

AFL- Melbourne v GWS at MCG, Melbourne. Neville Jetta yells at Jack Watts. 17th August 2014. Picture: Colleen Petch.

IT’S the Travis Johnstone dilemma, but the 2014 version has a different name — Jack Watts.

Does Melbourne trade its No. 1 draft pick or does it keep him?

The Demons finally off-loaded Johnstone after 10 years in the red and blue.

The No. 1 draft pick of the class in ’97 was regularly discussed as trade bait in the years before the Demons finally yielded in 2007.

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They shipped Johnstone to Brisbane for pick No. 14 and, despite protests from Melbourne fans, clearly it was the right decision for Melbourne and for Johnstone.

In doing so, the sanctity of the No. 1 pick was lost forever.

Melbourne’s then president Paul Gardner said on Monday night that pick No. 1 or not, it was not a difficult decision to trade Johnstone.

“No, it was not a hard decision,” Gardner said.

Watts struggled to hide his frustration against GWS, shoving Rhys Palmer and giving away a 50m penalty. Picture: George Salpigtidis

“Football is about improving the list, it’s about ensuring you look at the person in totality, which is the way they train, the way they perform, the way they act off the field, the way they are on the field.

“It’s not just about how many kicks they rack up on the wing. And sometimes, for one reason or another, footballers for one reason or another just don’t suit the club.

“At that time, and it’s my opinion and it wasn’t my choice, it was time for both parties to move on.”

But not all Melbourne fans agreed because Johnstone was popular.

Melbourne list manager Craig Cameron said at the time: “It’s always a tough one when you trade out a player of that quality. Travis is a favourite player of a lot of our supporters and it’s a difficult day for a lot of them.”

Former Demons forward David Schwarz said last week that it was time to trade Watts, despite Watts signing a contract extension at the end of last year.

Coach Paul Roos has been both supportive and defensive of Watts in the face of criticism of his performances.

He was again poor — with many of his teammates — in Sunday’s loss to Greater Western Sydney.

“I don’t think pick No. 1 is sacrosanct any more,” Gardner said. “If you go back over all the pick No. 1s, how many of them, if you did the drafts again, would be genuine pick No. 1s? There wouldn’t be that many. It’s all about currency.

“I think the No. 1 is a public, media pedestal ... they are

17 and 19-year old kids and you don’t know what they are going to be like in three or four years.”

Gardner said the discussion should not be about Watts, but what Melbourne does with pick No. 2 and No. 3, which it would receive if backman James Frawley opted to cut and run under free agency.

“I think there is more debate about what they do with picks No. 2 and No. 3, would you trade them out?”

he said.

“I’m not sure you would do that. I would think the real debate is on picks potentially for players you haven’t seen rather than picks for players you have seen.”

And Watts? “They won’t be shipping him,” Gardner said.

Originally published as Jack Watts’ poor recent form means Melbourne has decision to make on whether or not it trades him