HE’S PLAYED up forward, down back and now Jack Watts is set to play in the midfield next year.
The 22-year-old revealed he was likely to play in the midfield in 2014, after meeting with new coach Paul Roos. Watts said his initial chats with Roos had been “encouraging”.
“He sees me as a bit of midfielder and a bigger body and I feel like I can get my hands on the ball a bit more than I have, I can have a lot more impact in my game,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“That was pretty exciting to hear that from him.
“Now it’s up to me to hold up my end of the bargain and come back in good nick and really attack the pre-season and get into next year.”
Watts, who signed a three-year deal on Tuesday, said he was rapt to have a new deal in place after speculation surrounded his future.
“It wasn’t too bad, to be honest, during the year, [but] as the year got on, a bit more pressure added up,” he said.
“For me, it was just about seeing what was taking place at the club and I don’t think anyone can argue with me for that.
“Ever since [chief executive] Peter Jackson has come to the club, he’s filled me with a lot of confidence and he just kept pulling aces out of the sleeve. I love the club and I’m just so happy to be able to stay there.”
Watts said he felt clear in his mind that he wanted to remain a Demon “a couple of weeks ago”.
“I’ve been speaking to my manager a lot … I said ‘I’m pretty certain on staying, so if we could get something going on, that’d be nice’. So it was probably a few weeks ago,” he said.
“I’m really fortunate to be staying at a great club for the next few years.
“Hopefully we can have some really good times and enjoy it and have some success.”
Meanwhile, Watts said he was enjoying the break after a tough year for the club, but he was eager to start life under Roos.
e“I’ve been relaxing the first couple of weeks. I went up to Sydny with a few of the boys, Trenners and Luke Tapscott, and I’m about to take off to Byron Bay for two weeks, but nothing too extravagant for me this year,” he said.
“I went over to America with the boys last year and I think this year I’ll take it easy.
“So I’ll go up there and come back and get back into it.”
