MIDFIELD coach Ben Mathews says Jack Watts may have to spend some time up forward this round, given Melbourne’s injury woes with its big men.
But Mathews, who said Watts’ composure, speed, decision-making, time and space and use of the ball were all highlights in Melbourne’s season opener against St Kilda last round, said ideally the 23-year-old would spend most of his time in the midfield from now on.
“We thought it was a very good game,” he told Dee TV.
“He uses the ball beautifully … it was another step forward for Jack to keep building on that and to be consistent – and consistent with his effort.
“It probably hasn’t helped him that we haven’t got too many talls up forward, but there’s going to be times when he’s up forward … but certainly we’ll get him around the footy as much as we can.”
Mathews was pleased with the combination of midfielders Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince, Viv Michie, Jack Watts and Daniel Cross last week and added that they will only get better as a group.
“There’s plenty of new guys and apart from Nathan Jones and Jack Watts, it is a relatively new group, all thrown in and mixed in together,” he said.
“I thought they performed really strong. Jake Spencer has been holding the ruck while the talls have been coming back from injury, and he’s been doing a great job. He rucked manfully last week and he gave us a contest and that’s all we asked of Jake.
“They’re still working out each other’s games and learning from each other and how they best go about their footy together, so I’m reasonably optimistic of them getting it right pretty quickly and having a good impact on the team.”
Mathews said Sunday’s clash was a great opportunity for the Demons to take on a red hot West Coast early in the season.
“We thought we did plenty right against the Saints last week. Coming up against the Eagles and they’re a very high running side, so we’re going to have to be at our best in the defensive running areas of the game,” he said.
“Their tall timber is going to be a real focus for us this week with [Nic] Naitanui, [Dean] Cox, [Callum] Sinclair and [Josh] Kennedy up forward, so really it’s a big job for our talls this week to nullify their talls.
“It becomes an opportunity for our mids and smalls to go at them and challenge a highly rated side, so it’s a great opportunity.”
Mathews said inclusions Sam Blease, Dean Kent and Michael Evans, who are all in the mix to play in round two, were all pushing their claims for a call-up.
“Bleasey had an opportunity throughout the pre-season and he’s lightning quick and he brings great speed, so if he gets an opportunity this weekend, we need him to use his speed on the outside and hopefully hit the scoreboard,” he said.
“Evo has been in really good form and he’s been knocking down the door in the last two weeks [after strong performances] for Williamstown and also Port Melbourne in the VFL. [He’s been] getting good hands on the footy and using it pretty well. His running power is right up there – he’s a great runner, so against the Eagles, he could be a great asset.
“Young Kenty, he’s been building in his pre-season. He’s had an injury-interrupted pre-season, prior to Christmas, but he brings great power, he’s fast and he’s a beautiful left-foot kick.
“They’re all in the mix and if they get the opportunity now, they’ll have to put their best foot forward.”
