Watts can deliver on hype: Bailey
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey is confident Jack Watts can play his role for the team this weekend against the Eagles
Watts will play against West Coast tomorrow in his first senior match since an underwhelming three matches last year.
"Jack will approach it with what we want him to do and we expect him to contribute and apply pressure like every other player in the team," Bailey said on Friday morning.
"He knows what's expected and I'm sure he'll give 100 per cent."
The Demons coach said there would be some obvious differences between the skinny school kid that played up forward last year and the 2010 model.
"Certainly physically he's a lot bigger than he was last year," he said. "He's been able to train and play more.
"He’s been able to play games at VFL level but also contribute and he'll be fitter than he was last year.
"There’s still a progression for him to build his body and over the next 12 months he’ll get bigger and stronger."
Saturday’s game will be the first time Watts and Nic Naitanui are on the same field as AFL players.
Naitanui has taken the football world by storm since debuting for West Coast last year.
Comparisons between the two have been inevitable since Naitanui was drafted with the pick after Watts but Bailey says they are unlikely to be conscious of each other.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Jack play well," Bailey said. "I’m not looking forward to seeing Nic play well. He’s certainly a unique player, Nic and we hope he doesn’t have a good game tomorrow.
“We expect Jack to contribute like he did last time. We’d like to think again that 22 contributors are more important than individually assessing did he beat him? I’m not sure they’re going to play on each other.”
Another element to the game is that it will be the first time Colin Sylvia and Josh Kennedy have taken to the same field since Kennedy fractured Sylvia’s jaw in an off the ball incident in the NAB Challenge.
Bailey said he doubted there would be much retribution from that incident.
“Maybe, maybe not, we’ll see at the start of the game," Bailey said. "Our focus will be on getting the football. Once you get the football you get protected and you can’t do anything unless you’ve got it.”