NATIONAL recruiting manager Barry Prendergast reflects on the recruiting of 2008 No.1 NAB AFL Draft pick Jack Watts
Jack Watts
FIRST cab off the rank is Jack Watts in our draftee reviews of the last three years.
In going back three years, we look at the most formative years of the draftees at our club; where we will see the most volatile rise and fall of their stocks.
While it is the point where I started in this role, if we went back four years we would all most likely predict with a far greater degree of certainty, in terms of where we see a player’s future. Obviously there are exceptions with the talls being the most unpredictable.
Mark Jamar’s recent rise is a classic example and demonstrates where patience and perseverance are very important virtues in the development of a player.
The number one selection in 2008 was a big moment for the club, given where we were at as a football club.
Having taken over the role as National Recruiting Manager in February of that year it certainly came as a baptism of fire.
Moving into the ‘broom cupboard’ as we knew it at the Junction Oval and with only a handful of notes left over, it became quickly apparent after two almost 100 point losses that pick one may be on the cards. At that time getting to Perth became the number one priority with the three leading candidates in Nic Naitanui, Daniel Rich and Chris Yarran playing senior WAFL footy over there.
As for Jack Watts, other than being part of the AIS program, it was a bit of “Jack Who” as he had not even committed to football over basketball at that point.
The concern with the WA boys was: what if they got injured? How would you truly know, especially with the hype on Naitanui. In fact in round seven, I flew over and back in the day, just to watch Nic run around and get a feel for his understanding of the game. That was already my third viewing since the season started.
The decision-making process was obviously an arduous one.
Jack finally committed to football and announced his arrival with a match winning four-goal performance against Vic Country at the MCG in a curtain raiser to our round nine game against Hawthorn.
Those matches were straight 80 minutes and he delivered the winning goal after taking a pack mark 40 seconds from full-time. When he lined up for that goal, we could all sense this was going through from 40 metres.
In fact, Jack kicked an amazing 17 goals 2 behinds in those championships to win the Larke Medal.
The final decision on Jack came in his last TAC Cup game. He only played a handful of games for Sandringham Dragons and his final game came at Visy Park against the Geelong Falcons.
Having been to Perth the previous day to watch Naitanui in a final I caught the ‘midnight horror’ back to watch Jack in his final hit-out.
He started forward, but with Sandringham five goals down, he went into the centre bounce at the start of the second quarter. He won clearances, kicked a goal and dragged Sandy back level with Geelong inside 15 minutes. At that point, Geelong put a guy on him by the name of Jordie McKenzie to quell his influence, which is obviously another story.
The final piece of the jigsaw was the draft camp. A lot has been made of his elite numbers, but they were expected. The interview and the beep test were of greater significance. Prior to the beep, I asked Jack how much was he was prepared “to screw up his guts”, which he did. He ran creditably in the 13s in this endurance test. His interview as you may expect was impressive.
What did we see in Jack Watts?
Obviously, his elite athleticism especially at 196cm. In fact, the athleticism of the talls in that draft was incredible. His hands, kicking and decision-making were elite and his ability to stand-up at big moments was noted. He can play tall forward, which is a need, but he can also move up the ground and play at elite levels. Aside from his great individual qualities, he understood what team was all about, almost to his detriment at times. Finally he is competitive and has a sense of pride and commitment in what he wants to achieve.
What did we expect in Jack Watts?
At the number one pick you expect to get a star and at the least a very, very good player. That’s obvious. We expected he would take time, especially as he was to complete Year 12. Then he has to build a body and come to grips with the competitive actions of football over basketball. We knew we had to build him. If we had taken Daniel Rich, we would have an entirely different set of expectations. In Jack’s role, we expected a key forward. One who can play out of the square, but more importantly also move up the ground and use his elite kicking skills to set up goals. We also expected a versatile type who can also run through the midfield and test the opposition in their match ups. His skills and attributes allow this flexibility and this is where the game was and is heading.
What are we getting from Jack Watts?
Basically what we expected and to use a golf term I would say he is on par. We would all like him to knock a few birdies in and that mark in the first quarter on Sunday gives us a preview of these capabilities. He has just begun his second year of full-time football and is making good progression with his physical development. He has just played his 20th game and his possession rate continues to rise. Dean Bailey has shown great faith and perseverance working through those games with Jack, which is a great investment in Jack’s and our future. He is taking incremental steps, as he adapts to playing against mature bodies, given his football history has been predominantly of a schoolboy level and his sporting preference in basketball. There is no doubt Jack is realising that his naturally gifted talents, which saw him dominate junior sport will only take him so far. His selection was based on his competitiveness and desire to work with these talents. Where he is exceeding expectations is work rate. He covers much more ground than we saw at junior levels, with a great work ethic. This has seen him operate under fatigue a lot and we haven’t seen a lot of that explosive pace as a result. However, with more pre-seasons, given he just completed his first, it will come.
In finishing, the selection of Jack Watts delivered us the best grapes from the French vineyards. If we had taken Daniel Rich we would have had a bottle of Grange dropped at the door. At the moment from a recruiter’s perspective the fermenting process is progressing fine, but he still has plenty of work to do and plenty more to offer.
Jack Watts
FIRST cab off the rank is Jack Watts in our draftee reviews of the last three years.
In going back three years, we look at the most formative years of the draftees at our club; where we will see the most volatile rise and fall of their stocks.
While it is the point where I started in this role, if we went back four years we would all most likely predict with a far greater degree of certainty, in terms of where we see a player’s future. Obviously there are exceptions with the talls being the most unpredictable.
Mark Jamar’s recent rise is a classic example and demonstrates where patience and perseverance are very important virtues in the development of a player.
The number one selection in 2008 was a big moment for the club, given where we were at as a football club.
Having taken over the role as National Recruiting Manager in February of that year it certainly came as a baptism of fire.
Moving into the ‘broom cupboard’ as we knew it at the Junction Oval and with only a handful of notes left over, it became quickly apparent after two almost 100 point losses that pick one may be on the cards. At that time getting to Perth became the number one priority with the three leading candidates in Nic Naitanui, Daniel Rich and Chris Yarran playing senior WAFL footy over there.
As for Jack Watts, other than being part of the AIS program, it was a bit of “Jack Who” as he had not even committed to football over basketball at that point.
The concern with the WA boys was: what if they got injured? How would you truly know, especially with the hype on Naitanui. In fact in round seven, I flew over and back in the day, just to watch Nic run around and get a feel for his understanding of the game. That was already my third viewing since the season started.
The decision-making process was obviously an arduous one.
Jack finally committed to football and announced his arrival with a match winning four-goal performance against Vic Country at the MCG in a curtain raiser to our round nine game against Hawthorn.
Those matches were straight 80 minutes and he delivered the winning goal after taking a pack mark 40 seconds from full-time. When he lined up for that goal, we could all sense this was going through from 40 metres.
In fact, Jack kicked an amazing 17 goals 2 behinds in those championships to win the Larke Medal.
The final decision on Jack came in his last TAC Cup game. He only played a handful of games for Sandringham Dragons and his final game came at Visy Park against the Geelong Falcons.
Having been to Perth the previous day to watch Naitanui in a final I caught the ‘midnight horror’ back to watch Jack in his final hit-out.
He started forward, but with Sandringham five goals down, he went into the centre bounce at the start of the second quarter. He won clearances, kicked a goal and dragged Sandy back level with Geelong inside 15 minutes. At that point, Geelong put a guy on him by the name of Jordie McKenzie to quell his influence, which is obviously another story.
The final piece of the jigsaw was the draft camp. A lot has been made of his elite numbers, but they were expected. The interview and the beep test were of greater significance. Prior to the beep, I asked Jack how much was he was prepared “to screw up his guts”, which he did. He ran creditably in the 13s in this endurance test. His interview as you may expect was impressive.
What did we see in Jack Watts?
Obviously, his elite athleticism especially at 196cm. In fact, the athleticism of the talls in that draft was incredible. His hands, kicking and decision-making were elite and his ability to stand-up at big moments was noted. He can play tall forward, which is a need, but he can also move up the ground and play at elite levels. Aside from his great individual qualities, he understood what team was all about, almost to his detriment at times. Finally he is competitive and has a sense of pride and commitment in what he wants to achieve.
What did we expect in Jack Watts?
At the number one pick you expect to get a star and at the least a very, very good player. That’s obvious. We expected he would take time, especially as he was to complete Year 12. Then he has to build a body and come to grips with the competitive actions of football over basketball. We knew we had to build him. If we had taken Daniel Rich, we would have an entirely different set of expectations. In Jack’s role, we expected a key forward. One who can play out of the square, but more importantly also move up the ground and use his elite kicking skills to set up goals. We also expected a versatile type who can also run through the midfield and test the opposition in their match ups. His skills and attributes allow this flexibility and this is where the game was and is heading.
What are we getting from Jack Watts?
Basically what we expected and to use a golf term I would say he is on par. We would all like him to knock a few birdies in and that mark in the first quarter on Sunday gives us a preview of these capabilities. He has just begun his second year of full-time football and is making good progression with his physical development. He has just played his 20th game and his possession rate continues to rise. Dean Bailey has shown great faith and perseverance working through those games with Jack, which is a great investment in Jack’s and our future. He is taking incremental steps, as he adapts to playing against mature bodies, given his football history has been predominantly of a schoolboy level and his sporting preference in basketball. There is no doubt Jack is realising that his naturally gifted talents, which saw him dominate junior sport will only take him so far. His selection was based on his competitiveness and desire to work with these talents. Where he is exceeding expectations is work rate. He covers much more ground than we saw at junior levels, with a great work ethic. This has seen him operate under fatigue a lot and we haven’t seen a lot of that explosive pace as a result. However, with more pre-seasons, given he just completed his first, it will come.
In finishing, the selection of Jack Watts delivered us the best grapes from the French vineyards. If we had taken Daniel Rich we would have had a bottle of Grange dropped at the door. At the moment from a recruiter’s perspective the fermenting process is progressing fine, but he still has plenty of work to do and plenty more to offer.
