JACK Watts played his best match for Melbourne, according to new coach Paul Roos, who labeled the forward/defender-turned-midfielder as “outstanding” against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium last Saturday night.

Although the Demons went down by 17 points, Roos said there were plenty of positives to take from the match, including Watts’ 27-disposal performance in the midfield.

“I thought Jack was our best player on the weekend,” he said from AAMI Park on Monday.

Roos said he’d like to keep Watts in the midfield, where he can display his ‘ball in hand’ skills, rather than push him back up forward. But Melbourne’s lack of talls could see Watts spend some time up forward this round.

“Maybe a combination, because he is a tall who can catch it, but I wouldn’t want to take him out of a position, where he’s just starting to get some real confidence,” he said.

“For Jack, he’s been smashed around [with people saying] ‘he can’t play forward and he can’t do this’, but … after talking to Jade [Rawlings] and Todd [Viney], it was probably his best game for the footy club.

“You saw what he could do when he does that – he really creates some opportunities for us.”

Reflecting on Melbourne’s season opener, Roos said there were some mixed things to take away from the match.

“Watching the game again, there was a lot of things we did really, really well, but it’s just frustrating the result to kick 6.15 and [not having any] tall forwards, which takes a way a little bit about what you can do,” he said.

But he acknowledged that the loss was also frustrating for the supporters.

“I’m a competitor as well and you want to win. Six [goals], 15 [behind] just doesn’t get it done, but when you have 21 scoring shots to 18, we did a lot of things right and we’ve just got to keep positive,” Roos said.

“I thought our game style was similar to what we wanted in the NAB Challenge and similar to how we played. We certainly spread the ball around a lot, but our forward 50 entries weren’t hurt by the talls, but we really didn’t lower our eyes and hit targets as much. With a smaller forward line, you just can’t bomb it in.

“There was a lot to be happy about, but as I said to you, you want to get a result, because the players have been bashed around a bit and you want to teach them how to win.”

Roos said it was imperative to analyse the loss before looking ahead to Melbourne’s clash against the West Coast Eagles at the MCG on Sunday. 

“As the leader of the footy club, you’ve got to understand where they’ve come from and the first 24 hours, you’re really disappointed and you go over it in your mind,” he said.

“But my job is to be really analytical and have a really good understanding of where the players are in any given time. We are reprogramming and there are some really, really positive signs of the way the players are playing.

“[St Kilda’s] Nick Riewoldt kicks three goals as a key forward and Clint Jones gets off a bit and plays well. Their defence stood up really well – [Sam] Gilbert, who we didn’t think would play, played.

“[St Kilda coach] Richo (Alan Richardson) is going to be pleased with his group, as he should be, but we’re certainly not disappointed, other than they got the four points and we didn’t.”