Having been under the microscope since he was selected at No. 1 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, Watts has copped plenty of attention from all sections of the football fraternity.
But, speaking on the back of his 2012 season, where he produced the best form of his career, before an ankle injury interrupted the back half of his season, Watts said he had learned to rise mostly above the barrage of comments.
“I certainly don’t read too many things anymore - that’s one thing I learnt. It’s just too much and if I looked into everything, I wouldn’t be able to cope, because it’s just ridiculous. The main thing for me is sticking to the plan, and it’s pretty clichéd, but you just listen to your coaches and your teammates - that’s all that really matters,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“As long as you’re doing the right thing by them and working really hard to improve yourself - that’s the main thing. The pressure, you can’t completely ignore it all. It certainly gets to me at times and I’m not going to hide that fact at all. That’s what comes with AFL footy and that’s what comes with being the No. 1 draft pick.
“There are plenty of people out there with their own opinions and that’s fine - I’ll take that on board and they can say whatever they like. Within myself, I know that I’m doing everything I can to get the best out of myself for my footy and for this team. So, as long as I can stick by that, I’ll cope.”
Watts said there was nothing he could do about people’s opinions and perceptions, and that he had adapted to the situation.
“I was pick No. 1 and you can’t change that at all, so that’s always going to be there, and that’s what people are going to think from outside sources,” he said.
“There’s no hiding that at all. But certainly, over the last couple of years, you learn the best ways to deal with it for you, and what works for you.
“In my case, there has been much over the years that by now, anyone can say anything and I’ve heard it all - that’s fine. I’ll just stick to this team and the coaches and that’s all that I need to satisfy.”
Watts said he had learned plenty from his experiences from No. 1 draft pick to having completed his fourth AFL season, adding that he was continually learning about the game.
“The first year, you learn a whole lot and the second year you learn little different things and the third year, the same thing,” he said.
“This year was exactly the same - we learned a lot. Different people came in and had completely new views for me, and it’s great to learn off different people, with different opinions from all different clubs as well.
“Certainly I feel that, this year, I’ve taken the biggest steps forward, which has been really good.”
