Jack Watts (footballer)

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Jack Watts
Personal information
Full name	Jack Watts
Date of birth	(1991-03-26) 26 March 1991
Original team	Sandringham Dragons
Draft	1st overall, 2008 Melbourne
Debut	8 June 2009, Melbourne v. Collingwood, at MCG, Melbourne
Height/Weight	196 cm / 91 kg
Position(s)	Forward/Defender
Club information
Current club	Melbourne
Number	4
Playing career¹
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2009–	Melbourne	73 (60)
¹ Playing statistics correct to end of 2013 season.
Career highlights
Larke Medal 2008

Jack Watts (born 26 March 1991) is an Australian rules footballer for the Melbourne Football Club, in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the number one draft pick in the 2008 AFL Draft.

Early life

Though a skilled junior footballer, Watts was also a very promising junior basketball player who could have pursued a professional career in the sport after representing Victoria in under 18 state titles but decided instead to focus on an AFL career.^[1]

Junior career

TAC Cup and APS

Watts played under 18 football with the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup, and attended Brighton Grammar School competing in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS). He represented Vic Metro in 2008, winning the Larke Medal and All-Australian honours^[2] and performed well at the 2008 AFL Draft Camp. He recorded the second fastest time by a non-indigenous player in the 20 metres sprint with 2.82 seconds.^[3]

AFL career

2008 Draft

In the lead up to the 2008 AFL Draft, it was widely tipped that Melbourne, possessing the first overall selection would take either Watts, Nic Naitanui of Swan Districts, or Daniel Rich of Subiaco.^[4] Ultimately on 29 November 2008, Melbourne selected Watts with the first pick.

2009

Watts was awarded Melbourne's No. 4 guernsey, a guernsey previously worn by club legends Norm Smith and Ron Barassi, in a ceremony at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.^[5]

Watts made his debut for the Melbourne Football Club against the Collingwood Football Club in the annual AFL Queen's Birthday Clash at the MCG on Monday, 8 June.^[6] Melbourne was defeated by 66 points (11 goals) by Collingwood.

2010

After a small injury in the pre-season Watts began the 2010 season slowly, playing for the Casey Scorpions, Melbourne's affiliate club, in the VFL. Watts played his first match for Melbourne in 2010, in round 8, against the West Coast Eagles, at the MCG. Watts had 15 possessions and took several contested marks, in a solid performance. The match was notable for the fact that it was the first time Watts had played against his draft contemporary; Nic Naitanui. Naitanui was the number two pick from the 2008 draft, where opinion was divided on who would be taken at number one.

2011

Watts showed solid improvement in the 2011 season, he played all 22 games and kicked 21 goals which included kicking a career high 3 goals on two occasions. At the end of the season, Watts finished equal 9th with Jordie McKenzie in Melbourne's Best and Fairest.

2012

After showing inconsistency in the forward line for the first few weeks of the season, Watts was dropped to the VFL until he made his return to the Demons side as a defender. While taking on the role, Watts arguably played the best football of his career between rounds 8 and 15 which included a career high 34 possessions against the Sydney Swans. Undoubtedly, Watts' career highlight was to lead the league in intercept marks over a three week period during 2012.^[7] After round 15, Watts suffered an injury and didn't return to the side until round 21.

2013

Watts had a poor start to the 2013 AFL season with some underwhelming performances in the back line. Despite stating that Watts would play as a defender during the 2013 AFL season, Mark Neeld returned Watts to the forward line before his sacking. During the second half of the season, Watts found form as a forward where he kicked 18 goals in 11 games including two hauls of 4 goals against the Western Bulldogs in rounds 14 and 23. Watts earned three votes in the 2013 Brownlow Medal for his efforts in round 14 which included a match saving mark in defence in the dying stages of the game.

During the 2013 season, there was much speculation that Watts was unhappy with the Melbourne Demons and would request a trade to another club. Shortly after the appointment of Paul Roos as senior coach, Watts re-signed with the Demons for three years.

Style of play

Watts is an athletic, strong-marking tall forward with pace who is an excellent shot on goal.^[2]

Statistics

Statistics are correct as of Round 23, 2013^[8]

Season	Team	No.	Games	Goals	Behinds	Kicks	Marks	Handballs	Disposals
2009	Melbourne	4	3	2	2	16	9	11	27
2010	Melbourne	4	15	10	4	115	70	74	189
2011	Melbourne	4	22	21	11	198	124	157	355
2012	Melbourne	4	15	5	1	149	83	129	278
2013	Melbourne	4	18	22	12	157	95	110	267
Totals			73	60	30	635	381	481	1116

References

↑ "Selection 1:Jack Watts". AFL BigPond Network. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
↑ 2.0 2.1 Edmund, Sam (15 November 2008). "Jack of all trades, master of one". Herald Sun. Australia. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
↑ Quayle, Emma (24 November 2008). "Picks of the draft: Jack Watts". realfooty.com.au. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
↑ Behind the scenes with the Demons on draft day
↑ Ralph, Jon (2 December 2008). "Jack Watts goes from No.1 to No.4". Herald Sun. Australia. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
↑ Boulton, Martin (4 June 2008). "Dees No.1 draft pick ready". The Age. Australia. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
↑ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/jack-watts-on-the-way-forward-after-a-switch-to-defence/story-e6frf9jf-1226385809336#
↑ BigPond, AFL (6 September 2013). "Player Profile – Nathan Jones".

External links

Jack Watts's profile on the official website of the Melbourne Football Club
Jack Watts's statistics from AFL Tables

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Cale Morton	Larke Medal 2008	Succeeded by David Swallow Andrew Hooper
Preceded by Matthew Kreuzer	Number one overall pick in AFL draft 2008	Succeeded by Tom Scully

Melbourne Football Club – current squad

1 Hogan
2 N. Jones (vc)
3 Salem
4 Watts
5 Toumpas
6 Dawes
7 Viney
8 Frawley
9 Trengove
10 Byrnes
11 Clark
12 Tyson
13 McKenzie
14 Dunn
15 Clisby
16 Kent
17 Blease
18 Cross
19 Strauss
20 Garland
21 Pedersen
22 Michie
23 Vince
24 Kennedy-Harris
25 McDonald
26 Nicholson
27 Riley
29 Hunt
31 Grimes (c)
32 Evans
33 Barry
35 Tapscott
37 Gawn
38 Howe
39 Jetta*
40 Jamar
41 Georgiou*
42 Spencer
43 Harmes*
44 Bail
45 M. Jones
46 Terlich
47 King*
48 Fitzpatrick
50 Westrupp*

Coach: Roos

* denotes Rookie Listed players

Australian Football League number one overall Draft picks

v t e 2008 AFL National Draft

First round	1. Jack Watts 2. Nic Naitanui 3. Stephen Hill 4. Hamish Hartlett 5. Michael Hurley 6. Chris Yarran 7. Daniel Rich 8. Tyrone Vickery 9. Jack Ziebell 10. Phil Davis 11. Steele Sidebottom 12. Lewis Johnston 13. Tom Lynch 14. Ayce Cordy (F/S) 15. Mitchell Brown 16. Ryan Schoenmakers 17. Sam Blease (PP) 18. Luke Shuey (PP)

Second round	19. James Strauss 20. Tom Swift 21. Hayden Ballantyne 22. Jackson Trengove 23. David Zaharakis 24. Nick Suban 25. Jack Redden 26. Jayden Post 27. Sam Wright 28. Shaun McKernan 29. Dayne Beams 30. Daniel Hannebery 31. Jordan Roughead 32. Liam Jones 33. Thomas Gillies 34. Liam Shiels

Third round	35. Jamie Bennell 36. Ashley Smith 37. Zac Clarke 38. Matthew Broadbent 39. Steven Motlop 40. Mitch Robinson 41. Todd Banfield 42. Mitchell Banner 43. Liam Anthony 44. Rory Sloane 45. Jarrad Blight 46. Luke Rounds 47. Rhys Stanley 48. Nicholas Heyne 49. Taylor Hunt 50. Jordan Lisle

Fourth round	51. Neville Jetta 52. Jordan Jones 53. Michael Walters 54. Jarrad Redden 55. Michael Still 56. Ben Bucovaz 57. Aaron Cornelius 58. Tom Hislop 59. Nathan O'Keefe 60. Tom Lee 61. Campbell Heath 62. Alistair Smith 63. Luke Lowden

Fifth round	64. Rohan Bail 65. Rhys O'Keeffe 66. Glenn Dawson 67. Tyson Slattery 68. Tim Ruffles 69. Bart McCulloch 71. Warren Benjamin 72. Will Young 73. Leigh Brown 74. Paul Cahill 75. Shane Savage

Sixth round	77. Chris Hall 78. Jason Davenport 80. Caleb Tiller 81. Kieran King 83. Colm Begley

Persondata
Name	Watts, Jack
Alternative names
Short description	Australian rules footballer
Date of birth	26 March 1991
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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