Watson played midfield and as a high half forward in junior footy. Just not sure he can forge a career other than a small forward. I wouldn’t have used 5 on him as I’ve said. But it’s not his fault where he was taken.
Review Cats drown Hawks by 36 points in Tommas 350
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Watson played midfield and as a high half forward in junior footy. Just not sure he can forge a career other than a small forward. I wouldn’t have used 5 on him as I’ve said. But it’s not his fault where he was taken.
Eddie Betts was overlooked in the 2004 national draft and was instead taken in the PSD.
The top 10 in the ND that year was:
1. Brett Deledio
2. Jarryd Roughead
3. Ryan Griffen
4. Richard Tambling
5. Buddy Franklin
6. Tom Williams
7. Jordan Lewis
8. John Meesen
9. Jordan Russell
10. Chris Egan
If you ask me to re-do that draft I’m probably only taking Buddy and maybe Roughead ahead of Betts.
Moral of the story - don’t wait until pick 40 to take the third best player in the draft.
Anyone that has seen any of Watson’s junior games knows he is worth every bit of pick 5. He is a match winner.
David the Cat
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Anyone wanting to know what a verbal hand grenade looks like:
Dangerfield never had 27 disposals in his first 51 games
I will not be available for further comment
Kobe Gryant
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I said it at draft time last year that he's the one that I didn't want to slip to us.
Uber talented kid, and will probably be a very good footballer....but you don't take small forwards with picks that high in the draft.
And you most definitely don't take small forwards who have the physical attributes of a 12 year old, as there's no potential for a second position outside of maybe a back pocket (another position you woutldn't take that high.
The Toby Greene comparisons where really clutching at straws. Toby is 11cm taller, it's chalk and cheese.
Art Vandelay_
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Up until now I've seen him struggle with the pace of league footy and adopt a simple approach of kick it long to a contest.
The first real instance of high quality league attributes. Speed, evasiveness and then the composed kick under pressure.
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I love Eddie Betts.
But you are seriously overrating Eddie Betts as a footballer.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but let me just say that I am glad you are not in charge of draft strategy at Geelong.
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That kick is on the non-dominant side too I think. Super-impressive.
Really? You don't think Betts was a better footballer than at least 8 of those players listed?
Being able to see the future is a really helpful recruiting skill. You'd be able to create a premiership winning team with rookie picks alone.
Late contribution -
- another confidence boosting game for young (and old!) cohort, particularly enjoyable for a win over Hawks. Seeing some of the ‘next gen’ starting to back themselves and their key attributes
- while the big bodies of the Hawks mids may have won more contests, the Cats mids ability to take the pressure and be more effective with less possessions/entries was a huge ‘win’ in the game and in experience
- in addition to fast entries, we scored quickly when the forwards spread. We had problems in Q2 when forwards bunched allowing Frost in particular to intercept. Higher Hawks pressure added to that.
- my only ‘knock’ on Cats performance was our wet weather set up and style in first 10 mins of Q4 - lacked ‘system’ and looked panicked. Hawks set up better with players at contest and defensive side (to gather up rushed soccer kicks by Cats) and pushing forward hard and leaving space at half forward. Should look at the tape of that and drill better wet weather technique.
- Other knock was umpiring, with baffling decisions both ways. Still mystified by refusal to pay HTB where players fend and are then tackled.
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It's a passive-aggressive gesture motioned by a player after they've kicked a goal, to a crowd that has been particularly vocal, either towards that individual player, or simply directed to their team in general.
Its usage is intended to convey directly to the crowd that it has been silenced. It would be most appropriately used to legitimise a tangible shift of momentum in the game.
What makes this particular incident comical is that the Hawks were still five-goals down, and despite getting close at stages throughout the game, in general the Hawks just never looked like threatening.
Yeah no question - 2022 premiership team is almost a case in point! I was just responding to the suggestion that Betts could be somehow overrated as a footballer.
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For me in hindsight based on current facts and seeing players in game for 3 rds.... I probably would have gone for Darcy Wilson over COS. But that's having not seen COS at afl level. Nick Watson, no way in hell.
Hawthorn can rot at the bottom of the ladder for eternity with the Ginnivan, Watson combo.
Hawthorn can rot at the bottom of the ladder for eternity with the Ginnivan, Watson combo.
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We can debate where Betts would rank in terms of output from the draft. I would have at least 5 of those top 10 higher in terms of career output.
However what is not debatable is that all of those top 10 were much better draft prospects AT THE TIME OF THE DRAFT than Betts was.
The context of the discussion is around recruitment, in particular Watson but in general around the concept of drafting a specialist small forward with pick 5 (170 cm one that doesn't seem to be all that outstanding athletically). Given the frequency in which top tier small forwards (let alone AFL standard) are available late. It seems to be a bad recruitment choice to pay a pick 5 for what others are getting with pick 50s when you can use the pick 5 on something that won't be available later.
Vdubs
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Easily
The_Koulouriotis_Fan
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That play was dynamite
Ok. Reading back I don't really get it. Hawks are dumb because they could have used pick 5 on another player? But then would there have been any guarantee they pick up Watson later if he was the one they wanted? It's abstract. All I know is Betts was an absolute genius footballer. One of the best ever for his position.
The_Koulouriotis_Fan
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I don’t think it’s fair to judge a first year draft pick. Any conversation on the matter seems far too unfair for any player & wild 4 games into their first season. Maybe chat in a couple of years. Watson could turn into an absolute jet
Yeah, exactly. People are seeing that he is 5'7 and immediately writing him off as a small goalsneak at best.
I know size is a massive advantage in footy (speaking as someone who is the same height as Watson), but the kid has already shown that he can win the footy and he's creative with it.
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