Watts now at home with Demons
After feeling lost in his early days with Melbourne, young forward Jack Watts feels he has the confidence of his teammates.
Watts, who was still a schoolboy when he made his debut in 2009 while carrying the burden which goes with being No.1 draft pick, admits he struggled early on at the elite level.
"Given the time that I've had to develop and the time out on the ground just getting used to the game, certainly my confidence is growing," Watts said on Thursday.
"The main factor is confidence and my teammates getting a bit more confidence in me as well.
"They're willing to kick the ball to me one-on-one and I'm getting used to getting around to more contests and working harder out there."
Watts endured a tough initiation to the big league, as the decision by Melbourne to draft him at No.1 ahead of spring-heeled Eagle Nic Naitanui was widely questioned.
"My first handful of games, I was lost out there - I didn't really know what to do," he said.
"When people are having shots at you all the time, it weighs on you.
"But it's going to be there for my whole career and I can't do anything about it. I've just got to deal with it the best I can.
"Obviously, I didn't have the impact that a lot of high draft picks have," he said. "I was 17, given that I was drafted when I was still at school.
"The guys within the club understood that it was going to take me a bit of time."
Now he feels the pendulum has swung so dramatically that he could "probably" be receiving too much praise.
Melbourne, who snuck into the top eight last week after beating Richmond, have the chance to snare three wins in succession on Friday night against the struggling Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
"It's a big game but we've just got to concentrate on our structures and playing our role. That's what's got us into this position of two wins in a row.
"We've just been playing really disciplined footy and so we've got to do that tomorrow night against the Western Bulldogs," Watts said.
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.