Jack Watts (born 26 March 1991) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, tall and weighing , Watts played in any position on the ground and has played for extended periods of time as a forward, defender, wingman, and back-up ruckman. He was a talented sportsman at a young age, playing both basketball and Australian rules football. In basketball, he represented Victoria and Australia, before giving up the sport to focus on football. He was recognised as a gifted footballer at a young age when he represented Victoria at the under-12 level. He went on to represent the state in the 2008 AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom-aged player, where he won the Larke Medal as the best player in the championships and was named as the full-forward in the All-Australian team.
Watts' performances in the championships saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with the first overall selection in the 2008 AFL draft at seventeen years of age, a year younger than most of his fellow draftees. The hype surrounding Watts in his first season was profound until he made his debut in the Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood in the 2009 season. The management of his debut has led to long-term criticism of the club because he was played despite being unready for senior football. Instead, Watts was used as a promotional tool to create a sense of hope for long-suffering fans. Criticism has followed Watts closely throughout his career due to the expectations that were placed on him being the number one draft pick and many believing he was not living up to his potential.
Despite the criticism that has followed Watts, he has maintained a spot in the senior side throughout his career and has played over 170 matches. Furthermore, he has featured in the top ten of Melbourne's best and fairest count three times, including finishing fifth in the 2016 count. Drafted as a forward and playing the majority of his career in the forward line, he has kicked over 160 goals, including a career-high season in 2016, in which he kicked thirty-eight goals. Although he has played a majority of his career in the forward line, he has been praised for his versatility which allows him to play in multiple positions on the ground.
Early life
Watts was born to Janine and Andrew Watts on 26 March 1991 in Victoria, Australia. He proved himself as an adept Australian rules footballer at a young age when he represented Victoria at the under-12 AFL carnival. An equally talented basketball player, he represented both Victoria and Australia as a junior, earning a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). In 2007, he was rewarded with a second scholarship with the AIS, this time for football, as part of the eleventh intake of the AIS-AFL Academy. He missed playing in the 2007 AFL under-16 championships for Victoria Metro and most of the basketball season after he broke his collarbone twice. Despite attempting to play both basketball and football at an elite level, he ultimately gave up his basketball scholarship with the AIS in mid-2008 to focus on a football career; at the time, he was considered the best point guard for his age in Victoria and potentially the best in the country.
At seventeen years of age, Watts entered the 2008 season primarily playing school football with Brighton Grammar in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) competition, instead of under-18 level in the TAC Cup with the Sandringham Dragons. He was completing year eleven and could choose to nominate for the AFL draft in either 2008 or 2009; touted as a likely early draft pick despite being a year younger than most of his fellow draft prospects, he spent the majority of the season undecided on whether he would nominate for the 2008 draft. He did, however, state that he would remain in Victoria in 2009 to complete year twelve at Brighton Grammar even if he was recruited by an interstate team.