Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn : Nick 'the Wizard' Watson! Rising star Nom!

[TylerDurden]

He ignites the Hawk fans like no other. Similar to when Buddy arrived.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

His ability to change direction at full pace is the best I have ever seen, even better than Cyril (sacrilege but I believe this to be the case).

Kid will be the best small forward in the league of his generation.

 

[humid hawk]

This guy just sparks the entire team. There were periods where the team was flat today but it never seems to apply to him. What a weapon!

 

[smish]

He is a ****ing maniac when he's chasing in the forward 50

 

[BuddwaGOAT]

Would go 2nd in a re-draft as it stands.
What a star.

 

[marklar]

I've never seen a first year player go in harder than Watson. He's 100% energy and effort the whole game.

Size doesn't matter. Sam will get the absolute best out of him.

 

[Dipper]

Put him in a couple of centre bounces next week just to see if it's a potential weapon for finals.

 

[toomanysquibs]

His ability to change direction at full pace is the best I have ever seen, even better than Cyril (sacrilege but I believe this to be the case).

That was mentioned pre-draft, that he could go from flat out to standing still at a level beyond what other AFL mortals are capable of.

Each time he cuts inboard and goes around players, it's because they literally aren't capable.

Plus, he was usually a couple of steps ahead of opponents in his junior years. Often highlights showed them reacting to something he'd done a few steps earlier.

What I really wasn't expecting was his Puopolo like manic attack on the ball and opponent. I'm not worried about his physical makeup, because he's a ball of muscle. But I hope he's got some great physios and fitness/conditioning staff around him to make sure he can do this for the next 10+ years!

So psyched about him and Dear in particular, they are made to play together!

 

[toomanysquibs]

Put him in a couple of centre bounces next week just to see if it's a potential weapon for finals.

He's been in before a couple of times in previous games, and looked the goods.

Hope they manage his workload though, he said he was sore through his final junior year, would most definitely be feeling it again now.

Just doesn't have a slow down or off switch.

We are hitting finals again at the right time for a young team. That extra week off is going to help us as well as anybody with our mix of very young and older players.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

That was mentioned pre-draft, that he could go from flat out to standing still at a level beyond what other AFL mortals are capable of.

Each time he cuts inboard and goes around players, it's because they literally aren't capable.

Plus, he was usually a couple of steps ahead of opponents in his junior years. Often highlights showed them reacting to something he'd done a few steps earlier.

What I really wasn't expecting was his Puopolo like manic attack on the ball and opponent. I'm not worried about his physical makeup, because he's a ball of muscle. But I hope he's got some great physios and fitness/conditioning staff around him to make sure he can do this for the next 10+ years!

So psyched about him and Dear in particular, they are made to play together!

I think chasing down the Wiz when he has the ball in the forward line would be akin to trying to catch a hyped up Border Collie with a tennis ball!

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

I think we'll see a return to the drop punt next week.

 

[Buttonsticher]

Bung need to get in ear re goal kicking. Reckon if he tidies that up hes good for 3+ per game. Moves like water and just as hard to stop.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

He's building! Those 3 goals were all top shelf.

The two missed opps were his missed chance to really hit a new level.

It's going to happen. A matter of when, not if.

 

[kazzooka]

One thing that is really great about him as I think the shortest player in the AFL. There have been 0 times i've seen him in a contest and he lost because he's just too short. I've seen Caleb Daniel

35

Caleb Daniel

Age

28

Ht

171cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

19.5

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

CL

1.0

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

9.2

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

get exploited for height but Watson just cannons into you even if you're an AA CHB like Weitering, there's no guarantee you'll win the marking contest.

Many players grow up and they usually match up on similar height players so are rarely matching up on guys much bigger than them, yet Watson has probably never matched up on someone the same size let alone smaller so he's had to learn all the tricks.

 

[SJT76]

He’s a nutter, but he’s our nutter

 

[matey]

At games the biggest comparison I see between Cyril and Watson is the crowd reaction/anticipation when they both attack the game or approach a contest …… murmuring the Whiz instead of Ciz! Watson is unique and it’s so good that we have another player that will make fans jump off their seats over the next 10 years.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

I think chasing down the Wiz when he has the ball in the forward line would be akin to trying to catch a hyped up Border Collie with a tennis ball!

More like a Border Collie that just grabbed your steak off the kitchen bench. It's no longer a game to him!

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

Three goals, one poster, that abomination from the boundary that Chol marked plus one more that fell short.. I feel I'm missing another but regardless.

That's another game with six shots plus on goal.

His inaccuracy is barely hiding what an absolute ****ing gun this kid is.

Watson is a 1st year player, taking >60 shots a year at goal.

Even if he doesn't improve anything other than his accuracy, he's likely going to end up a 500 goal small forward. Eddie Betts and Luke Breust are both in the discussion for greatest ever small forwards - they averaged 1.8 goals a game for their career and Watson's looking to around that mark already. He's showing he's a LOT more than just generating shots at the moment.

We compared him favourably to Puopolo previously (itself heavy praise - Poppy was incredibly underrated due to being the 6th forward in the greatest forward line of all time) - some of Watson's aerial work reminds me of Campbell Brown (the CHB version), the way he just physically impacts on much bigger/taller/heavier opponents with his body.

I'm happier us kicking long to a contests on the wing with Watson, than almost any other Hawk forward. He's only marginally behind Dear and Meek in that regards.

 

[SSSSSS]

Watching the Wiz makes my knees and ankles hurt.

People shouldn't be able to change direction that fast. It's unfair.

 

[tommyk72]

Haven’t noticed any head high free kicks the last couple of games. None that have been paid, but none that he deserved that have been missed either. Will be interesting to see how this continues to play out.

 

[KermitJagger]

Haven’t noticed any head high free kicks the last couple of games. None that have been paid, but none that he deserved that have been missed either. Will be interesting to see how this continues to play out.

None this week but he tried a couple on last week, if he can get that part of his game to a minimum I'd be so happy for him. It's really something that he doesn't need to do. He's so short that he's probably going to get taken high anyway, and he's so agile and slippery that he doesn't need the easy out.

 

[Sirlemsip]

Haven’t noticed any head high free kicks the last couple of games. None that have been paid, but none that he deserved that have been missed either. Will be interesting to see how this continues to play out.

Blues and Tigers were left in his dust, they didn't have a chance to get a hand on him let alone have one slip too high.

 

[burger09]

At games the biggest comparison I see between Cyril and Watson is the crowd reaction/anticipation when they both attack the game or approach a contest …… murmuring the Whiz instead of Ciz! Watson is unique and it’s so good that we have another player that will make fans jump off their seats over the next 10 years.

I notice this also.
Excitement levels in the crowd noticeably rise when he is near it.
This is X Factor.
This is rare talent.
This is box office.
This is increased members
This is more kids jumping on board.

Live at the ground he looks like he is moving at twice the speed of everyone else. It dosent show up so much on TV but at the ground its quite amazing.

 

[kazzooka]

I notice this also.
Excitement levels in the crowd noticeably rise when he is near it.
This is X Factor.
This is rare talent.
This is box office.
This is increased members
This is more kids jumping on board.

Live at the ground he it looks like he is moving at twice the speed of everyone else. It dosent show up so much on TV but at the ground its quite amazing.

Unfortunately there is also a few negatives that he shares with Cyril. Sometimes runs and zig zags so fast he does terrible grubber kicks. Needs to steady and make sure it's a good kick, he makes time for himself but doesn't use it and rushes kicks that just skid along the ground.

He's not the first to do it, but it's a clear thing he can tidy up.

The other thing that I noticed there was a moment where Watson was pressuring on the back 50 and with each handball he went from player to player pressuring the ball. Only one i've ever seen able to do that before was Cyril. Ball ended up going back to the goalsquare and Chol chased down the guy for a miss kick and I think we got a goal from it.

Loving what he brings and the fact that there are still some areas of improvement in goal kicking and composure along with keeping his feet. It will all come with time, and I feel he is sometimes rushing as the tempo is much higher and he's adjusting to that but not realising how much time he actually has. The best players can time this perfectly. I remember a Hodge match winner against Adelaide with players coming for him he relaxed, straightened it kicked it milliseconds before they arrived. He new exactly how long he had to kick.

 

[Hrvat Hawks]

He's a gun. To me he reminds me more of rich man's Puopolo then Cyril.