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

[NewkTheLot]

Consider this about the Wizard’s a amazing work rate.

He’s standing next to Newc when he gets the ball - and Newc handballs to Amon who kicks forward.

Amon kicks to the boundary and the Wizz takes the diving mark on the line (to then slot his magic goal).
How in hell’s did he cover that ground so quickly!!!
He is really going to be an extraordinary footballer.

Noticed that too - his work rate is super.

Hopefully kicking a sealer like that gives him some confidence in his goal kicking too, because in every other facet of the game he is doing well

 

[lethalselbow]

Amazing. He's truly a Wizard. What a clutch mark and goal.

Quite extraordinary the things he does.

 

[TylerDurden]

He's box office. So glad he's ours.

 

[SSSSSS]

I really hope the coaching staff let him know that he's now saved a game and sealed one. Two massive moments so early in his career and he's passed with flying colours.

 

[Bardo State]

Toby Greene

4

Toby Greene

Age

30

Ht

182cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.7

5star

K

12.5

5star

HB

10.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.0

5star

G

1.2

4star

D

17.5

4star

K

9.5

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.8

4star

T

1.0

2star

G

2.3

5star

D

26.6

5star

K

12.4

5star

HB

14.2

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

3.6

5star

G

0.0

1star

II

 

[HAWKS2016]

How good would it be if he has a breakout game against Collingwood at the MCG infront of a home crowd! Would me magical

 

[Ned Ryerson]

I really hope the coaching staff let him know that he's now saved a game and sealed one. Two massive moments so early in his career and he's passed with flying colours.

Something tells me that the last thing Watto lacks, though, is confidence.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

I feel today was the turning point, if it could even be called that.

I feel things falling into place. His kicking for goal was very good today

 

[smeltitdeltit]

I feel today was the turning point, if it could even be called that.

I feel things falling into place. His kicking for goal was very good today

Spot on. Two beautiful kicks from a tough angle and distance for him.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

Spot on. Two beautiful kicks from a tough angle and distance for him.

His routine change is noticeable. Much more more direct and patient. No flicking the ball around.

 

[SA HAWK]

Already my favourite player.

You never know what is going to happen.

 

[cryptor]

Quick flick through the Freo board's gameday thread... safe to add them to the list of opposition fanbases that HATE the Wiz.

 

[SA HAWK]

Quick flick through the Freo board's gameday thread... safe to add them to the list of opposition fanbases that HATE the Wiz.

All opposition supporters will hate him & ginny.

Makes me like them even more.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Quick flick through the Freo board's gameday thread... safe to add them to the list of opposition fanbases that HATE the Wiz.

He's already got a bit of a reputation as a ducker and milker of free kicks. He won't shake that now.

 

[kazzooka]

Reminds me of Hayden Ballantyne

Hayden Ballantyne

Age

37

Ht

173cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.7

3star

K

9.2

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.1

5star

G

1.5

5star

No current season stats available

D

11.6

3star

K

8.2

4star

HB

3.4

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

1.2

3star

G

0.8

4star

. Has a great career ahead of him and takes good players minds off of the ball.

Yep, I said that when he was drafted. He's a billionaire's Ballantyne.

 

[earthworms]

The rest of the league already hate him

 

[tommyk72]

I hope we don’t see him snap a set shot again. Great game. Just keeps building. I’m not looking for a “break out” per se - just continuously incrementally improving. He’ll keep on improving.

 

[mustang]

He's already got a bit of a reputation as a ducker and milker of free kicks. He won't shake that now.

He doesn’t need to duck with how tall he is, he is going to get a lot of high calls just because the opposing player doesn’t get down low enough to tackle.

 

[Siri]

The rest of the league already hate him

The view of opposition fans is irrelevant. Opinions are largely based on highlight packages & footy show commentary. No doubt he gets a free kick or two because of his height, but just like Mike Tyson, he's using it to his advantage. It's incumbent on opponents to negate this. The kid punches well above his weight. His defensive pressure, drive, work rate & selflessness are just as impressive as his forward craft. I doubt that other fans acknowledge this. So stoked he's ours & they're already fretting over him. Jealousy's a curse.

 

[joeyhawker]

As another poster mentioned the most impressive thing about that goal was his workrate to get from the initial Duke handball to Amon (Wiz was right there) to seemingly teleport to the boundary 30 metres away to take the one hander.....or maybe even more impressive the footy IQ to run to the space....

On SM-G990E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[threesixpio]

The rest of the league already hate him

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

 

[I got the outside word]

Hopefully taking such a good mark and then icing the game like that, from that angle, sets him up for a big end of the season.

I’m thinking it’s the Coleman or bust from here.

 

[flinchfree]

He's already got a bit of a reputation as a ducker and milker of free kicks. He won't shake that now.

On this board he certainly does. Personally would prefer we simply highlight how good he does things.
Let the others worry about whatever they want to sook about.
It's ALWAYS been this way at Hawthorn.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

The view of opposition fans is irrelevant. Opinions are largely based on highlight packages & footy show commentary. No doubt he gets a free kick or two because of his height, but just like Mike Tyson, he's using it to his advantage. It's incumbent on opponents to negate this. The kid punches well above his weight. His defensive pressure, drive, work rate & selflessness are just as impressive as his forward craft. I doubt that other fans acknowledge this. So stoked he's ours & they're already fretting over him. Jealousy's a curse.

It's not the fans I'm worried about. They have little/no influence on the game. The issue is the commentators are clearly holding him (and all Hawthorn smalls for that matter) to a far higher standard, such that every high free kick is apparently a duck/stage/"put some mayo on it", etc. The media, and then opposition fans follow, then the umpires (who themselves are probably football fans, maybe even watch games other than their own) will develop unconscious bias against him. (Even worse, when the umpire coach uses real-life examples focusing on Moore, Ginnivan, Watson - even Bruest - we get a conscious bias too.

It's a vicious circle, and he's already well into it's spin.

It's probably too late to want fair umpiring, but if he wants to avoid being actively persecuted for it he needs to stop all methods of drawing free kicks now. (His favourite appears to be to lean into the tackler - which generates a high infringement and should be a free kick every time. When he combines that move with the other tactics (the elbow raise; the bent knee/footslip; and then throwing his head back and legs out on impact) he is already exaggerating every contact - giving the commentators 'evidence' of the mayo.