Fremantle’s defence will need to confront one of the toughest tasks in football when they take on Hawthorn on Thursday night — stopping Nick Watson. But they may draw confidence from their strong record against the 170cm dynamo, who has kicked only two goals in his two career clashes with the Dockers.
Some Fremantle fans have taken umbrage with the 21-year-old going by a nickname made famous by the great Jeff Farmer, but the new ‘Wizard’ has emerged as one of the AFL’s premier small forwards aged just 21. After slotting 36 goals in his second season at the top level last year, he is already up to 20 majors through eight appearances this year to figure as the competition’s most prolific player standing shorter than 192cm.
Hodge Praises Watson's Athleticism
Hawks legend Luke Hodge told The West Australian Watson’s athletic traits made him a nightmare to match up against. “I think anyone who’s got the speed the Wizard does, you’d love to have that as a player,” Hodge said. “The other thing is he’s a smart footballer. He knows when to push up and he knows when to go back towards goal hard.”
“Whoever does pick him up, they’re going to be challenged at times, but it’s also got to be down to the team. If he gets up high, there’s got to be team defence, but if he’s coming back hard, someone might have to come off and cover him.”
Fremantle's Plan to Share Responsibility
Given Watson is often injected into the midfield after a goal before quickly returning to the forward line, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir said his side was “happy to share” the responsibility of slowing him down between multiple players. “We just need to make sure we get those handovers right. We need to make sure we put some time into him and get those match-ups right,” Longmuir said. “He’s one of the more dangerous small forwards in the comp.”
Mitchell Bullish on Watson's Development
When asked about Watson’s development on Tuesday, Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell was bullish the 21-year-old had plenty of improvement left in his game. “He’s pretty passionate about his forward craft. There are lots of small forwards who would love to be midfielders — he loves being a forward,” Mitchell said.
“The thing he works on is what he’s good at. It’s not just the goal-kicking and the finishing and crumbing, but his pressure and intensity around the ball — it’s very, very difficult to replicate if you don’t train it. To his credit, he’s worked really hard on his game in the last nine months. From the end of last season to the start of this season, no one has made bigger gains physically than he has.”
