Once he gets his first goal and breaks that seal it'll be on in a big way.
Welcome Welcome to Hawthorn : Nick 'the Wizard' Watson!
- Thread starter Strapping Young Lad
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That’s actually a minus in my book. He is too greedy at the moment. 2 of his 3 shots the better option was to hand them off. Certainly not a great debut but needs a few more games to see if he can adjust.
I personally still don’t see how he is worth the high pick, hopefully he has a great career at the Hawks though.
SSSSSS
Brownlow Medallist
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It's just like that first whizz after a big night out.
Just keeps flowing after that and it will for the Wiz.
- Aug 31, 2008
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Right now he's the apprentice, the novice, the adept, etc. He needs to earn his robes.
We need small forwards that can kick goals, he has kicked 0.7 in his last three games. Needs a spell in the 2’s and get his kicking boots and confidence going. We have enough small forwards to cover him and can throw Hardwick up there to see what he can offer.
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Is Seamus fit?
I wonder if Mitchell chooses between Watson and Hardwick (back) or Hardwick (forward) and Seamus.
I wonder if Mitchell chooses between Watson and Hardwick (back) or Hardwick (forward) and Seamus.
That's nuts, there is no other position where you can be consistently be the hardest working player and struggle to make an impact. Any big log can play on a key forward if they work hard enough, even at the highest level we've seen successful careers just because they are a big body.Small forward isn’t really the “toughest position on the ground” is it?
It might be a position where you aren’t able to influence the game consistently from week-to-week, but frankly I think playing one-on-one against Charlie Curnow or Buddy back in the day is a slightly harder gig than opportunistic crumbing forward.
I think it will be a year for Nick to learn how to play 4th - 6th banana in a forward line.
In juniors he was so clearly the most talented, so at Caulfield and Eastern he demanded the pill, and got it a lot!
Stepping up to AFL level requires him to adjust to a different level of focus, and perhaps to be a little more selfless at times.
I don't get the point of picking a talented small forward and asking him to be anonymous soldier number 6. Let him figure it out, his teammates know what he should or shouldn't do given his skill set.
The hands of stone
Norm Smith Medallist
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I would say expectations of what he was going to do were too high then .
We picked him as best 22 for last week so unless we get a nice suprise with personal coming back , we should keep faith, give him and the team a chance to improve on last week .
The games I saw all of the top draftees like Nick had fairly modest to quite games , which is what I would expect .
Sanders absolutely tore pre season apart , yet was quite .
Imagine the boost for him and the team if he plays this week and kicks a few.
cryptor
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Only 15 players classed as small/medium forwards averaged 3+ shots at goal last season.
Watson got 3 shots on Saturday. Obviously, we'd prefer the goals but he's at least finding the opportunities.
Watson got 3 shots on Saturday. Obviously, we'd prefer the goals but he's at least finding the opportunities.
rei154
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Give it a couple seasons and he'll be a grand wizard...
hawker79
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I think he can play at the required AFL level and can slot right in to the team, its not like he is a developing ruck or tall that needs a few years and pre seasons to bulk and develop his game, he has only played one game and the expectations of him performing highly along with the team are naturally very high. But at the same time, you need to earn your stripes and do the most basic of things, like giving it off to a team mate in a much better position. It's a double edged sword, we all want him to make magic and kick miraculous goals each week, which is all well and good, but when games are close and on the line we would all much rather see the ball safely go through the middle, rather than a highlight reel. The highlights will come in time. I would say give him another game or two and see how he goes, if not then let him get his confidence up in the VFL. We all just need to patient and understand its only the first game of the season and Nick and team will get better as the weeks go by.
In his comments after the Match, Sam said the connection between the mids and forwards wasn't what they had planned insofar as the positions the forwards were getting the ball were not always ideal. Not sure where the fault lies for that, with the forwards leading the wrong places or the mids kicking to the wrong places, but if we get that aspect of our game right we might get a better read on how he's going.
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The 2023 draft is done
Nick Watson did not ask to be selected at pick 5. Our recruiting guys did that. He is now one of 44 players on the Hawthorn list. We can either get behind him and show him our support as Hawks fans... Or we can moan about how we should've picked Ryley Sanders, Caleb Windsor or Dan Curtain. But I just don't see what purpose that serves. It really doesn't belong in a discussion thread about Nick Watson. That type of discussion is more pertinent for threads about our recruiting, drafting and list management.
Whether he was taken with pick 5 or pick 55, it is now irrelevant to his footy career at Hawthorn. I would implore any Hawthorn fan who thinks we should've taken someone else with our 1st pick to just zip it. Move on. Just pretend we got him with pick 55 and enjoy watching him play. Nobody cares whether you think Sanders or Curtain would've been better and if you're proved "right".
There will be a plethora of critics from the media and idiot fans of other clubs lining up to pot Watson and pot the Hawks for wasting a pick 5 on a small forward. It just pisses me off to see so-called Hawthorn "supporters" leading the charge in bagging the kid. Let the rival fans from the 17 other clubs bag him. Our duty as Hawks fans is to get behind him.
Let's give him a chance to see what he can do. Not every "Kid" boots 5 goals on debut in an MCG final.
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The hands of stone
Norm Smith Medallist
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That might happen a bit , we have added 3 new forwards in . It might be a bit clunky at times until they gel
except for the really early or really late picks. Most of the time for guys like Day, DGB, Ward, McKenzie, Watson at the end of their careers there will no doubt be better players selected after them, and they'll have been better than some selected before them. Draft order is never going to reflect the careers of these guys.
Even Luke Hodge who was the best Number 1 pick ever and who everyone would pick again in a heartbeat. There are still others in that draft with claims to being the best player in the draft (Judd, Mitchell, Swan, Bartel, Ablett that's 7 brownlows right there). And then you have Lake at pick 71 (swan 58!!!) who I think would be top 10 in hindsight. And Ladson was a pick 16 ahead of Swan, Mitchell and Ablett(F/S)
Even Luke Hodge who was the best Number 1 pick ever and who everyone would pick again in a heartbeat. There are still others in that draft with claims to being the best player in the draft (Judd, Mitchell, Swan, Bartel, Ablett that's 7 brownlows right there). And then you have Lake at pick 71 (swan 58!!!) who I think would be top 10 in hindsight. And Ladson was a pick 16 ahead of Swan, Mitchell and Ablett(F/S)
- Jun 17, 2019
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Maybe start by watching his performance over the last 2 years before making an uninformed comment, hint there's a reason why multiple clubs tried to get our pick last year.
extractasam
Club Legend
Idk if I entirely agree with this. I saw a chance he handed off where he probably should’ve had a shot. Small forwards need to bring elements of unpredictability, or they become easy to defend. If he can get the occasional defender to over commit to a tackle because they’re worried he’s going to punish them, that’s when we’ll start to see the best of Watson IMO
Yeah but he’d want to have a good one. No DGB means that BF is looking for its next whipping boyCan probably give the wiz another week before we write him off
Nah, write him off, his hands are tiny...Can probably give the wiz another week before we write him off
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I will be shocked if he is not named this week
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1.6 - 7 scoring shots in two matches.
Watson is killing it.
Superstar match winner.
Watson is killing it.
Superstar match winner.
Strebi3
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Copping so much unfair criticism for being inaccurate.
Was our best forward today and makes an impact almost every time he’s involved. Love the kid and think it was the right pick.
Going to be box office for years to come.
Hodgey 15
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This guy is not short of confidence.
That celebration after his first goal was something you'd expect from a guy that had played 50 games not just two.
Love it.
That celebration after his first goal was something you'd expect from a guy that had played 50 games not just two.
Love it.
