Tim Watson

Timothy Michael Watson (born 13 July 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, sports journalist and media personality.

For other people named Tim Watson, see Tim Watson (disambiguation).

Tim Watson
Watson with Channel 7 in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Timothy Michael Watson
Date of birth (1961-07-13) 13 July 1961
Place of birth Dimboola, Victoria
Original team(s) Dimboola
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s) Half forward flank, ruck-rover
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1977–1991, 1993–1994 Essendon 307 (335)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1983–1991 Victoria ? (?)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1999–2000 St Kilda 44 (12–31–1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1994.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 1985.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2000.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Watson is notable for his long career at the Essendon Football Club as a player where he participated in several premiership teams. He was the fourth-youngest player ever to play in the VFL/AFL competition and made a comeback after retirement which included another premiership.[1]

Tim is a prominent and popular sports journalist and media personality. On television he regularly appears on the Seven Network, where he presents the sport on the network's 6:00 pm Melbourne news bulletin and has a special comments role on the station's Australian Football League (AFL) football coverage.

Football career

Early career

Watson made his VFL debut in 1977 for Essendon at the age of fifteen years and 305 days, the fourth-youngest player in the history of the League.[2]

Watson won the Essendon best-and-fairest award four times (1980, 1985, 1988 and 1989). In 1989, he won the AFL Players Association MVP award, now known as the Leigh Matthews Trophy.[3]

Watson played the ruck-rover in Essendon's 1984 and 1985 grand final victories. He was made captain in 1989 and held that position until 1991, before retiring from the game due to the injury problems that had plagued the later part of his career.[4] In the 1992 pre-season draft, Watson was recruited by the West Coast Eagles even though he had signalled his intention to retire. He never played a game for the club, instead continuing a commentary role with the Seven Network for 1992, which included working as a boundary rider in that year’s grand final which the Eagles won.

Comeback

Early in the 1993 season Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy lured Watson out of retirement. Although Watson was not as fit as he had once been, and was never able to recapture his top form, he played a vital role in the forward line, kicking some important goals throughout the year. His experience in what was a very young team was instrumental in helping Essendon win an unexpected premiership that year.

After the 1994 season, Watson retired for good, having played 307 games and kicked 335 goals. Since his retirement, Watson was named the sixth greatest player to ever play for Essendon in the "Champions of Essendon" list, and was named ruck-rover in their "Team of the Century".

Coaching career

Watson was the coach of the St Kilda Football Club in 1999 and 2000. His success was limited, with the side winning only 12 of the 44 matches they played while he was in charge. In 2000, St Kilda won only two games for the entire season and Watson resigned during the year, forgoing the final year of his three-year contract.[5]

Statistics

Playing statistics
[6]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1977 Essendon 321616101366920536N/A1.00.78.54.312.82.3N/A
1978 Essendon 32191181629425640N/A0.60.48.54.913.52.1N/A
1979 Essendon 3223342722311133482N/A1.51.29.74.814.53.6N/A
1980 Essendon 3222422533719953694N/A1.91.115.39.024.44.3N/A
1981 Essendon 3217152124611135752N/A0.91.214.56.521.03.1N/A
1982 Essendon 3222243138415353785N/A1.11.417.57.024.43.9N/A
1983 Essendon 32262720442171613115N/A1.00.817.06.623.64.4N/A
1984† Essendon 32222522327142469118N/A1.11.014.96.521.35.4N/A
1985† Essendon 3224272535218353599N/A1.11.014.77.622.34.1N/A
1986 Essendon 323024026666N/A0.00.713.38.722.02.0N/A
1987 Essendon 32758842911318130.71.112.04.116.12.61.9
1988 Essendon 3219241730013643692221.30.915.87.222.94.81.2
1989 Essendon 3224231533420553999391.00.613.98.522.54.11.6
1990 Essendon 3221192126215641893260.91.012.57.419.94.41.2
1991 Essendon 3217151319213933165130.90.811.38.219.53.80.8
1992 West Coast 330——————————————
1993† Essendon 3216261115410125558261.60.79.66.315.93.61.6
1994 Essendon 32920653510024120.20.07.23.911.12.71.3
Career 307 335 276 4040 2060 6100 1176 151 1.1 0.9 13.2 6.7 19.9 3.8 1.3

Coaching statistics
[7]
Legend
 W  Wins  L  Losses  D  Draws  W%  Winning percentage  LP  Ladder position  LT  League teams
Season Team Games W L D W % LP LT
1999 St Kilda 221012045.5%1016
2000 St Kilda 22219111.4%1616
Career totals 44 12 31 1 28.4%

Media career

Like many past players, Watson has become a media personality, serving as a sports presenter on Seven News in Melbourne as well as having a special comments role on Seven's AFL coverage.

He has also appeared on many football-related TV shows, as a sports columnist in The Age newspaper, and from 2004 until 2013, a co-host on the Morning Glory show with Andrew Maher, on Melbourne radio station 1116 SEN.

In November 2013, Watson resigned from 1116 SEN to spend more time at the Seven Network, it was later announced that he would replace Sandy Roberts as weeknight sport presenter on Seven News in Melbourne. In 2015, Watson returned to the breakfast shift at 1116 SEN.

Personal life

During the late 1970s, Watson's older brother Larry also played at Essendon as well as Fitzroy before moving to Adelaide to play with West Adelaide in 1981, going on to win the SANFL premiership with Wests in 1983.

In 1993 Tim was named 'Victorian Father of the Year'.[8] In the 2002 National Draft, his son, Jobe Watson, was drafted by Essendon under the father-son rule. Tim and Jobe were both coached by Kevin Sheedy.[9] Tim also has a younger brother Rick who currently lives in Tocumwal in New South Wales.

References
  1. Smith, Patrick (24 June 2009) Buckley no elementary solution
  2. Lovett, Michael, ed. (2005). AFL 2005. Melbourne, Victoria: AFL Publishing. p. 542. ISBN 0-9580300-6-5.
  3. Previous MVP winners (8 September 2008)
  4. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 677. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
  5. 2000 AFL review Archived 7 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Tim Watson's player profile at AFL Tables
  7. Tim Watson's coaching profile at AFL Tables
  8. Victorian Father of the Year – past winners Archived 13 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Wilson, Caroline (29 June 2003). "Watsons show it's still a family game".
Media offices
Preceded by
Mark Beretta		 Seven News Melbourne
Weekend sport presenter
October 2000 – November 2013		 Succeeded by
Sean Sowerby
Preceded by
Unknown
Sandy Roberts		 Seven News Melbourne
Weeknight sport presenter
1994–1998
November 2013 –		 Succeeded by
Jim Wilson
incumbent
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