Nick Watson Biography

Nick Watson almost single-handedly wills Hawthorn over the line with six goals in an agonising loss to the Lions in their preliminary final clash.

Despite being much more experienced, Charlie Cameron says he still learns from the forward craft of third-year Hawk Nick Watson.

"Something I admire about him is his ability to just get that front and centre, hit the packs pretty quick, and then has the composure to finish his work or set someone else up," Cameron said.

"You take little learnings from him. I'm in my 13th year, and he's probably in his third year ... I'm still learning off him and watching him.

"He's a quality player, what he can do in the air, and then on the ground as well, and also his finishing work."

Nick Watson is the first player since Syd Dyer and Lou Richards in 1946 to kick 50-plus goals in a season despite being 170cm or shorter.

"The level of consistency is probably the best thing that we've got from Wizard this year," Mitchell said of Watson.

"And it's probably one season earlier than most. He's certainly maturing. Like he's 21 years old and he's quite popular, and how he handles that is really impressive."

Sam Mitchell praises Nick Watson after the small forward kicked a career-high five goals to help steer the Hawks to victory over North Melbourne.

"I think when you're a small forward, it's a game of opportunities," Mitchell said.

"He's playing on a much bigger, stronger opponent and he's got to find a way to combat that through the game.

"Every week he gets a match-up and a fair bit of attention and for a player so young, I think he works his way through it pretty well."

After an ill-fated halftime interview, Nick Watson has received support from an unlikely source in Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.

After five-straight defeats to the Hawks, the Western Bulldogs finally got one back on their nemesis when they recorded a stirring come-from-behind win last Friday night.

Watson was a central figure in proceedings, engaging in a must-watch battle with Bulldogs stopper Michael Sellwood.

After a stunning three-goal burst early in the game to get the better of Sellwood, Watson was restricted to just two possessions in the second-half.

When walking off the field at half-time, the 21-year-old had some pointed comments for his opponent: "I don't care if he (Sellwood) talks, as long as he walks the walk. I'd love to see it in the second half."

"I'd hate to think that as the weeks go on that he is reminded of that because I think it was quite an innocent sort of throwaway line," Beveridge said of the incident.

Sam Mitchell says Hawthorn will speak to the AFL after Nick Watson's goal on the half-time siren was disallowed for running off his line.

Running in for a set shot after the second-quarter siren, Watson - and the rest of the stadium - believed he had kicked the Hawks' ninth consecutive goal to open the match, but it was overturned, with umpires calling 'play on' before he kicked the ball, having deemed he ran off his line.

"The vision doesn't look like he goes off his line much, but that's the umpire's call and I can accept that. But the fact that you can go off the line towards the boundary and it be called play on ... there's no common sense about that," Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said.

"So, I would hope that we get an answer from the AFL, and I'm sure we will, they've been very good at giving us answers and giving us adjustments, they've done that really well. When something doesn't make sense, they fix it pretty quickly. So, why would he run wider to give himself a harder shot and it get called play on? Didn't make a lot of sense."

Nick Watson kicks a goal after the siren against Sydney in a 17-point win and is involved in an animated exchange with Swans fans after the game in which he accused the crowd of throwing objects at him.

"They were throwing Coke Zero cans out there ... I saw one just go straight past me," Watson told Nova 100 radio.

"I dunno what happened with the guy but ... it just landed right next to us. Lucky it didn't hit any players, but yeah, a few players saw it.

"I mean, I was giving them heaps, but I'm not sure a Coke Zero bottle to the face in return would've been nice."

Nick Watson makes his AFL debut for Hawthorn at the MCG with 5 disposals (5 kicks), 2 marks and 2 tackles in a 24-point loss to Essendon.

Hawthorn select Nick Watson with pick No.5 in the 2023 National Draft.