The love for Hawthorn small forward Nick Watson was in overdrive on Thursday night following another electrifying performance from the 170cm ‘Wizard’ that helped his team secure a home preliminary final.
The stunning qualifying final victory over flag favourite Fremantle has now put Hawthorn in the box seat to win this year’s premiership, and after the game Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell was spotted giving his 21-year-old goalkicking gun a fierce embrace and a big kiss on top of Watson’s head.
It was a low-scoring affair at Optus Stadium but the diminutive Wizard stood tall with a two-goal, two-goal assists, 19-disposal game.
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On top of that, he almost kicked goal of the century and one passage of play — where he gathered a ground ball, handballed to himself, and then set up a goal — left the football world in awe.
“You don’t often see coaches kiss their players,” AFL great Nick Riewoldt said to Watson after the game.
In Mitchell’s playing days for Hawthorn he wore No.5, and Watson told Channel 7 he had a special relationship with his coach and they were linked by that magical number.
“Me and Mitch have got that tight connection, No.5,” Watson told Seven.
“He sent me a letter yesterday and he said, love seeing you wear No.5. So, yeah, since I got here, he’s been great for me and good for my learning.
“Love him to death and couldn’t be more fortunate to have him as a coach.”
Mitchell also explained his awe of Watson after the game, comparing him to a handful of AFL icons.
“He’s fun to watch, isn’t he?” Mitchell told reporters.
“When he handballed to himself and created that goal, I was thinking, ‘oh, I just I’m so glad he plays for us.’ But I think with Nick, it’s really like, he handles who he is really well. Like he’s so young, and he’s, you know, so recognisable.
“Across my career, I’ve seen other players like that with Crawf (Brownlow medallist Shane Crawford) in my early days. Lance Franklin was like it. You know, Nic Nat (Nic Naitanui) was like that when I was at West Coast, and now Wiz …
“They’re just like, they are bigger than the game, sometimes.
“And the way he handles, the fans and all that, I’ve just got so much admiration for how he goes about it, and he’s pretty unflustered by it all.
“So yeah, I was rapt with this game. He’s a star.”
Mitchell also hailed his side’s relentless pressure and toughness to ambush Fremantle.
Faced with a hostile sellout crowd at Perth’s Optus Stadium, the Hawks showed no signs of intimidation. in the 32-point victory.
The visitors’ pressure rating was through the roof, forcing repeat turnovers and stripping the Dockers of any opportunity to maintain their undefeated record at home this season.
“We know it would take every minute of the game to be able to put them away because of how quickly they can score,” Mitchell said.
“We’d love to play like that all the time. You can’t always get it done. We feel like we’ve worked for a long time to play the best sides and build a game style that’s suited for this sort of game.
“You watch some of our games across the season and our pressure has fallen away and we’ve been a bit off.
“I thought tonight the things that mattered in the game that don’t hit the scoresheet, they’re the things we liked.”
Thursday night’s powerful victory started at the coalface but was franked in the backline with James Sicily, Josh Battle and Tom Barrass immense and Fremantle’s star-studded forwards failing to land a punch.
The extent of the domination was laid bare when All-Australian forward Josh Treacy registered his first kick in the dying minutes of the game.
“They all played fantastically well,” Mitchell said of his key defenders.
“They’re a very good forward line, very well-drilled. We had enough pressure up the field which gave them a fair bit of help. It’s not like they had a lot of silver service.
“They had to win their contests … we didn’t give them the looks they’re used to.”
Young forward Max Beattie personified the Hawks’ never-say-die attitude when he was run down by Karl Worner, only to then spring to his feet and force a turnover which led to a Dylan Moore goal.
The third-gamer only had two touches in his first taste of finals but his pressure rating was second only to Jack Ginnivan at halftime.
“When there’s an error, your response to the error is much more important, and that was a that was a great example of what you hope every player does every time,” Mitchell said.
“At halftime, you look at the stat sheet, and he hasn’t had a lot of the footy, and perhaps he’s had a couple of errors.
“But then I looked at the pressure ratings, and he was number two for us … that’s a big part of what he’s in the team for.”
– With AAP
