Nicholas Watson (born 24 February 2005) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who plays for the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Early life

Watson grew up in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of Croydon South and was educated at Rowville Sports Academy and

Caulfield Grammar Caulfield Grammar School is a private school, private, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boy ...

. A small forward, Watson in 2023 was the top goalscorer while playing for Caulfield Grammar in the APS competition. He also was the top goalkicker playing for VicMetro in the 2023 National championships. He played his junior football for Montrose and East Ringwood in the Eastern Football League.

AFL career

He was the fifth selection in the

2023 AFL draft The 2023 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players during and following the completion of the 2023 AFL season. Key dates 2023 mid-season rookie dra ...

by . Nicknamed "the Wizard" for his ability to do special things in attack, Watson is an exciting prospect. He made his debut against at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

in the opening round of the

2024 AFL season The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

. He was awarded a 2024 AFL Rising Star nomination in round 19, collecting 12 disposals and kicking 3 goals during a 66 point thrashing over .

Statistics

''Updated to the end of round 18, 2025''. , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 34 , 18 , , 25 , , 27 , , 118 , , 77 , , 195 , , 55 , , 45 , , 1.4 , , 1.5 , , 6.6 , , 4.3 , , 10.8 , , 3.1 , , 2.5 , - ,

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, , , , 34 , 16 , , 24 , , 11 , , 94 , , 76 , , 170 , , 38 , , 30 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 5.9 , , 4.8 , , 10.6 , , 2.4 , , 1.9 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career !34 !! 49 !! 38 !! 212 !! 153 !! 365 !! 93 !! 75 !! 1.4 !! 1.1 !! 6.2 !! 4.5 !! 10.7 !! 2.7 !! 2.2

Honours and achievements

Team *

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

(): 2024 Individual * AFL Rising Star nominee:

References

External links

* * * Living people 2005 births Hawthorn Football Club players Eastern Ranges players Box Hill Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People educated at Caulfield Grammar School 21st-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-2000s-stub