Tim received a letter from Essendon Football Club in late 1976 inviting him to come down and play in a practice match in the following February. So at 15 years of age Tim moved to the big smoke to start his VFL/AFL career and that was the start of the Watson dynasty at Windy Hill.
Jobe has been a city kid for his entire life. Born and breed in Melbourne the 18-year-old has spent his childhood with his family in Sandringham. He has grown up watching his father play for the club and naturally always supported the Bombers. Jobe started playing junior football for East Sandringham and then progressed through the ranks to play for Sandringham Dragons in the under-18 competition before being picked up by Essendon pre-draft under the AFL’s Father / Son rule.
Although their paths have been different their ultimate destination was the same – Essendon Football Club. Tim is one of the club’s favourite sons and had an illustrious playing career with the Bombers. His career spanned over 307 games, he played in three premierships, he captained the club from 1989 – 1991, won four best and fairest awards and was named the number six Champion of Essendon last year. Therefore Essendon supporters and the football public naturally embraced the news last year when Jobe was drafted to the club where his father is held in such high esteem.
Tim said he never had any aspirations for Jobe to follow in his footsteps but is thrilled that he is at the club. “It is not something (play football) that we encouraged him to do. I suppose like every kid they join up and they have peer group pressure to play at school. To be quite frank I didn’t think even watching him in his junior days that he was ever going to be drafted to play AFL football. He has sort of been one of those kids that has continued to develop and each year he has shown another level of improvement. It was probably only in the last 12 months that I thought he was going to be good enough to be drafted. It was probably just a progression of school footy and local club footy and his own inner drive and aspirations with it all.”
Jobe grew up around Essendon Football Club and used to muck around with the other player’s children and joke that they would one day play for the club. “We were just kids mucking around and like any kids dreamed of playing AFL, but I never really thought it would come true,” Jobe said. The dream did become a reality for Jobe and when he was drafted late last year he was ecstatic it was by the Bombers. “There was no real choice about it. Coming to such a strong and fantastic club, I didn’t have to second guess myself at all. I think everyone that enters the draft secretly dreams about going to Essendon or one of these big clubs that has such a great supporter base. It is good to carry on the name at the club as well.”
When it did look like Jobe was good enough to be drafted Tim and wife Susie couldn’t have been happier that he came to Essendon. “For me I wanted him to play at Essendon but at the same time I knew it was going to be harder for him to go to Essendon because of the comparisons and following in your father’s footsteps and things like that. I wanted him to go to Essendon but I didn’t want it to be any harder for him than what it is anyway to make the grade.
“It is an extraordinary feeling and from my perspective it is more exciting seeing him out there playing than I can remember feeling playing for myself. To see him playing out there in an Essendon jumper it is a little bit like re-living your own career and watching it all unfold. When it is your own career it whizzes by you and you probably don’t take as much notice and don’t even understand as much as you possibly could when you retire. To see it all unfold again is exciting,” Tim said.
Jobe has taken on the number four guernsey and is keen to set his own identity at the club. He does look to his father’s career for inspiration and at times motivation to help develop his career.“It is important to look back on the history of other players and figure out how they got to be where they are and how hard they had to work. You do draw inspiration from those people but you have to outline your own direction of how you want to get where you want to be,” Jobe said.
Jobe doesn’t feel any extra pressure to perform being the son of a former legend however Tim was slightly concerned there may be unfair expectations put on Jobe. “I think there is a little bit of added pressure. I think it is probably associated with the fact that they get a profile and with that profile they get an expectation of what people have of them as a player. Which is unfair because they are just trying to make their way like any other kid. People are probably more aware of Jobe because of the publicity he has had which has been to do with his family connections. In time hopefully it will be about his football and how he is actually performing opposed to the fact that his dad played,” Tim said.
As a six-year-old Jobe along with his three sisters helped his father run through the banner at his 300th game in 1991. It is quite amazing that Jobe will now have his time running through the Essendon banner as a player. Sheedy coached Tim Watson that day and for the majority of his career. Never in Tim’s wildest dreams did he think Sheedy would coach his son one day and Jobe would play alongside his premiership teammates Hird, Fletcher, Mark Mercuri and Joe Misiti. “It must feel quite strange for Kevin to coach my son and guys like Hirdy to be playing alongside my son,” Tim said.
For the full story on the Watsons, read the ""Keeping it in the Family"" article in the latest edition of The Bomber.
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