Colin Watson (footballer)
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | 12 October 1900, |
| Recruited from | South Warrnambool |
| Height and weight | 180 cm / 82.5 kg |
| Death | 20 October 1970 (aged 70), |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | 1920, St Kilda vs. , at |
| Team(s) | St Kilda (1920, 1922-25 & 1933-35)
93 games, 34 goals |
| Coaching career¹ | |
| Team(s) | St Kilda 1934 |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Colin C. Watson (born 12 October 1900; died 20 October 1970) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League.
A brilliant winger, centreman and half-back flanker from South Warrnambool, Watson was a compact footballer with loads of dash and the ability to kick long. He never dodged an issue and played a robust game. Watson was still a schoolboy when Roy Cazaly spotted him and brought him to town. He had played a few games in 1919 with the VFA club Port Melbourne and only appeared for the Saints three times in his first year before returning to the bush as the club plunged into internal bickering. He wasn't convinced to come back until mid-1922 and when he did, his speed, stap-kicking and clean effective play soon caught the eye. He statted for Victoria in the 1924 carnival and by 1925 was hailed as the best footballer in the land. In those days only one vote per game was awarded in the Brownlow Medal and Watson, despite playing in only 15 matches, was judged best afield nine times. A quick thinker and hard worker on the field, Watson was a strong willed individual, and he stunned St Kilda when he accepted a job as coach of Stawell in 1926 just when he was at the peak of his football life. St Kilda refused to clear him and Watson stood out of the game for a year. The following season he wanted to go to Maryborough and in a bitter wrangle the Ballarat League was suspended for playing him without a clearance. Later he went back to his old club South Warrnambool as coach and in 1933 he was lured back to the Saints and made skipper. Despite an absence of seven years from League football Watson's shrewdness made him a damaging player and his great return was capped by selection in the state squad. There was a suggestion that he would be left out of the starting 18 as a snide payback for his actions in the clearance dispute. In all he played for the state eight times. He captain-coached the Saints in 1934, but after the opening round in 1935 opted for the country life and retired for League football.
Watson was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and into the Saints inaugural Hall of Fame in 2003.
[edit] External links
- St Kilda Hall of Fame Profile
- Saints honor roll
- Football profile from FullPointsFooty.
- AFL: Hall of Fame
| Preceded by Edward Greeves |
Brownlow Medallist 1925 |
Succeeded by Ivor Warne-Smith |
| Preceded by Bill Cubbins |
St Kilda Best and Fairest 1924 |
Succeeded by Cyril Gambetta |
| Preceded by Colin Deane & Clarrie Hindson |
St Kilda captain 1934 |
Succeeded by Clarrie Hindson |
