It’s not often that you get to play with someone that you grew up supporting.

But that was exactly the case for Mark Harvey when he joined the Bombers in 1984. 

A local boy, Harvey had grown up supporting Essendon as a junior and enjoyed watching a young Tim Watson develop into one of the most outstanding midfielders in the entire league.

Watson is only four years older than Harvey, but made his debut seven years earlier after becoming the fourth youngest player in AFL history to be drafted by a Club.

Even in his early days, Harvey recalls many of the traits that made Watson one of the most powerful midfielders of the game.  

“I used to watch Essendon as a kid and he was obviously one of the youngest players to play league football,” recalled Harvey

“Tim had brilliant speed, could break open the game quite quickly and really change the game just  based on his brilliance.”

Watson’s brilliance was not limited strictly to his midfield exploits.

His height and strong frame meant that Watson was able to play in a variety of positions, heaping the pressure on opponents regardless of where he was on the field. 

A natural leader in both his words and his actions, Watson’s presence had the ability to lift the performance of his teammates.

Harvey, who also got to learn from the likes of the Danihers and Simon Madden, is particularly fond of the lessons that he learned from Watson, believing that he was one of the most dynamic influences on his own career.

“He was a big strong player who could play forward as well,” said Harvey 

“The thing that I’ve always admired about Tim was that he could also handle when he was getting tagged.

“He could bring you into the game as a young player, a great inspirational leader on the ground, but pretty quiet off the ground. 

“He was a game changer.”

Now in a coaching role, and looking at the game from a different perspective, Harvey believes that the way Watson conducted himself on the field is most similar to that of Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield.

Like Watson, Dangerfield is rated as one of the elite midfielders of the competition who has the ability to win the ball and change the game on his own back. 

“The same sort of natured player who can just change the complexion of the game and at the end of it had brilliant skill and goal kicking ability,” said Harvey

“Tim was also a hard guy to tackle, so not dissimilar to a guy like Dangerfield.”

Watson and Harvey shared many great moments throughout their careers, but none finer than the three premierships that they won together. 

To this day, Harvey is still adamant that it was Watson’s presence around the Club and on the field that lifted him and many of his other teammates to success.

Specifically, Harvey believes that Essendon’s 1993 Premiership victory over Carlton was largely due to Watson.

Having retired in 1991 due to injury Watson was talked out of retirement by then Coach Kevin Sheedy to help his ‘Baby Bombers’ find their way. 

Although it may have seen like a strange idea to many, Harvey believes that Sheedy had every idea of what Watson’s return would mean for the young team.

“Sheeds came up with the idea that we needed to get him back out of retirement,” said Harvey  

“Ironically just have his experience around a younger playing group, we finished up winning that 93 Premiership.

“(Tim) had a lot to do with the brains and just the balance of keeping young players in the game. He had that calming influence.

“I finished playing in three premierships with Tim.

“Make no mistake, he was the reason why.”