Jobe Watson is about to embark on his second season of AFL football. He debuted last year and will be hoping to build on his one senior appearance in 2003. Watson showed promising signs in the Wizard Cup and is physically stronger than last season. ""Jobe has got a lot of improvement left in him because he hasn’t played much footy,"" Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy said.

2003
From the moment Watson was drafted to the club last year under the AFL's 'father/son' rule, there have been high expectations on him from the football public. He got his first taste of senior football, when he made his senior debut in Round 13 against Geelong. In his first year of senior football he was hampered slightly by an on-going groin injury. With one season under his belt, he will be better prepared for the 2004 season and at only 18-years of age he has a big future ahead of him.

STRENGTHS
Watson has the physical attributes that are ideal for a footballer. He is tall, athletic and well built. He knows how to find the football and has good hands. One thing you can’t teach a player is football smarts and luckily for Watson this is one of the features of his game. He rarely wastes a possession and is always looking to create play.

POSITION
At this stage of Watson’s career it is difficult to say what position he will spend most of his football career. In his junior years he played predominantly in the midfield, but at 190cm it is likely that Watson will hold down a key position – whether it is centre half forward or centre half back, time will only tell.

2004
After an injury interrupted 2003, Watson will be hoping for an injury free season. With the fuss surrounding his debut game behind him, he will be able to focus on improving his football and work on getting into the senior team. Watson has put in a big pre-season and shed some kilograms, so Essendon supporters can expect to see a fit and lean Watson in 2004.

WHAT SHEEDY SAYS
Jobe showed promising signs in the Wizard Cup. I think he will be somewhere in between a midfielder, a ruck rover or a centre half forward or centre half back depending on the opponents he plays on. He would be a very tall midfielder. He has got a lot of improvement left in him because he hasn’t played much footy. He has played limited football, so a lot of our recruiting personnel would say there is a lot of upside left in Jobe still to come that a lot of people would not have seen.