Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Larry John Watson

Known as
Larry Watson

Born
23 September 1957 (age 66)

Place of birth
Dimboola, VIC (3414)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 17y 306d
Last game: 22y 272d

Height and weight
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 79 kg

Senior clubs
Essendon; Fitzroy; West Adelaide

Jumper numbers
Essendon: 47, 22
Fitzroy: 40

Recruited from
Essendon (1980)

State of origin
VIC

Family links
Tim Watson (Brother)Jobe Watson (Nephew)Sebastian Ross (Nephew)

Larry Watson

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
EssendonV/AFL1975-19783120.0632%7.902.161.681
FitzroyV/AFL1980400.000%7.003.251.250
West AdelaideSANFL1981-198466190.29—————
V/AFL1975-1978, 19803520.0629%7.802.291.631
SANFL1981-198466190.29—————
Total1975-1978, 1980-1984101210.21—————

AFL: 8,777th player to appear, 5,162nd most games played, 8,148th most goals kickedEssendon: 830th player to appear, 455th most games played, 717th most goals kickedFitzroy: 977th player to appear, 871st most games played, 1,124th most goals kicked

From Dimboola, Larry Watson began and ended his senior league football career wearing black and red, albeit in two different states. He began at Essendon, where from 1975 to 1978 he played 31 games, several of them alongside his rather more famous brother, Tim. He spent the 1979 and 1980 seasons at Fitzroy, but did not play senior football at all in the former season whilst only managing four appearances in the latter.

On crossing to West Adelaide in 1981 Watson quickly showed that he had plenty of good football left in him. His four season stint with the Bloods saw him play 66 SANFL games and score 19 goals, and he was a member in 1983 of the club’s victorious grand final team against Sturt.

Larry Watson’s nephew Jobe Watson, son of Tim, played 220 AFL games for Essendon between 2003 and 2017.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.