Jobe Watson (born 8 February 1985) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). Watson, the son of three-time Essendon premiership champion

Tim Watson Timothy Michael Watson (born 13 July 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). After retiring from the game, he has continued working in the Australian footb ...

, was drafted by Essendon under the

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

in the 2002 national draft, and went on to become one of the best midfielders of the modern era. A dual

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

and three-time

Crichton Medal The Crichton Medal is the name given to the best and fairest award for the Australian rules football team the Essendon Football Club. The naming of the award is in honour of Wally Crichton, a former administrator for Essendon (who was a commi ...

list, he captained Essendon from 2010 to early 2016, and was the face of the Essendon playing group during the most turbulent period in the club's history. Watson was one of thirty-four players suspended as part of the

Essendon Football Club supplements saga The Essendon Football Club supplements saga was a sports controversy that occurred during the early- and mid-2010s. It centred around the Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbo ...

for using the banned

performance-enhancing substance Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

Thymosin beta-4 Thymosin beta-4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TMSB4X'' gene. Recommended INN (International Nonproprietary Name) for thymosin beta-4 is 'timbetasin', as published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The protein consists (in ...

during the 2012 AFL season. He originally won that season's

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

as the league's best and fairest player, but was later ruled ineligible in 2016 as a result of the suspension and subsequently handed back the medal. Watson was suspended for the entire 2016 AFL season, before returning the following year; he then played for one more season before retiring. Watson is currently an AFL commentator for the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

, following in the footsteps of his father Tim.

Early life

Watson was educated at

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. ...

in Melbourne. He played junior football with the East Sandringham Junior Football Club and the

Sandringham Dragons The Sandringham Dragons are an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham, Victoria, representing the southern ...

in the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

. His father Tim played 307 games for Essendon from 1977 to 1994, playing in three premierships with the club, and captained Essendon from 1989 to 1991, before coaching from 1999 to 2000; he is currently a commentator for the

AFL career

Watson was selected at pick 40 under the

in the 2002 national draft. He was initially coached as a key forward by Kevin Sheedy, who also coached his father Tim. His poor kicking by AFL standards drew criticism, and it was determined that he would be more suited to the midfield at Essendon. At the time, his weight was criticised by the media, as he was overweight for an AFL player. Over the next two seasons, he began to develop his craft in the Essendon midfield and became one of the competition's elite midfielders. Watson had a consistent season in 2009, polling ten

votes and winning the Essendon best-and-fairest award, the

. Watson polled 335 votes in 15 of the 21 games he played in the 2009 season, with only one game missed due to an ankle injury. Watson was 46 votes ahead of runner-up

Dustin Fletcher Dustin Fletcher (born 7 May 1975) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played his entire 23-season career for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is widely acknowledged as one of the fines ...

, who polled 289 votes. By the end of the 2009 season, Watson had gathered a reputation as Essendon's most important midfielder (coming first in the club's overall clearances) and improved his once-criticised kicking ability to above the standard of an AFL player. Watson was announced as Essendon captain on 21 December 2009, taking over from retired goalkicker

Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...

. Despite Essendon suffering a disappointing 2010 season, winning only seven games and finishing 14th on the AFL ladder, Watson enjoyed a successful first year as captain. He was a consistent performer in an inconsistent season for the Bombers, polling 16 Brownlow votes from a total of 43 received by Essendon players, including a three-vote game in his 100th AFL game, finishing equal-seventh in the 2010 Brownlow Medal count, and having the highest number of votes for a player from a team finishing outside the final eight. Watson was once again awarded the Crichton Medal, earning 291 points, which was 50 points clear of runner-up

Heath Hocking Heath Hocking (born 27 December 1987) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Mooroolbark, he was drafted by Essendon with the 20th ...

. Watson had a relatively good season in 2011 despite missing six weeks with a hamstring injury, earning 15 Brownlow votes and finishing runner-up in the Crichton Medal, losing out to up-and-coming third-year midfielder

David Zaharakis David Zaharakis (born 21 February 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Zaharakis attended Our Lady Help of Christians Primary S ...

. Watson completed an outstanding 2012 season by winning the Brownlow Medal with 30 votes (though he was later ruled ineligible after being suspended during the

). Along with his third Crichton Medal, he also won a handful of other accolades, including the AFLPA best captain award, the

Lou Richards Medal The Lou Richards Medal is an annual Most Valuable Player award for the Australian Football League, based on votes from the '' Sunday Footy Show'' panel each week. History The Lou Richards Medal is named after former Collingwood player, Lou R ...

and selection in the 2012 All-Australian team as the centreman. Watson missed three weeks with a broken collarbone in 2013, but had another consistent season, earning 17 Brownlow votes, finishing runner-up in the Crichton Medal to former utility (and later successor as captain)

Brendon Goddard Brendon Goddard (born 20 May 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and Essendon in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the St Kilda Football Club from 2003 to 2012, then with Essendo ...

, and being named on the interchange in the 2013 All-Australian team. Between 2006 and 2013, Watson finished all but one season in the top two for votes for the Crichton Medal. Jobe Watson 2017

Watson had a good start to the 2014 season, but he injured his hip flexor in round 12 and consequently missed ten weeks. Watson later returned to play in the final three games of the home-and-away season and Essendon's elimination final loss to . Watson then went on to poll eight Brownlow votes, behind up-and-coming midfielder and future captain Dyson Heppell. Watson was also selected in the Australian team for the first time in his career to play in the 2014 International Rules Series. Watson was among the best players in the one-test series, which Australia won by ten points. In 2015, despite controversy surrounding the team's lack of fitness (following a compromised pre-season) and a tough first half of the season for Essendon, Watson continued to lead his team well early in the season despite his own injury clouds. In Round 14, Watson played his 200th AFL game in what proved to be a torrid day for the Bombers, as they lost to St Kilda by 110 points. Following that match, Watson was ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, having injured it the previous week; Watson polled seven Brownlow votes in the first five rounds prior to the injury. He was later banned for the 2016 season as part of the club's supplements saga. Watson played his first competitive match in over eighteen months – and his first without being captain of the club since 2009 – when he and several of the other Essendon players who served bans in 2016 made their return to the field against in the 2017 pre-season. Watson then made a successful return to football with a dominant game against in a 25-point win. On 9 August 2017, with three rounds left in the home-and-away season, Watson announced that he would retire at the end of the season. Watson then played in three of Essendon's last four matches, with his final game coming in the 65-point elimination final loss to at the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...

. Watson played 20 games in his final season, which is the most he had played in a season since 2012, to finish on 220 games for Essendon.

Supplements controversy

On 24 June 2013, while the

was being investigated by the

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. The authority was part of the Department of Health's portfolio and was ...

(ASADA) over the legality of its supplements program during the 2012 AFL season, Watson admitted on the

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited, operated out of their Me ...

program '' On the Couch'' that he believed he was given the substance AOD-9604 during the 2012 season with the assistance of the club. The

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

(WADA) released a statement clarifying that AOD-9604 fell into the "S0. Non-Approved Substances" category in their List of Prohibited Substances and Methods. ASADA also stated that the use of AOD-9604 is prohibited for use by athletes in any circumstances. During the investigation, Watson was among the thirty-four present and former Essendon players issued

show cause Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** ...

notices by ASADA and infraction notices by the AFL, alleging the use of the banned peptide

during the 2012 season. On 31 March 2015, the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal found all thirty-four players not guilty of all charges. In January 2016, following an appeal by WADA against the AFL Tribunal's not-guilty finding, Watson, along with the other thirty-three players, had their not-guilty verdict overturned. All thirty-four players were suspended for two years, backdated to November 2016, causing him to miss the entire 2016 AFL season. As Watson had won the

2012 Brownlow Medal The 2012 Brownlow Medal was the 85th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home and away season. The award was won jointly by Sam Mitchell of the Hawthorn Foo ...

, during the season that the supplements program took place, the

AFL Commission The AFL Commission is the official governing body of the Australian Football League Limited (AFL), its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been chairman since 4 April 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick. It was formed in 198 ...

reviewed the award. Watson was retrospectively ruled ineligible for the award by the Commission, and the medal then awarded to the next-highest vote-getters,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a Brownlow Medallist, an All-Australian, a three-time Richmond best and fairest ...

and then-Hawthorn player Sam Mitchell (who had just been traded to the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

at the time), under the normal rules regarding ineligible players in Brownlow Medal counts. Watson had pre-empted the decision by announcing on 11 November 2016 that he would hand back the medal.

Statistics

, - ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, , , , 4 , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 2 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , , 0 , - , 2004 , , , , 4 , 7 , , 6 , , 2 , , 37 , , 42 , , 79 , , 23 , , 16 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 5.3 , , 6.0 , , 11.3 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , 0 , - ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, , , , 4 , 5 , , 2 , , 0 , , 23 , , 32 , , 55 , , 14 , , 5 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 4.6 , , 6.4 , , 11.0 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, , , , 4 , 21 , , 6 , , 7 , , 203 , , 276 , , 479 , , 114 , , 69 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 9.7 , , 13.1 , , 22.8 , , 5.4 , , 3.3 , , 0 , - , 2007 , , , , 4 , 19 , , 6 , , 5 , , 193 , , 249 , , 442 , , 85 , , 62 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 10.2 , , 13.1 , , 23.3 , , 4.5 , , 3.3 , , 5 , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , , , 4 , 19 , , 4 , , 8 , , 193 , , 265 , , 458 , , 54 , , 68 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 10.2 , , 14.1 , , 24.1 , , 3.8 , , 3.6 , , 5 , - ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , , , 4 , 22 , , 10 , , 10 , , 221 , , 322 , , 543 , , 73 , , 98 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 10.0 , , 14.6 , , 24.7 , , 3.3 , , 4.4 , , 10 , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , , , 4 , 21 , , 10 , , 1 , , 209 , , 363 , , 572 , , 77 , , 91 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 10.0 , , 17.3 , , 27.2 , , 3.7 , , 4.3 , , 16 , - ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , , , 4 , 17 , , 15 , , 11 , , 237 , , 208 , , 445 , , 77 , , 65 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 13.9 , , 12.2 , , 26.2 , , 4.1 , , 3.8 , , 15 , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, , , , 4 , 22 , , 20 , , 8 , , 343 , , 295 , , 638 , , 106 , , 105 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 15.6 , , 13.4 , , 29.0 , , 4.8 , , 4.8 , , 30 , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, , , , 4 , 19 , , 16 , , 18 , , 259 , , 264 , , 523 , , 74 , , 60 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 13.6 , , 13.9 , , 27.5 , , 3.9 , , 3.2 , , 17 , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , , , 4 , 15 , , 10 , , 2 , , 185 , , 226 , , 411 , , 70 , , 70 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 12.3 , , 15.1 , , 27.4 , , 4.7 , , 4.7 , , 8 , - ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, , , , 4 , 12 , , 6 , , 6 , , 124 , , 163 , , 287 , , 45 , , 53 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 10.3 , , 13.6 , , 23.9 , , 3.8 , , 4.4 , , 7 , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, , , , 4 , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , 0 , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, , , , 4 , 20 , , 2 , , 6 , , 194 , , 278 , , 472 , , 97 , , 84 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 9.7 , , 13.9 , , 23.6 , , 4.9 , , 4.2 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 220 !! 113 !! 85 !! 2421 !! 2985 !! 5406 !! 901 !! 848 !! 0.5 !! 0.4 !! 11.0 !! 13.6 !! 24.6 !! 4.1 !! 3.9 !! 113 Notes

Honours and achievements

* Essendon captain: 2010–2016 * 2×

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

* 3×

: 2009, 2010, 2012 * AFLPA best captain award: 2012 * Australia representative honours in

international rules football International rules football ( ga, Peil na rialacha idirnáisiunta; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed ...

* Yiooken Award: 2013 *

: 2012 * Archer-Hird Medal: 2010

Off-field

Mark Lamprell, Ella Keddie, Jobe Watson, Richard Keddie (8532931387)

Whilst being unable to play in 2014 due to a hip flexor injury, Watson did commentary work for the

as a

boundary rider Boundary rider is a long-established (1864) Australasian term for a cattle or sheep station employee whose duties entail a regular tour (by horse, camel or motor vehicle) of the outer perimeter (boundary) of the property, checking condition of f ...

for one match; he later returned in 2019 for a home-and-away match and final. He also filled in for co-host Craig Hutchison on the episode of '' Footy Classified'' immediately following the final home-and-away round of the 2017 season, and was a guest panellist on ''

Talking Footy ''Talking Footy'' was an Australian rules football television program on the Seven Network broadcast from 1994 to 2004 and 2013–2020. The show was hosted mainly by Bruce McAvaney and Luke Darcy in both runs of the show. Original format (1 ...

'' in 2019. He joined Seven's commentary team on a more permanent basis in 2020. While serving his suspension in 2016, Watson worked at Hole in the Wall, a coffee shop in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. During his retirement speech, Watson said that he had several

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

-based business interests, including two café-style venues, a gym and a buyers' advocacy business, that he wanted to focus on upon retiring. In June 2019, Watson participated in the Big Freeze at the 'G alongside several former AFL footballers and Australian sportspeople to raise money for the Cure for MND Foundation.

Personal life

Watson met Dutch model Virginia Slaghekke, who was represented by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

Trump Model Management Trump Model Management, later shortened to T Management, was a New York City-based modeling agency founded by Donald Trump as T Models in 1999. It was closed by Trump in April 2017, shortly after he became U.S. president. History In October 20 ...

, at Hole in the Wall in

while he was working there during his suspension in 2016, and they began dating in August 2016. Slaghekke, a

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...

student at the time, later moved to Melbourne on a

student exchange program A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but doe ...

to support Watson during his final AFL season. They have two children together.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Jobe 1985 births Living people Essendon Football Club players Crichton Medal winners People educated at Xavier College Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Doping cases in Australian rules football Sandringham Dragons players All-Australians (AFL) Australian sportspeople in doping cases Australia international rules football team players