Former #4 Jobe Watson

Sad day. Wish him more than all the best. He’s a better person than I or most other people will ever be.

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A beautiful press conference.

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Looking at that Anzac Day vid, We really could have been anything if it wasn’t for the saga- Jobe especially. :disappointed::disappointed::disappointed:

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I just listened to the first 10 minutes of finey and am in a foul mood.

Out of respect for this thread I will go and vent in the the saga thread at some point.

I suggest that all discussion of rat faced media slugs be kept out of here and put somewhere else.

This is a thread for fond memories

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He can run around for the rest of the year and not touch the ball and I will still cheer, he deserves more than we can give him. Make no mistake his leadership during the saga is one of the main reasons the club is still going strong. Absolute integrity and class, a true gentlemen. Hope we can get into the finals and give him a proper send off.

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Gerard and robbo talking about how great he has been.

Blow you me you flogs. You dont deserve the right to speak highly of him

Hope the stage collapses on both of them

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Found the Bomber comment telling “in my eyes, he won the 2012 Brownlow. And nothing will ever change that”

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If jobe plays a blinder and we beat the crows, the roof on etihad might just blow off and never be seen again

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God bless you Jobe, Thankyou for all that you have bought us, hope you have found peace xxxxxxxx

All class.

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Absolutely!

Disappointed the highlights video didn’t include the Brownlow…

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Hird tribute in the Hun

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Absolute legend. Loved watching him play over the years. Looks so much like his dad.

Thanks @bigallan

(Will post it.)

James Hird, Herald Sun

James Hird recalls first time he met Jobe Watson and the journey to Essendon great

FIRST day of pre-season, late 2002. I’m driving to Bundoora with that strange mix of excitement and dread that only a day like this can inspire.

There’s a detour, to Prahran, to collect pick 40 from that year’s draft — a kid called Watson.

I’d first spent time with Jobe in 1993, kicking the ball around in the change rooms when he was about eight, his dad Tim just out of retirement for one last fling with the Bombers.

It’s 40 minutes or so out to La Trobe University and even though we’re not strangers, there’s a lot of silence in the car. I suspect the passenger, still just 17, is feeling a whole lot more trepidation than the driver.

Sure enough Jobe struggles to keep up. It’s an even quieter trip home — Jobe falls asleep, spent.

A week later we make a drive out to Melton for more summer fun. Eight laps is the call, and as the minutes mount Jobe falls further back — one lap, two laps …

More Zs coming home.

Some kids prepare to get drafted, but that just wasn’t Jobe. While his fitness was lacking, the passion and desire to succeed was there is spades.

Jobe had his knockers in the early years at Essendon; there were some who didn’t think he was gong to make it.

But he worked and worked and he did make it. He lost weight and started eating lettuce leaves and weighing his food. He turned talent and potential into top-rate football.

By 2006 he was a regular. In 2007 rotations had just come in and we were changing a lot in the midfield — I saw he was going to be more than a good player.

By 2012 he was an absolute game-changer for us. Any time I needed to really change something up, I’d put Jobe forward and he would make something happen.

He was a very coachable player, Jobe.

There was one exception. Jobe had a quirk of liking to start the game with a dinky little kick or handball. I’d tell him before the game, kick the thing as far as you can when you first get it, but without fail he’d do the opposite. That was just his way.

Through the darkest days of the ASADA period he was an especially magnificent leader. Being captain, he carried an awesome load. He was highly questioning of what was going on but he just kept fronting up.

The club may have fallen apart if it hadn’t been for Jobe’s resilience and somehow in the maelstrom of 2013 the club had its best home-and-away season since 2001 (14 wins). Jobe led the way.

Jobe has seen the highs and lows of football like no one else and I think that has provided him with great perspective — I wish him the very best in whatever path he now follows.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/james-hird-recalls-first-time-he-met-jobe-watson-and-the-journey-to-essendon-great/news-story/da0a5d082b79b61dfb043e91bcf0d0b5

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Thanks Jobe

He led the players, the club and all the supporters through the toughest thing footy has ever seen and did so with class and compassion and for me and I imagine many was one of the main reasons I made it through the nightmare with my sanity

I am not embarrassed to say I had a tear in my eye today and will cry like a baby when it’s all over

He deserves all the luck and karma in the future

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Can’t help but wonder if Jobe thinking about his pending decision & announcement today has had some kind of impact on his recent games

Now that he’s made his decision public maybe the “unshackled Jobe” walks out onto the ground this Saturday night & deep into September with his team mates that he has been thru so much with

Thanks Jobe Wan - you are an inspiration to us all
You handled today in the same manner you’ve handled the shitstorm of the past four years - with a grace that those who tried to tear you down will never have

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A class act on and off the field. A superb leader. As many have said the courage he showed in arguably our darkest period and definitely the darkest period I have known in my time supporting the Bombers was absolutely first rate. I haven’t thought he was going as bad as many seem to have opined here and at games and in the media. It was probably the right time to bring the curtain down on a wonderful career, but that does not make it any less sad. I was at his first game and should be there at his last. I just hope he gets to receive the Norm Smith from James Hird this season, cos cas/asada or any other farkwits won’t be able to take that away from him.

Thanks Jobe, you have been an inspiration and an absolute beacon in the darkest of times for a great football club. And you will always be a Brownlow Medallist to me. Good luck with whatever you decide to do for the rest of your life.

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Tears…so many tears.

Well he did say the pace of the game has gone past him.

Amazing no matter how fit the bloke is, it doesn’t matter if the mental side of it is going too quick.