AFL
3 days ago
Watson: Greatest young AFL talent the game has ever seen
By Lachlan Geleit
Essendon great Tim Watson thinks that the current young crop of AFL stars is the best the league has ever seen.
In recent campaigns, it feels as though young players are making a huge impact earlier than ever before and Watson hasn’t seen anything like it before during his time watching footy.
Watson named the likes of Harry Sheezel, Nick Daicos, Sam Darcy, Harley Reid, Will Ashcroft, Errol Gulden and Chad Warner as young stars who have burst onto the scene in recent years, backing up his claim.
“We might have a group of up-and-coming stars as bright and as shining (as ever before),” Watson said on SEN’s The Rabbit Hole.
“This is going to be my big take; I think right now we’ve got the greatest array of young talent bubbling up that we’ve ever had in the game and that we’ve ever seen.
“Sheezel, Daicos, Darcy, Reid … how many more do you want me to name? The Ashcrofts, Gulden, Warner … there you go.
“There’s a great array of young talent just bubbling up at the moment, it’s exciting.”
Watson’s co-host Garry Lyon agreed with Watson’s take and with AFL wages going up with every Collective Bargaining Agreement that’s signed, he expects this crop to truly cash in by the time they hit their primes during the 2030s.
“It’s awesome, and what a time, the financial reward is there,” Lyon said.
“Good on them, if Fox and Channel Seven are prepared to write a big cheque, then the players are going to be the beneficiaries along the way.
“Footy stars get paid big money because they generate big dollars.”
Lyon also tipped Darcy to become the AFL’s first $2 million a-year player on this week’s episode.
