Watson: Clarko would still be at North if they drafted Wizard

Would Alastair Clarkson still be at North Melbourne if the club drafted Nick Watson?

The Kangaroos opted to take Zane Duursma with Pick 4 in the 2023 draft before Hawthorn selected ‘The Wizard’ with Pick 5.

Watson has been a revelation in brown and gold, kicking 118 goals in 65 games, and emerging as one of the AFL’s most impactful game breakers.

However, Duursma has struggled at the Roos and this week informed the club of his desire to seek a move away from Arden Street.

Clarkson was removed as North’s senior coach last week following a nine-win season which potentially could have been more if Watson was in royal blue and white.

The Wizard’s namesake, Tim Watson, reckons Clarko would still be at the Kangas if he had the attacking output of the diminutive Hawk at his disposal.

“A lot of people I have spoken to recently say the same thing - that Nick Watson is maybe the most influential player in the game who can move a needle,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.

“If North Melbourne had have taken Watson with Pick 4 and not Zane Duursma, then Al Clarkson might still be coaching North Melbourne because of how much of a difference Nick Watson would have made to their overall performance.

“In the time that he’s played he’s kicked 118 goals in 65 games. And Duursma, who the Roos took as a goal-kicking forward, has kicked 28 goals in 38 games.

“He’s tripled his score involvements (380 to 106) and he has had four times the number of goal assists (42 to 9).

“If you insert him into what North have been capable of doing over the last couple of years, and in particular this year, I don’t thin it’s too much of a stretch to say that they would have finished in the Top 10 with Nick Watson in their team.

“And we wouldn’t be having this conversation about Al Clarkson being moved on by the Kangaroos.

“That’s how much of a difference that one selection can have.

“It’s not an exact science, we know that. Clubs get it right, clubs get it wrong.

“But had they got that part right, the whole fortunes of Al Clarkson and North Melbourne, I think, would have been demonstrably different.”

Garry Lyon added: “He could have won them three more games off his own boot.”

While Clarko is no longer at the Roos and Duursma is on the way out, the Hawks and Watson are preparing for a home Preliminary Final.