Tales of a leader: Confidence critical for Seagull in new roles

The star Seagull took on the open grade captaincy for the first time in 2019 and was preparing for another year in the role before the Hampden league pulled the pin due to coronavirus.

The 21-year-old's first season in the role saw her grow significantly but she said there was still more room for improvement.

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"Because I'm so young,leadership as a younger person felt strange as it was my first opportunity so I can improve on that and can be confident in myself using my knowledge and skills to be a bit better," she said.

"I want to be confident in speaking up and making sure that the messages are being passed on, especially from the coach.

"The captain and coach can hold a good comradeship and are vital in developing and passing on ideas on how to improve or get better."

Despite the open grade season being called off, the former Hampden league best and fairest is still expanding as a leader as she ventures into mentoring for the first time alongside long-time 17 and under coach Chelsea McMahon.

Watson is helping McMahon with the side, which plays Koroit this weekend, as a way of furthering her development as a leader.

"I wasn't too worried about the 13s or 15s but the 17s I wanted to be involved in some way because every Thursday I'm at training early watching," she said.

"I felt like I couldn't interfere with other coaches and what they had to say and the only way I was going to get my message and ideas across was finding a way to get involved."

Watson said she had developed a good relationship with the side's players over the short time they'd been working together.

"The girls really respect me and they always listen and ask me anything if they need further understanding, which makes it easier for me when they may not understand something," she said.

"I have a good relationship with the girls I'm working with and they're all very excited to get into the season. I'm a bit jealous about them playing and me having to watch but it's good to still be involved."

Watson likes using examples from her own experiences against the competition's best to teach the club's rising stars.

"I look at better players and use them as ways to describe how to play better to my juniors," she said.

Watson said listening to and watching other coaches also helped.

"Every coach has a different strong point and I'm only young and don't know a lot yet but I am willing to learn and listening to other coaches helps better me," she said.

"You look at coaches like Stacey O'Sullivan at Koroit. She is an amazing coach had a lot of success and I'm listening to them and other coaches about how they address their players.

"It's good to look beyond your own club."

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