The small forward nicknamed Wizard lit up the MCG in last week's draw with Collingwood, kicking two goals and handballing to himself on the run to set up another.
He has kicked 20 goals in eight games and is one of the league's most improved players this season.
HAWKS BEAT THE BUZZER (JUST) 🚨#AFLPiesHawks pic.twitter.com/LU5f371tA6— AFL (@AFL) April 30, 2026
"He's pretty passionate about his forward craft. There are lots of small forwards who would love to be midfielders - he loves being a forward," said coach Sam Mitchell.
"The thing he works on is what he's good at. It's not just the goal-kicking and the finishing and crumbing, but his pressure and intensity around the ball - it's very, very difficult to replicate if you don't train it.
"To his credit, he's worked really hard on his game in the last nine months. From the end of last season to the start of this season, no one has made bigger gains physically than he has.
"But I don't think we've seen the best of Wizard just yet."
Still, as a group, Watson and his fellow Hawks forwards would want to be a lot more efficient against the Dockers than they were against the Magpies.
Hawthorn had 10 more scoring shots and won the centre clearances by a whopping 19 to five, but could not put away Collingwood.
"We had 30 more inside-50s or something and we couldn't win the game - that's a front-half issue," Mitchell said.
"It's not realistic you're going to win 19 to five centre bounces every week, we can't rely on that. It's quite unlikely to happen again."
Mitchell noted they are doing something right, given they are well-ranked in the AFL for scores per 50m entries.
"Goals per entry would be a bit nicer," he added.
The Hawks are third and come up against Fremantle, who are second and boast a seven-game winning streak.
The Dockers also have won seven of their past eight against Hawthorn.
Hawthorn made three changes, dropping Jack Scrimshaw and Finn McGuinness and losing Calsher Dear to an adductor strain.
Bodie Ryan will make his AFL debut, with Sam Butler and Max Ramsden returning.
Co-captains James Sicily (ankle) and Jai Newcombe (soreness) were named.
Defender Judd McVee has recovered from his illness and is back for the Dockers, who left out Jeremy Sharp.
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