Sam Mitchell was straight to the point when asked if he had a plan to curb Fremantle wizard Shai Bolton in Thursday night’s blockbuster at Optus Stadium.
“Yeah, more than one,” the Hawthorn coach quipped.
“He’s an enormously talented player, and offensively, he’s creating enormous problems for the opposition, and what he does in the front half in particular is very difficult to replicate and difficult to stop. But, yeah, we certainly have a plan for him.”
Indeed, this contest between the second and third-placed teams features two footballing wizards: the mercurial Bolton, who thrives late in games, and Nick Watson, the man actually dubbed “the Wizard”, who also flourishes when the spotlight is at its brightest.
Bolton, 27, is on track for a second All-Australian blazer, averaging career highs in disposals (24.8), contested possessions (10.6), uncontested possessions (15.1) and clearances (4.5), morphing into a bona fide midfielder who can still push forward.
He is must-watch viewing, a point reinforced when he shredded Carlton and the Western Bulldogs in the fourth quarters of the Dockers’ past two wins.
“He just wants to have his hands on the ball when the game is on the line,” Dockers coach Justin Longmuir says.
The dual premiership Tiger is one of only six players to average at least 25 disposals, one goal, and one score assist per game, sitting sixth in the polling for the AFL Coaches Association award. Twice he has logged the perfect 10 votes, including last weekend.
Teammate Mason Cox, the former premiership Magpie who played alongside Nick Daicos, Bobby Hill and Jordan De Goey, told the Red Time podcast Bolton was “one of the most exciting players I’ve ever played with”.
“He just does stuff where you give him the ball and you just kind of watch him like, be shifty as hell, side step three people and somehow kick one from 55,” Cox said.
“You’re just going, ‘I couldn’t do that if I tried that 1000 times’. [It’s] just freak athlete stuff and I absolutely love it. He’s such an exciting talent who everyone loves to watch … he’s an absolute gun.”
Watson, 21, has made huge gains, flourishing in his customary role as a goalkicking forward but also when sent into the midfield to provide spark, delivering the tasty possibility of he and Bolton spending time together in the same part of the ground.
Longmuir said Watson was “clearly one of the more dangerous small forwards in the comp”.
“He plays a few different roles. Clearly, he goes into centre bounces and some stoppages as well. We just need to make sure we get those handovers right,” Longmuir said of his defensive set-up.
A deeper dive shows it’s during general play when Watson particularly hurts opponents, 60 per cent of his 20 goals coming during this phase – the second highest of the top-30 goalkickers.
His impact is multi-faceted, fourth across the league for scoreboard impact, behind only Charlie Cameron, Jeremy Cameron and Ben King. He, too, is on track for an All-Australian blazer.
“I think the thing with Nick is he’s pretty passionate about his forward craft, and I know you … are all excited … to see him in the midfield a bit more, and there’s lots of small forwards that would love to be midfielders,” Mitchell said.
“He loves being a forward. And he’s been that his whole career, since juniors. And I think the thing that he works on is what he’s good at.
“So it’s not just the goalkicking and the finishing and the crumbing, but his pressure and his intensity around the ball is very, very difficult to replicate if you don’t train it.
“And I think 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.”
Watson’s love of the contest is also clear, for he leads the league in ground-ball possessions inside 50 (25) and is fifth for disposals (54).
Now in his third season, the Eastern Ranges’ product – like Bolton – has built the physical strength required to handle what comes his way.
“I think no one’s probably made bigger gains physically than he has, and credit to him that he’s been able to start to blossom. But I don’t think we’ve seen the best of ‘Wizard’ just yet,” Mitchell said.
Bolton is in the prime of his career, and was lured home to Perth to be a key plank in what the Dockers hope will be their maiden premiership.
Mitchell has watched Bolton’s game mature, from his early years at Punt Rd into the elite game-winner seen now.
“When he was at Richmond, he was a star,” Mitchell said.
“Like most players, he’s continued to grow through the middle part of his career, and he’s going to continue to develop his game, and credit to him and to Freo for the environment they’re putting around him that he can continue to evolve his game and grow it and improve.”
Then came the kicker. “Hopefully, not this week,” Mitchell said.
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.