Essendon documentary: Jobe Watson and Tim Watson on the 2012 Brownlow Medal as Bombers lift lid on supplements saga

As Essendon captain, Jobe Watson became the face of the supplements saga. He opens up on the pain of losing his Brownlow Medal and how he was finally able to move on.

Jobe Watson believes he is still the 2012 Brownlow medallist, despite the AFL’s decision to strip him of the award in the wake of the Essendon supplements saga. Picture: Getty Images

Essendon great Jobe Watson says he is the rightful owner of the 2012 Brownlow Medal amid fresh calls for footy’s highest individual honour to be returned to him.

Opening up on the toll of the devastating supplements saga, Watson declared: “If I felt I had cheated, then I wouldn’t have accepted the medal in the first place”.

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Asked whether he still feels he is the deserved winner of the 2012 medal later awarded to runners-up Trent Cotchin of Richmond and Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell, Watson replied: “I feel like I am.”

“Whether or not someone else has it, or whether or not someone else views it that I wasn’t the deserved winner then that is fine.

“But it doesn’t change how I felt or how I feel about it.”

Jobe Watson with his 2012 Brownlow Medal, the day after the ceremony. Picture: Getty Images

It is 10 years this month since the ill-fated supplements program began that would trigger the greatest scandal in Australian sports history.

Watson’s father, club great Tim Watson, said the “injustice” of the decision to strip his son of the Brownlow because of a doping ban was “like the final crushing thing about that whole episode”.

He said he “worried” about how his 36-year-old son would cope with the aftershocks of the saga “for the rest of his life” considering Jobe became “the face” of the scandal.

“I found that (handing back the Brownlow Medal) the most difficult thing, that you could have that taken away from you without there being any … I don’t believe real justification,” Tim Watson said.

“It has been a tough journey for him and, as a parent, it has been difficult at times to observe it close hand. Injustice is a very difficult thing for people to get over.”

The record books show Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin are the 2012 Brownlow medallists.

Asked how he reflects on the experience, Jobe was adamant he had “forgiven” and “moved on” but said his overall emotion was “sadness”.

“It has been really challenging,” Jobe Watson said.

“I look back on it and wonder how I was able to get through it.

“It was such a drawn-out process and moved so much from one extreme to another and emotionally — it was just exhausting.”

Former Essendon chairman Paul Little, who likened the drugs saga to “a war”, said he hoped the 2012 Brownlow would eventually be returned to its rightful owner.

“I’m hopeful one day it will be reinstated,” Little said.

The AFL’s decision to strip Jobe of the 2012 Brownlow Medal does not sit well with the Watsons.

In an eight-part documentary series titled ‘The Bombers: Stories of a great club’, to be aired on Fox Footy and Kayo from October 19, former Bombers president David Evans speaks for the first time about the drugs scandal and admits mistakes were made in dealing with the saga.

“Some things in hindsight that you would have done differently, but there was no playbook for it,” Evans said.

“This was something that we were thrust into that there was no precedents.”

Evans led the fateful decision at the start of the saga that saw the Bombers “self-report” to the AFL and Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, triggering a five-year storm.

Coach James Hird said “what happened to Jobe was horrific”.

“I don’t believe anything they took (was) illegal,” Hird said.

“I certainly don’t believe that Jobe got any unfair advantage during that year and should definitely still have his Brownlow.”

Jobe Watson, flanked by teammates when the supplements saga first emerged. Picture: Getty Images

Watson in 2013 opened up on the supplements program, saying “having that many injections was something I had not experienced in AFL football before”.

The late legendary club doctor Bruce Reid, who wrote a letter of complaint to club chiefs about the injections program, said Watson should not have been stripped of the medal.

“Jobe Watson should still have his Brownlow,” Reid said.

Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd said Watson had masked the pain.

“I’m sure that eats up at him, as much as he doesn't show it,” Lloyd said.

Former coach John Worsfold said: “He was the one, even after the suspension happened, who was still trying to be (the) strongest and hold that group together, and be that leader.

“He was probably the one we felt was the most vulnerable to the big let-down.”

Jobe Watson during his playing days at Essendon. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

After a break from the game, Watson, a two-time All-Australian and three-time best and fairest winner, has returned to football in a special comments role with Channel 7.

Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell said the whole drugs affair was “heartbreaking” and particularly unfair on Hird, who was a “really good person”, and Watson.

“He (Watson) was put in a really difficult position. That was unfair on him, it should never have happened. And that shouldn’t, and won’t, define Jobe Watson,” Campbell said.

Campbell said the club had sought closure on the saga.

“The Essendon network didn’t fracture,” he said.

“It could have (fractured) at so many different moments.”