Gympie’s Billy Watson, 14, making his mark in Aussie rules

A Gympie teenager is making their mark on the AFL field as part of the Wide Bay squad for the Brisbane Lion’s Academy.

Billy Watson from Lower Wonga has been chosen for the Brisbane Lions Academy. Picture: supplied

Teenager Billy Watson is a high-flyer in Aussie rules in every sense of the word.

The 14-year-old, from Lower Wonga near Gympie, loves taking big marks and has now been chosen to be part of the squad for the Wide Bay in the Brisbane Lions Academy.

Billy, whose dad Shannon coached him at the Gympie Cats/Pomona-Cooroy Demons last season, is now playing for the Hervey Bay Bombers and was spotted by Lions’ scouts earlier this year.

The teenager, who attends Kilkivan School, began his footy career for the Launceston Blues in Tasmania, while his dad was serving in the military.

He won a grand final with the Blues, picking up the best on ground award, while he was also chosen as the best player in the division and also topped the goalscoring charts.

Billy started as a full-forward and centre-half forward but is now playing at centre-half back.

He is a Carlton fan and would one day like to take big marks and kick goals like his heroes Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay.

The 177cm-tall teen is hoping that earning a spot in the Lions Academy can help him achieve his goal of playing in the AFL.

“I am excited and humbled to have been invited to participate in the AFL Brisbane Lions Academy in 2023,” he said.

“It’s a good opportunity to increase my skills and stuff.

“I am an aerial player. I like taking speccies.”

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03/07/2023 – Billy Watson (left) has been chosen to play for the Brisbane Lions Academy. Picture: supplied

As well as travelling to Hervey Bay twice a week for training and Saturday game days, Billy will now have to go to Childers on Wednesday nights for training sessions with the Lions Academy.

That works out at more than 600km of driving time a week for dad Shannon and mum Tracy, but his father said Billy was worth the effort.

“He has quite often been picked up best on ground in his short career so far,” Shannon, who also has sons Henry and Alby.

“This year he has already got a few best on grounds for the Bombers.

“In one of those games they smashed at the Bundaberg Brothers Bulldogs.

“That’s when we found out there was a Lions selector in the ground.

“I said to Billy after the game that he might get an email and sure enough about two weeks later, we got an invitation.”

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The family will head to Maroochydore on Friday, July 7, for an information session on sports nutrition among other things, then following on from that he will have the training sessions in Childers with the Wide Bay squad.

With the amount of travelling now required for Billy to pursue his AFL dream, the family is looking for sponsors and have set up a GoFundMe page.

They are looking for $1500 to help with travel costs and have already reached a total of $850.

To donate click here.

Originally published as Gympie’s Billy Watson, 14, making his mark in Aussie rules