HAWTHORN coach Sam Mitchell would have watched Collingwood and Brisbane's small forwards run riot in last year's Grand Final and known he might have his own pocket-sized gamebreaker on the way.

By then, the Hawks had known Nick Watson well. He trained with the club twice as part of his Marsh AFL Academy program and had been interviewed multiple times before then too. The Hawks were holding pick No.4 and Watson was in their sights.

Mitchell had seen Watson's Eastern Ranges games and also knew of his exploits at Caulfield Grammar, where the Hawks coach has close links. 

Less than a year on from that flag decider, Watson delivered a big-time performance in last week's elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs with a career-high four goals. In front of more than 97,000 fans (hundreds of them wearing wizard hats dedicated to the first-year firestarter), Watson produced when it mattered.

It continued a sign of the small forward times.  

The flag decider was the land of the smalls – Bobby Hill was the Norm Smith medallist for Collingwood with four goals, while Brisbane had Charlie Cameron (three goals), Lincoln McCarthy (two) and Zac Bailey (two) also impact the game more than their tall counterparts. Jack Ginnivan was quiet for the Pies but claimed his flag and days later was a Hawthorn player after the Lachie Schultz deal went through. 

Last week, Watson and Ginnivan ran riot against the Bulldogs, who had their own small forward dynamo Cody Weightman smothered by Blake Hardwick. Geelong's small forwards – Tyson Stengle, Shaun Mannagh and Gryan Miers – combined for 10 goals to tear apart Port Adelaide, which had one goal each from Willie Rioli and Jed McEntee.

Tom Papley returned for the Swans last week from an ankle injury to kick two goals against Greater Western Sydney, while Cameron, Bailey and hotshot youngster Kai Lohmann collected five goals between them against Carlton in Brisbane's straightforward win.

Having a quality small forward has clearly long been a key part of list building strategies and Hawthorn knew that when it selected the 170cm Watson last year with its first pick (that ended up at No.5 after bidding). 

Cyril Rioli, Luke Breust and Paul Puopolo were crucial in the club's golden premiership run earlier this century, while Richmond (Daniel Rioli, Jason Castagna), West Coast (Willie Rioli, Jamie Cripps), Geelong (Stengle, Miers and Brad Close) and Melbourne (Kysaiah Pickett, Charlie Spargo) have all had effective small forward combinations in their recent premiership wins. 

Watson had kicked more than 70 goals across his under-18 season and showed the spark at ground level, in the contest and in the air (a trick he's yet to pull out in the AFL) to prove to the Hawks he was their man. Melbourne, keen to pair Watson with Pickett, tried to push up the draft board to snare him but the Hawks weren't budging in any pick swaps deal.

The Dees had already shown their willingness to use an early pick on a small forward, having landed Pickett with pick 12 in 2019. Josh Rachele (pick No.6 in 2021) is the only small forward in the top 10 since then, before Watson broke the mould of early draft selections.

Over the past decade, Jarrod Pickett (pick four to Greater Western Sydney in 2014) and Callum Ah Chee (Gold Coast's pick eight in 2015) were the only other pure small forwards selected with top-10 choices. 

The aftereffects of Watson's finals wizardry is to follow. Essendon's Next Generation Academy prospect Isaac Kako is considered the best small forward in this year's draft crop and a first-round pick, and classy left-footer Joe Berry isn't far off that either. How clubs rank the pair considering the finals impact so far from small forwards will be an intriguing element in November.