Blue great brings out best in Don

AS CARLTON and Essendon prepare for yet another blockbuster on Saturday, the Bombers can inadvertently thank one of the Blues' all-time greats for their strong start to the new season.

Greg Williams, the dual Brownlow medallist and retired champion midfielder, held private mentoring and training sessions with Jobe Watson through 2008 and early '09 as the then-emerging midfielder looked to develop his game.

The pair had been linked by their management - and a love of handballing.

Acknowledging that it would have been difficult for Watson's legendary father, Tim, to criticise his son, Williams took it upon himself to impart wisdom and provide a reality check. ''I gave Jobe a bit of a rev up as well about his toughness: 'You're not tough enough, you're not fit enough, you have got to improve in all those areas','' Williams said in a rare interview with The Age yesterday.

''It's just a bloody hard game. I just showed him a few techniques that I used for ball handling and about practising as well - your technique at practising properly. I tried to help him with his kicking as well. He has definitely improved. It's not just me, Jobe is the one who has definitely done it all.

''He has improved so much. He has just got so much fitter and tougher, his ball handling and stoppage plays, he is one of the best there is in the league at the moment.

''I am not going to say he is the best player in the league or anything like that, he still has a long way to go, but at stoppages, he is as good as anyone.''

Those sessions on the tennis court of the Williams's family home have turned Watson into one of the league's premier midfielders, and third favourite at $11 with TAB Sportsbet to win the Brownlow Medal.

Those messages the man known as ''Diesel'' imparted are also now being handed down by Watson to his young teammates, who in all likelihood terminated St Kilda's golden era on Sunday.

Essendon's general manager of football, Paul Hamilton, said Watson, who had 33 disposals on Sunday, has credited Williams for helping to improve his game.

''He acknowledged Greg at that stage. I think for him there was that watershed period where he had to work harder and train harder,'' Hamilton said.

''I think the great thing about that, now as the captain and club leader, he often passes those messages on to the younger guys.''

Those messages being: ''If you just come here and think it's going to happen, that's not the way it works. You really need to examine your own game and use the assistance of the people around you and push yourself to new levels to be a really good player,'' Hamilton said.

Watson, so far this season, has definitely reached those ''new levels''.

Champion Data statistics show there has been a major change, with Watson now spending more time up forward and rounding out his game.

He is averaging a career-high 31 disposals per game, with 18 per cent coming inside forward 50 - his highest percentage since 2005. Last season he kicked 10 goals - this year he already has six.

His clearance rate and number of tackles have dropped, but there has been an increase in the number of inside-50s, from 2.3 per game last year to 3.7, again highlighting his work forward of centre.

But the biggest change has been in his number of kicks. Last year he recorded more kicks than handballs in only two of his 21 games. He has already done that twice this year. Indeed, by half-time against St Kilda he already had 15 kicks and just the one handball. He finished with 24 kicks.

While the statistics show his overall kicking efficiency has dropped to a career-low 63.2 per cent, this shouldn't be portrayed as a negative as he is kicking more than ever, recording a career-high kick to handball ratio of 1.6 to one - almost tripling from last season's 0.6 to one.

''I was going to text him - he is kicking too much - but I didn't,'' Williams joked.

''He is a serious handballer, he is just sensational at it. He is a big man. With his attitude towards the footy, he is bloody hard to stop. He is a bit like [Anthony] Koutoufides with the size of him but he is not half as athletic as 'Kouta'.''

As all clubs look to become more versatile because of the new interchange restrictions, coach James Hird will continue to use Watson, who at 196 is just three centimetres shorter than Saints superstar Nick Riewoldt, up forward.

''I think 'Sheeds' played him there in his real early days so I think Hirdy has some memories of that as well,'' Hamilton said. ''He is a good one-on-one player. I think he is acknowledged across the league as a good one-on-one player.''

Williams couldn't be happier with the progress Watson has made.

''He is a unique player, for his size. He's going forward, kicking goals now. He has just added a few things to his game, which is good,'' he said. ''Probably his biggest weakness is his marking, if he can start to take a few marks up forward … full credit to him, he has improved so much.''