Larry J. Watson is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Essendon

Essendon Football Club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 and Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL) and West Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League

South Australian National Football League

The South Australian National Football League is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the governing body for the sport of Australian rules football in South Australia....

 (SANFL).

Watson made his league debut late in the 1975 VFL season

1975 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1975.-Premiership season:In 1975, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus two substitute players, known as the 19th man and the 20th man...

. A utility, he finished third in Essendon's 1976 'Best and Fairest' count despite playing only 11 games that year. He originally came from Dimboola

Dimboola, Victoria

Dimboola is located in Shire of Hindmarsh in the Wimmera region of Western Victoria, Australia, 334 kilometres north-west of Melbourne.Situated on the Wimmera River in the State of Victoria,the town of Dimboola was previously known as 'Nine Creeks'.Following a survey conducted in late 1862 by...

 and in 1977 was joined at Essendon by his younger brother Tim Watson

Tim Watson

Timothy Michael "Tim" Watson is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, sports journalist and media personality.He is notable for his long career at the Essendon Football Club as a player where he participated in several premiership teams...

.

After a brief stint at Fitzroy, Watson was signed by SANFL club West Adelaide in 1981. He played 66 games and kicked 19 goals for the Bloods until the end of 1984, often playing as a half back flanker and was a member of their 1983 premiership team. The Watson brothers played in Grand Finals in different Australian states in 1983. Larry in West Adelaide's 34 point win over Sturt at Football Park in front of 47,129 fans and Tim in Essendon's 83 point loss to Hawthorn in the VFL Grand Final

1983 VFL Grand Final

The 1983 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and Essendon Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1983. It was the 87th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine...

 at the MCG

McG

Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....

in front of 110,332 fans.

In 2002, Watson's son Jake died at the age of 18 after an on-field collision in an Under-19s SANFL match for West Adelaide.