The son of dual premiership player Chris and older brother of Jake, Alec Waterman was a father-son selection in the 2014 draft, but was struck down by illness.
West Coast career[]
A strong-bodied midfielder, Waterman played under 16s and under 18s for Western Australia and was rated highly months out from the draft. However, he slipped during the year and when he was nominated as a father-son pick by the Eagles, no other club placed a bid on him. West Coast were then able to select him with a late pick.
After switching from Claremont due to the host club arrangement, Waterman performed well with East Perth in the first half of 2015. Unfortunately he was then struck down by glandular fever, keeping him out of action for the remainder of the year. He was dropped back to the rookie list for the 2016 season as he continued to struggle with the illness, which left him housebound and exhausted.[1]
At the end of 2016, with Waterman having been unable to return to the field, he was delisted.
Essendon career[]
After being forced to sit out of football for another full year, Waterman finally returned to playing duties in July 2018 with Claremont's reserves.[2] He spent 2019 and 2020 in the Tigers' senior side, kicking 45 goals from 22 games. Ahead of the 2021 season, Waterman was invited to train with Essendon, and was signed to the Bombers' rookie list after impressing during the pre-season.[3]
Waterman made his long-awaited AFL debut early in the 2021 season, and played 22 games for the Bombers over two season, kicking 27 goals.
Post-AFL career[]
After being delisted by the Bombers at the end of 2022, Waterman returned to West Coast, joining Jackson Nelson and Jarrod Garlett as high-profile recruits to the Reserves side. Unfortunately, he managed just five games before being ruled out for the season with a chest injury.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | Cl | WAFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 0 | EP | 8 | 6 | 2 | 87 | 25 | 85 | 172 | 27 | |||||||||
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | WCE | 5 | 2 | 6 | 38 | 19 | 33 | 71 | 20 |
References[]
https://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/A/Alec_Waterman.html
https://www.wafl.com.au/player/alec-waterman
- ↑ Jordan McArdle, PerthNow (23 October 2016), "Delisted Eagle plots football return": http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/afl/teams/west-coast/delisted-west-coast-youngster-alec-waterman-making-positive-steps-recovery-from-illness/news-story/e244298d23cad9ca6b6495cd7ae60c66
- ↑ Daniel Scamozzi, claremontfc.com.au (10 July 2018), "Reserves: Waterman Inspires Tigers": http://www.claremontfc.com.au/news/15148/reserves-waterman-inspires-tigers
- ↑ Mitch Cleary, afl.com.au (2 March 2021), "Former Eagle gets AFL lifeline after starring in practice match": https://www.afl.com.au/news/555297/former-eagle-gets-afl-lifeline-after-starring-in-practice-match
| Reserves squad |
|---|
|
48. Nelson, 50. Ruscoe, 51. Sparks, 52. Spadanuda, 53. Henderson, 54. Barker |