Forging a phenomenal career with Cargo, Watson amassed seven premierships with the Blue Heelers from 2002 to 2014.

He claimed rookie of the year in '02 along with Woodbridge Cup player of the year in 2012 and coached in 2010.

However, on October 15, Watson received an award that'll have his name etched in the minds of Heelers past, present and future. That award was life membership, joining an exclusive group where only two or three members have come before him - the records are a bit murky.

"I was pretty chuffed," he said.

"I've been to a lot of presentations before and they don't call them out too often. There's only been two I know of since I've been there."

Clearly, Watson's history with Cargo goes back a long way.

A quintessential local, his aim to play in the Blue Heelers jersey was there from a young age.

"He used to turn up to training as a kid," Cargo stalwart Ash Brown said.

"As soon as he was old enough to play first grade he was straight in."

And he couldn't have asked for a better start, clinching the 2002 premiership in his first season. It's that triumph and the second one in '06 he categorizes as the best.

"I've been lucky enough to get a few, the first was one pretty good, and the second one since it was four years after the first," he said.

Having started out in the halves, renown for his ball-playing skills, Watson slowly transitioned into the forwards as the years went by.

Brown said on his day, the Cargo legend was difficult to bring down.

"As he grew into a man he was quite hard to stop, he became quite imposing and some times played like he had spiders on him," he said.

In an age where imports have become common place in bush football, Cargo's golden years can be put down to a local focus.

Every year Watson would come back, and every year it was the same blokes motivating him to get stuck in.

"I reckon it was the local blokes (that were the key to premierships), we had eight or nine blokes from Cargo and it didn't take much after that to fill it in, that was the main part of the team," he said.

"We all stuck together, we did everything together, especially back in the day when we were all mates playing together and hanging out during the week."

Watson's commitment to mate-ship is probably best summed up by his 2012 and '19 heart and soul awards for Cargo. Or maybe it's his stamina off the field.

"He was consistently the last man standing after a celebration or mad Monday," Brown laughed.

"He's got a record for us for drinking three long necks between Orange and Cargo from a return trip after training, which we reckon is an accomplishment."

With the condition of Cargo Road now, Brown agreed four could be possible these days 'because you've got slow down that much'.

And while 'a few mugs' were part of his present for life membership, Watson agreed keys to the town might be a stretch, however the next best option of keys to the pub could work.

"That'd be the go," he laughed.

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