Cyclone Alfred leaves footy great turned Channel Seven star Jobe Watson shattered on ‘heartbreaking day’ for his family

AFL great Jobe Watson has been forced to cancel his long-awaited wedding to fiancée Virginia Slaghekke due to Cyclone Alfred in a development his legendary father Tim described as ‘a very heartbreaking day’ for one of footy’s most famous famililes.

The ex-Essendon star and his partner had been planning the big day in Noosa for 18 months, with Tim – who, like his son, is a Bombers icon who moved into the media after his playing days – opened up about the drama on Wednesday.

‘I had to cancel a lot of things yesterday because we had a very heartbreaking day in our family,’ he said on his SEN breakfast radio show.

‘The wedding had to be postponed.

‘We were all flying up to Queensland this weekend and oh my goodness, it has been a heartbreak of a last 24 hours for everybody.

‘This is like the nail in the coffin, if you want to use that term.’

Watson’s fellow footy great and commentator Garry Lyon was also shocked by the development.

‘Your poor son and Virginia and the family for 18 months have been preparing the wedding of their lifetime,’ he said.

‘This is close to our hearts as well because we [Lyon and fiancee Nicky Brownless] have a wedding the following week and we hope and pray that everything is going to be OK.

‘Honestly, my heart goes out to you and your families.’

The AFL has postponed two matches as a result of the looming disaster: the Brisbane vs Geelong clash that was supposed to kick off the season on Thursday night, and the Gold Coast vs Essendon match that was meant to follow on Saturday.

Rather than switch the matches to a venue outside the danger zone – as the NRL did with Friday’s Souths vs Dolphins game – the league opted to reschedule completely in order to let players based in south-east Queensland look after their families when the deluge hits.

Tim Watson acknowledged that the setback for his family is nowhere near as serious as what residents in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and all the way down to northern NSW are likely to face with Alfred makes landfall on Thursday or early Friday.

‘There would be a lot of people heading up there this weekend — not for the wedding I’m not talking about, I’m just talking about people that were going to Queensland,’ he said.

‘Some of them would have been going to football, others would have been going maybe to another wedding somewhere, or another engagement somewhere.

‘These things happen, they’re an act of God, none of us wanted to cancel anything. No one wants to cancel anything, everyone’s paid for things ahead of it.

‘And not to get a full refund on things is [awful] — and other people are going to experience this over probably the next 24 hours or probably have already.

‘Everyone will be fine. The whole thing is a little bit raw at the moment.’ 

Jobe and Virginia are parents to children Juniper, Wolf and Lilou after first meeting in a New York cafe in 2016 when he was suspended from the league for a year.

The Dutch model moved to Australia to be with the former Bombers skipper, who revealed the date of the wedding in August last year.

‘I am having a combined 40th and bucks party down in Queenstown,’ Watson said, referring to the famous party and skiing hub on New Zealand’s South Island.

‘I am getting married in March and my birthday is in February so I thought why not combine the two and do it down there.’

Watson followed in his father’s footsteps when he moved into television after his playing career ended, and he features on Seven’s coverage alongside fellow greats like Luke Hodge, Matthew Richardson and Joel Selwood.