He has felt the heat of the fire, but never made the team. Watt was named in the Black Jacks elite squad in 2008 after winning the Hong Kong singles and performing with credit for the New Zealand development team against Australia.
He was named in the wider squad for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and was being targeted for World Bowls in 2012.
However, a loss of form and an inability to win any major tournaments saw him dropped from the elite squad last month.
He has the opportunity to restore his reputation as a member of the New Zealand under-25 team for the Trans Tasman series in Adelaide next month.
Watt, an apprentice engineer for Atmos, stepped back into winning mode when he skipped the North East Valley team to a win in the Bowls Dunedin champion of champions triples last weekend.
The team of Watt, Kelvin Budge and Josh Freeman beat Grant Stumbles (skip), Steve Fleming and Ray Marshall (Forbury Park) 20-11.
It was Watt's fourth centre title and Freeman and Budge's third.
"I've got to keep on winning to get back in the elite squad," Watt said. "I have to get results." He understands what went wrong. "I just did not perform on the green. I struggled with my bowls. I want to get back."
Watt won a set of Dreamline bowls in the New Zealand secondary schools pairs in 2003.
He likes bowls that turn and are good for drawing shots, and those bowls brought him success.
But for the past two years he used Alpha bowls, which run straighter but have a narrower draw, and his game went downhill. He has changed back to his favourite bowls and now feels more comfortable on the green.
Watt made a breakthrough on the international scene by winning the Hong Kong Classic singles at the end of 2007.
He made his debut for the New Zealand development team against Scotland in 2006 and was also runner-up in the New Zealand under-19 singles that year.
Budge, an asphalt worker, played with Watt in the Australian open pairs last month and they reached the last 32 in a competition that had 4500 bowlers competing.
Freeman, the chairman of Bowls Dunedin, leads the centre's Bowler of the Year competition with 14 points and is followed by Robbie Thomson (Fairfield) on eight.
He has been in the winning team in the open triples and the champion of champions triples and reached the semifinals of the champion of champions pairs.
Freeman and Budge are both members of the North East Valley sevens team that will contest the New Zealand club final in Wellington tomorrow and Friday.
The North East Valley team is: singles, Shaun Scott; pairs, Colin Wheeler, Jim Scott; fours, Budge, Freeman, Andy McLean, Terry Scott.
