So durable was Carlton youngster Jagga Smith in his junior career, he had never needed a scan.
That changed in February last year when he was sent for one to check out whether the knock to his knee, which occurred in match simulation against St Kilda, had caused any damage.
The results were a shock.
Smith had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and would miss the season.
Jagga Smith made an excellent debut with the Blues against Sydney.Credit: AFL Photos
After spending the summer exciting Carlton’s coaches with his speed and ability to change angles when moving the ball, his winter would be spent rehabilitating.
“It was extremely tough,” Smith said. “I love my footy, and we had a tough year last year as a team, and I was feeling a bit helpless on the sidelines not being able to do anything for the team.”
He put that disappointment behind him last Thursday night when he finally made his AFL debut, buzzing around the Sydney Cricket Ground on a humid night to collect 27 touches.
Built like a whippet, he adjusted to the game like water finding its level and had nine touches in the first quarter.
But the ride on the first-game wave did not last long as Carlton hit the rocks in the third quarter, conceding 12 goals, and Smith was unable to make the impact he wanted.
No one from Carlton could stand up as the Swans pounded them on the outside of the contest.
“It’s faster footy,” Smith admitted.
The top three picks of the 2024 draft: Smith (No.3), Sam Lalor (No.1), and Finn O’Sullivan (No.2).Credit: AFL Photos
The tangled expression on Smith’s face post-match showed that Blues officials aren’t lying when they say they have not seen a player who hates losing more. However, he fronted up for this interview without a hint of complaint and answered each question with the poise of a mature football soul.
“We have got to be a bit harder for longer, to be honest. Our fight was there in the first half and it completely dropped away in the second half,” Smith said.
“I think it showed tonight – a team that has played a lot of footy together, and we’re a team that hasn’t.”
Such team-focused comments are not a surprise to the Blues’ hierarchy, who watched Smith’s leadership come to the fore during his rehabilitation as he felt more comfortable within the club.
He was helping wherever he could – watching vision, talking in meetings, learning the Carlton way and helping his teammates, young and old, in their preparation. One veteran official said he is proving to be precisely the type of person, as much as player, Carlton needed.
Jagga Smith walked from the ground after the innocuous knock that ruptured his ACL.Credit: AFL Photos
On Thursday night Smith plays the first game at the MCG, just up the road from where he grew up and dreamt of playing.
His mum, Kinelle, has worked there all Smith’s life and his dad, Michael, was such a good junior footballer that Collingwood drafted him in 1988 when he was just 16 after he made Tasmania’s Teal Cup team. He didn’t play an AFL game.
Alongside Smith on Thursday will be Carlton’s second consecutive No.3 pick, defender Harry Dean, the son of premiership defender Peter. Next year the Blues will pay a big price to get Cody Walker, the son of 200-gamer Andrew, as they look to develop the backbone of a new era at the Blues by bringing top-end talent into the club.
Smith knows expectations are high, but he has already learnt a few ‘Vossisms’ to explain his approach to dealing with such attention.
“The club has been great, just ‘eyes in’. I don’t let the external [pressure] get to me,” Smith said.
“There has obviously been a bit of talk after I have had 12 months out of the game – there was a bit of expectation to perform – [but it’s] just ‘eyes in’ and focus internally on what is being said.”
It might be ‘eyes in’ for Smith, but it’s eyes on the Blues as they enter a must-win match against Richmond in round one after the standard outrage that followed their loss to Sydney – including expletive-laden comments from former captain Sam Docherty aired by former teammate Dan Gorringe on a post-match podcast.
Michael Voss has a new look group in his care as Ben Ainsworth (left) and Campbell Chesser (right) leave the huddle against the Swans.Credit: AFL Photos
Smith complements Sam Walsh, sharing some of the running load and also possessing the ability to create overlap run by hitting a 45-degree kick and following up to get the next possession. He is suited to the modern game, which rewards speed and agility more than brute force.
With his coach Michael Voss expecting Smith to find himself in a battle with Richmond’s former No.1 pick Sam Lalor, a peer of the young Blue in underage football, Smith’s artfulness will meet Lalor’s strength under the MCG lights.
“Through the middle I hope we get to see [Smith play on Lalor],” Voss said.
“We hope we get the upper hand at some stage in that contest.”
Smith is a key part of the change underway at Carlton – one of seven new players in the team who ran around for the Blues for the first time on the season’s opening night.
He has just one match under his belt, but his teammates rate him highly. Not only does he look like a player, he sounds like one too.
“We’ve got to review this [loss] and then on to a big blockbuster next week,” Smith said.
“This is boring, but we will review it, we will learn, and we will make sure we are ready to go.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
