Senior 7. Jagga Smith

Remove this Banner Ad

Elite. Smaller frame hurts him, but the rest is all there. No worries defensively.

Best tackler for mine is probably Lalor (aggressive tackler).



Yes. Probably the best at it in the draft.

Seriously, his only flaws are his attacking game needs work (but he's already shown he can do this, with him getting feedback earlier in the year about poor meters gained and immediately improving in this metric in his next half dozen games) and his light frame.

His decision making, endurance, evasiveness, follow up work, defensive running, footy IQ, professionalism, coachability, consistency and character are hard (read: next to impossible) to fault.

He was the best available at 3. In every metric he is better than the blokes taken at 1 and 2, its just he lacks the 'impact per possession' match winning turn of Lalor (who is a genuine bull, along the lines of De Goey or Dusty) or the high ceiling of FOS (classy, skillful but laconic).

About as sure fire a 200 gamer AFL player as you could want.

Plays and moves like Butters (or a Walsh/ Nick Daicos hybrid). Has the potential to be as good as any of those three (and at a bare minimum a solid A grader)

I'm so stoked. This kid has been so dominant for so many years as a junior.
He's always been on the smaller side, but it hasn't stopped him when player as an under ager in the 23 and when playing vfl football in 24. He's now 182cm, fit and entering into a fully professional training environment.

People knock his x-factor, which I can see for some reasons, he isn't a Dusty clone or Danger clone.

Yet I think he does have x-factor, and I think given the team and midfield we have, if we are smart about it, he is the perfect pick up.

His footy IQ is off the charts, his agility, step and vison is awesome and he runs all day. Whilst he might not be able to hit the 55m lace out pass what he does is make the right decision and execute, and before you blink he's there to help again.

I really think he could start his AFL life in the Nick Daicos half back/quarterback role. Before moving more and more into the midfield.

We won't be woofing when he kicks the ball, but gee it will be exciting to see a player hit a shorter target, run to receive the handball and link up again and again in the same chain.

To me this is the sort of X-Factor that our team really needs and will improve us immensely.

And hey, if at the end of his career we have only managed to secure another vanilla Sam Walsh (tongue firmly planted in cheek) I will be in no way disappointed.
 
Welcome Jagga, hope you go well for the blues. I'm scared about your physical development but i'm crossing my fingers as that is the only query. Gibbs started off doing blind pirouette turns too but soon stopped with the physicality of the top level.

If Jagga can sustain that type of movement at the top level he deserves the song in buckets and will be a gun! Please footy gods, let him be a gun.

Jagga, Walsh, Dow, Fisher, SPS, LoB, Hollands, Cunners et al. Carlton recruitment arent concerned by size (width/height) as a midfielder.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Welcome to the Blues Jagga.

Cool to see he already has a close mate at the club.

Keen to see them both grow into midfield leaders for the next decade plus.
 
Straight to gym young man … go well 👍
Didn't you hear them talking about him on the AFL draft show? He's been spending a lot of time in the gym this year.
 
Looks bust proof.





Carlton high performance: hold my beer...


It's funny, I was more excited taking dow and obrien. The reality is, carlton was a poor development opportunity for those two.

I hope we don't throw him in the middle too early and ruin his career like we did the aforementioned pics.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

A guy I went to school with (2 years above) is one of Jagga's biggest wraps.

Coached at the Chargers and, in Messenger, would often sing his praises with leadership his massive asset.

When he wasn't playing, Jagga would just be shouting out stuff.
 
Some endurance/2way runners often struggle to put on weight in early years, Walsh, Ollie, Butters, etc

Some always remain relatively lean

Jagga will put on more size/core strength, slowly, but he already punches above his weight class and seems to handle it reasonably well

Looked reasonably comfortable playing against men in those VFL outings

He is not just an accumulator, and I see his ceiling as a Butters type, racks them up, but can have strong scoreboard impact/assists
 
It's funny, I was more excited taking dow and obrien.

It makes sense. We were a bloody basket case without a whole lot to look forward to other then Cripps and the 2015/16 kids. Every draft was out world.

Now that we've made back to back finals for the first time in over a decade the draft isn't as significant as what it was then albeit it'll always be important.

This is finally the right situation to on board picks like Jagga. We can put them into position to succeed early without all the weight and expectations.
 
Good to see your namesake present the jumper to Jagga tonight..

It’s funny, some players really let themselves go and blow out after their playing days are done, but not Lance - he almost looks in his playing condition.
 
Incredible result. He is an elite, elite prospect. Rated #1 by many good judges in clubland. Great leader, standard setter, future captain and midfield cornerstone for the next 15 years.
Dude, you should post more often.

Your absence has been noticed, by me anyway.
 
Good to see you RP
What a time to be alive. Not often you can add a player of Jagga’s calibre to a contender. I am happy for us to go all out contending now given our list & believe there are several imminent flags waiting for us, but this pick gives me a lot of additional excitement about the next era.
 
There are a few good comparisons floating around for Jagga but one I quite like is Pendlebury. If he can have half the career we will be laughing.

He is not a clone but shares many traits - phenomenal work ethic/professionalism/leadership (attention-to-detail which leads to better development, preparation and longevity), high football IQ and decision making ability, elusive athlete, silk/composure/vision/awareness in traffic… a super consistent and effective football player. Unsure of his junior basketball status.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Senior 7. Jagga Smith

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top