Harry Lemmey, Carlton’s final pick, was the opposite of a draft bolter.
He had entered his draft year this year as a potential top-10 pick, a key forward whose name was on everyone’s lips.
By Tuesday night, his stocks had fallen so far it took until pick 47 before Carlton, one of the few clubs to maintain faith that he could make the grade, added him to their list.
Such a slide from prominence tested the West Adelaide forward’s belief throughout the season as he dropped down the grades in the SANFL – from seniors to reserves to under 18s – in an attempt to find some touch.
Carlton list manager Nick Austin admitted Lemmey had an “indifferent” 12 months but when he was still available midway through the third round he was too good to overlook.
The off year could make Lemmey a steal. What it guarantees is that he won’t be an expensive bust.
Blues coach Michael Voss with the Carlton recruiting team at this year’s national draft.Credit:Getty Images
The Blues want Lemmey to learn off twin talls Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow, who were both first-round selections in 2015.
They think he can give them some depth in an area where they are already strong, a point the Blues have now reached in their list build.
That makes the Blues a good fit for Lemmey who can attack the pre-season free of the expectation that surrounded him 12 months earlier.
“We like him in the front half,” Austin said.
The Blues liked him a lot in that area in 2021, but by the end of 2022 they just know he can play football, whether that be as a forward or a back, and are hoping that the form lapse was temporary.
“He had a few things out of his control,” Austin said. “His ability to go back and ability to swing appeals to us.”
Austin said the club’s focus initially will be on improving Lemmey’s forward craft, but it might be in defence where Lemmey ends up.
“His ability to swing as well and that bit of versatility [might] help him get a game if a spot comes up,” Austin said.
It makes him a speculative selection for the Blues who can now make such calls as the core of the list is set, with only the final push up the ladder remaining.
They began the draft at pick 11 with Ollie Hollands. As a running machine whose great-grandfather, Martin Cross, played for the Blues in the 1962 grand final, he was the perfect fit.
“We really wanted to improve our running capacity as a group,” Austin said.
He will fight a top-10 pick Lochie O’Brien, recruit Blake Acres and pick 32 Jaxon Binns for a spot on the wing. Binns is not rubbish. He earned All-Australian selection on a wing and finished third in the two-kilometre time trial at the AFL draft combine.
Binns was selected two spots after Lachlan Cowan who was grabbed at pick 30 when the Blues traded out future picks to Collingwood to nab the North Launceston product.
“We love his aggression, and he is a natural footballer,” Austin said.
Since that 2015 national draft when Jacob Weitering, McKay and Curnow were added to the list, only Sam Walsh has been a rolled gold success at the top of the draft.
Lemmey is a late pick, but he will be the best indication yet of whether the club’s environment can turn his type into a better-than-average AFL player.
It’s the Lemmey litmus test that the current Carlton coaching staff have taken on.
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