Jeremy Sharp is ready to forge his own path at the Gold Coast Suns despite ties with Western Australian football royalty
What does a new Suns draftee have in common with a Brownlow medallist?
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HE graduated from the same high school that has produced certified AFL stars Nathan Fyfe, Patrick Cripps, Elliot Yeo, Daniel Kerr, Peter Bell and Charlie Cameron but Jeremy Sharp is determined to forge his own path in the AFL.
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The Aquinas College product shares a blazer with Western Australian football royalty and was even coached by West Coast premiership player Quinten Lynch during his final year of school footy before being drafted by the Suns with pick 27.
“I’d love to (join them),” Sharp said of those who’d come before him.
“You grow up hearing these names and watching them on TV and watching them captain clubs now.
“The school breeds a lot of AFL players and I’m proud to have gone to Aquinas.”
Just five picks before Sharp’s name was called out, good mate and fellow Aquinas midfielder Deven Robertson was drafted to the Brisbane Lions.
Albeit starting their careers at different ends of the M1, Sharp fantasised about what it would be like to come up against his mate on the big stage.
“I texted him and said ‘we’ve got to catch up before we go’ because I’ve known him for so long,” Sharp said.
“It might be hard the first year because we don’t have cars but we’ll definitely keep in touch and see each other.
“It would be a bit weird but I’d love to play him.
“I’ve always been on his team and I’ve never played against him so I think I’d know what he’d be doing at stoppages and stuff so I’d love to verse him.”
The two time All-Australian credited a stint of senior WAFL football with his rapid development, playing six league games for the East Fremantle Sharks this year and averaging 15 disposals.
The 187cm prospect entered 2019 with high expectations, having already put his name on the draft map as a bottom ager but he handled the weight with aplomb.
“It was a big step up (playing senior football) and I needed it for me to grow as a player,” he said.
“I started getting a bit more attention on game day because in your draft year, everyone knows what you’re trying to do with your life.”
Sharp started his AFL career surrounded by his parents, his three siblings and all four grandparents, including his grandfather and East Fremantle hall of fame member Ken Holt.
But their draft party in was soon crashed by senior coach Stuart Dew who rang the doorbell of Sharp’s Perth abode just minutes after the Suns brokered a live trade to secure the versatile midfielder.
“It was unreal,” Sharp said.
“There were a lot of emotions flowing.”
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