Sandringham Dragons leftie Lachie Carrigan invited to AFL’s draft combine
The 17-year-old has shot up in height in the past two years — and with his left-foot kicking and elite running ability he’s also risen in the rankings of AFL recruiters.
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It was going to be his year. He was going to put everything into it.
Ahead of the 2020 NAB League Boys season, Lachie Carrigan set out a few goals that he was determined to achieve.
He wanted to start well with Sandringham Dragons and force his way into the Vic Metro squad for the Under 18 national championships.
He wanted to consistently be in the best players, not just stay in the team.
And he wanted to gain an invitation to the draft combine.
Carrigan, 17, never got to play a match for the Dragons because of COVID-19.
But he did get his invitation to the combine, along with seven other Sandy Dragons teammates. He was “stoked’’ when he received the news last week.
Carrigan was in bed when he got an email from AFL talent official Kevin Sheehan alerting him to his selection.
“I slept pretty well after that,’’ he said.
But the draft hopeful with pace and a piercing left-foot did his share of tossing and turning this year as he watched the pandemic delay and then dash the season.
“Yeah, it was frustrating for everyone,’’ Carrigan said.
“We all wanted to play but couldn’t get to the games to prove ourselves. We’d done the work. I was the fittest I’d ever been, felt really good. Then it was all waiting.
“We didn’t know how long we’d be in lockdown for. I had a bit of optimism, I guess, that we’d have the chance to play but there wasn’t much news on games. Once we heard a possible starting date, August 22, it started to get real again and we were getting ready to go. Then it was all called off. Turned out to be a pretty long year.’’
In between his Year 12 studies Carrigan kept himself busy with weights and running (three sessions a week for both) and ball work, usually with teammate Jake Bowey, at Boss James Reserve in Hampton.
Boss James is home to amateur club Hampton Rovers, where as a 16-year-old Carrigan featured in the Under 19 premiership team last year (he turned 17 in December).
He also figured in the St Bede’s College Herald Sun Shield flag, the first in the school’s history.
As a junior at Hampton Rovers and then East Sandringham, Carrigan played in strong teams but he was on the small side and always overlooked for interleague sides.
Early in 2018 he was 168cm. But he was starting to get noticed for his left foot and his running ability.
He’s shot up to 190cm and 76kg, and last year he pushed up for five games with the Dragons while the youngest player on their list.
“His kicking skills and some of the stuff he did was pretty special,’’ coach Josh Bourke fizzed after Carrigan’s second game. “He’s got promise. He’s a very good kick of the footy and a good runner.’’
MORE NAB LEAGUE
DRAGONS COACH JOSH BOURKE STEPS ASIDE
FULL LIST OF PLAYERS INVITED TO COMBINE
NAB LEAGUE GIRLS COACHES LEFT ON THE OUTER
In the NAB League testing ahead of this season he was in the top seven for 20m (2.91sec), the top six for the yo-yo (stage 21.6) and the top three for the standing vertical jump (73cm). In other words, he’s elite in the running ranks and has a leap on him.
The Dragons placed him in the leadership group for the 2020 season that never was.
As for those goals, the last one Carrigan set himself was to get drafted.
It remains to be seen if he does, but his appearance on the combine list shows there is interest in him. With Year 12 out of the way he would be able to the Dragons next year as the NAB League moves to Under 19s.
“If I don’t get picked up I wouldn’t be that stressed,’’ he said. “Obviously I’d love to, of course I would, but if not I could get another pre-season under my belt and it would give me more time to develop.’’
It was going to be Lachie Carrigan’s year. It may still be.