AFL mid-season draft: suburban star Caleb Lewis linked with Gold Coast Suns

Former AFL player Nathan Freeman says his local football teammate and mid-season draft hope, high-flying Caleb Lewis, ‘has the tools to be a star’.

VFL-listed suburban forward Caleb Lewis jumps on opponents’ shoulders most weeks.

On Wednesday, he could take his biggest leap yet – to the AFL.

Amid speculation Gold Coast Suns are eyeing the 21-year-old for the mid-season draft, former AFL player Nathan Freeman has given his Southern league teammate some lift-off.

He says he’s certain the 198cm Lewis would be a worthy pick.

Lewis is on Casey Demons’ list and when he’s not selected for the VFL he plays with ex-Magpie and Saint Freeman at Dingley.

Last year he booted 66 goals from 19 matches for the Dingoes, in seven games kicking five or more goals.

He also took a series of spectacular marks.

Lewis played only three matches for the Melbourne-aligned Casey, regularly making way for AFL Demons on the team sheet.

This year he’s played one VFL game, one for Dingley and two in the Young Guns series. He did not turn out at VFL or local level on the weekend, apparently at the request of an AFL club.

Caleb Lewis takes a kick in a Young Guns series match at Melbourne Avalon Airport Oval on April 26. Photo: Rob Lawson/AFL Photos

“I reckon he can, 100 per cent,’’ Freeman said when asked if Lewis could step up to the highest level.

“He’s got every tool in the box you’d want in a modern-day key forward. He’s so athletic, he takes the ball at the highest point, kicks goals, ripping character … having been in the system myself, I think he’d fit in perfectly.

“He might take a little bit of time to adjust to a higher level, but he’s got that dog in him and the attitude to have a red-hot crack at it.

“I reckon any club would be silly to at least not have a look at him.’’

He said if Lewis was overlooked in the mid-season draft, he would present again in six months.

“If it’s not now, it’s a bit later,’’ Freeman said.

“Eventually he’s got to get a crack, and eventually the first person to pull the trigger and give him a shot is going to reap some serious rewards.

“A pre-season, put a frame on him … like I said, he’s got the tools to be a star.’’

An Under 16 Victorian representative, Lewis played for the Sandringham Dragons in the Coates Talent League and burst into senior football with a 49-goal season for St Bede’s Mentone Tigers in the amateurs. That year he also played four games for Footscray VFL, twice kicking three goals.

Caleb Lewis as a VFL Bulldog. Photo: Jonathan DiMaggio/AFL Photos

Lewis joined Casey last year.

Last week, Casey coach Taylor Whitford said his forward had “genuine X-factor’’.

“He’s 200cm with a really athletic profile. He gets up and down the ground really well – he’s got endurance – and he takes the ball at its highest point. When he’s played VFL footy he hasn’t set it alight, but he’s been able to hit the scoreboard in every game he’s played.’’

With Port Adelaide’s Josh Lai having been drafted from Cheltenham in February, the Southern league could potentially have three players picked up in four months.

Aside from Lewis, his Dingley teammate and Richmond VFL half-back Tom McCarthy is widely seen to be a contender for the No. 1 pick the in mid-season draft.

McCarthy ran second in Highett’s best and fairest in 2023.

Last week, new Western Bulldog and former VFL Tiger Sam Davidson gave his 2024 teammate a push up.

“I am actually really good mates with Tommy McCarthy, I messaged him just the other day,” he said.

“I certainly remember one practice game last year, it was just an intra-club early last year at Richmond.

“He was in the midfield and I was forward and he just hit me up every single time – it was probably about four in a row.

“He’s really quick, such an elite ball user and he just has some really good footy IQ about him.

“I really hope things fall his way in the mid-season draft and we get to see him on a list … if he comes to the Doggies even better.”