Harry Dean: Carlton father-son prospect to commit to Blues, top-10 AFL draft fancy

Carlton fans are already bracing for the loss of favourite son Jack Silvagni — possibly to bitter rival Collingwood. But the arrival of another father-son, tipped to be a top-10 draft pick, will help offset the pain.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 07: Harry Dean of Victoria Country marks the ball during the Marsh AFL National Championships U18 Boys match between Western Australia and Victoria Country at Mineral Resources Park, on June 07, 2025, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

The No. 35 jumper father-son prospect Harry Dean has worn across his junior career in tribute to father Peter’s Carlton heroics should comfort Blues fans about his future intentions.

So should the fact Carlton’s father-son academy is literally named after dual premiership defender Peter Dean.

Murray Bushrangers key defender Harry Dean has roared up draft charts this season after a broken shoulder and growing pains limited his football last year.

So much so that the Albury teen is clearly the No. 1 key position defender in the draft class and expected to go inside the top 10.

Harry Dean is set to be taken in the top 10 of this year’s draft.

Harry Dean is hopeful of following his dad, Peter (right), to the Blues.

Carlton will meet the Dean family in the next week but prepare for history to repeat.

Only weeks after Andrew Walker’s son, Cody, committed for the 2026 national draft, Dean is keen to walk in his father’s footsteps as a Blues player next year.

The vagaries of the father-son system means the Blues will have to match a bid for Harry, 17, but the potential departure of Jack Silvagni means securing the 194cm defender is even more important.

Ideally Carlton would trade a Tom De Koning compensation pick for a ready-made outside midfielder or small forward then match a first-round bid for Dean.

But make no mistake, Harry Dean is determined to play for Carlton if they will have him.

“We sat down at the start of the year and said play as many games as you can and have fun. What will be will be, so we haven’t worried but he’s done the Carlton academy stuff through the year,” Peter told this masthead.

Harry Dean:
game high 11 intercepts
22 touches @ 81.8%
8 marks
5 score involvements pic.twitter.com/Zpdw1jDadz

— Carlton Blues Fans (@CarltonFCBlues) July 21, 2025

“It’s always been a bit of a dream to see the son follow the dad. We have let him do his own growing up and let him make his own decisions but every jumper he gets in every team he wants 35, so I presume he might be a chance to get there.

“He’s a footy head, he loves it and he probably trains 5-6 days a week with gym and training and rehab. His mum and I are Carlton supporters so he’s pinched my old (Blues) stuff from out of the cupboard and he loves the Blues. He likes to get down and have a chat with the Carlton fellas.

“The club will have a chat with us in the next week or so and we will find out then. It would be nice for it to happen but I have always been of the opinion that you plan for stuff and then you wait until the ink is dry on the dotted line.”

For the record Carlton is wild about Harry as a footballer after he put in a superb under-18 carnival for Vic Country averaging 3.5 intercept marks while kicking the ball beautifully.

Like his old man, he is tough, has good closing speed and loves the contest.

While Peter, 60, has 248 AFL games on his son, left-footer Harry has 6cm of height on his dad and could form the club’s next-gen defensive line along with Harry O’Farrell.

It’s a big year for Harry Dean (son of Peter), and Nic Newman was more than happy to spend some time with the emerging defender 👀

Stay tuned for the upcoming Inside Carlton as we spent a week with the Carlton Academy! Coming soon… pic.twitter.com/wZy5iq5UsI

— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) April 24, 2025

.

Peter Dean retired in 1998 then after a stint as the Carlton runner coached in the Coates Talent League and as the Dogs backline coach before the family moved to Albury where they run a cosmetics distribution business.

He has coached his son along the way but admits he has deferred to his assistant coaches to ensure he gives his sons space.

“Last year he played four rounds of Ovens and Murray under-18s then jumped for a speccie in the first quarter of his first Coates Talent League game and had his legs taken out. He broke the ball off the top of his humerus in his shoulder.

Peter Dean is chaired from the field after playing his final game in 1998.

Harry Dean on the track at Carlton.

“Then he had some upper-thigh injuries with growing up. He has some creaks and groans with that. He was always complaining about not being tall enough but then he got a growth spurt. I would have to have a look at the pencil marks on the wall in the kitchen but he’s grown 5-6 inches (12-15cm) in the last couple of years.”

“He’s always been a bit shorter and lighter and wondered when he would get his growth spurt and his mum and I said you have to work harder than the rest of them. He missed out on a few squads with NSW stuff and GWS stuff and others were consistently in them but now that’s switched around so hopefully those guys get their chance too.”

Originally published as Harry Dean: Carlton father-son prospect to commit to Blues, top-10 AFL draft fancy