THE WAY 2025 has panned out for Jagga Smith is hardly what he would’ve envisaged for his first year in AFL football.
After the Blues traded up to get their man at pick No.3 in the 2024 AFL Draft, an exemplary pre-season put Smith in the box seat for a debut in Round 1 - that was until everything changed in his first practice match against St Kilda in February.
From an innocuous incident, an ACL rupture was confirmed, setting in motion a series of events which went from Smith looking at the best way to attack 2025 to the best way to attack his career as a whole.
Speaking on Channel 7’s Sunday Footy Feast, the highly touted youngster spoke of how after the initial struggles, the mindset shifted - with the assistance of some of the competition’s best players who once found themselves in a similar position.
“It’s been tough. Coming from the highs of being drafted to a club like Carlton and having a strong pre-season, to the low of doing my knee in my first year, it’s been challenging. But these are the sort of things you learn in footy, you’ve got to be resilient.
“I’ve never been injured before and never missed a game of footy in my career. I wasn’t sure what to think.
“It’s great to see there’s some inspiration around the league. Christian [Petracca], Will Ashcroft and Bailey Smith all reached out and they’ve come back and played really good footy off an ACL. I can look to them and get back to playing my best footy.”
Graduating high school in 2023, Smith spent his 2024 preparing for life in the elite competition, but with no football on the radar this year, he committed to improving himself in whatever way he could - including ways that he couldn’t have if he was playing each week.
And with his rehabilitation continuing to ramp up, Smith’s excitement is clearly when thinking about the prospect of getting back out on the field in 2026 and representing the Navy Blue for the first time.
“Coming from junior footy where the only thing you think about is getting the ball, there’s a lot more to senior footy than that. It’s been a good year to learn and not have the pressures of playing, as much as I’d love to be out there. The way I look at it is I’ll have three full pre-seasons under my belt before playing my first year.
“I’m at high capacities at the moment and looking to do a bit of contact work soon. I’m up to about 10-11km sessions and it’s all change of direction, basically everything but contact: I can’t wait for the pre-season.
“You’ve got no other option in your first few years than to put on a bit of size… I have put on a few kilos, but I do want to keep my running game in tact because that’s my strength.”
Included in that excitement is the enthusiasm to play under AFL Senior Coach, Michael Voss.
“The boys were rapt - we love ‘Vossy’.
“To have that clarity as a playing group into next year that he’ll be our man is amazing. He’s so passionate, it’s great to have him locked in for next year: I’m looking forward to one day playing for him.”
