FROM one pick No.3 to another.

On Wednesday night, Carlton welcomed Harry Dean with the third selection in the Telstra AFL Draft, with the new Blue wasting no time in mentioning how it would be a dream to potentially make an early debut in 2026.

Jagga Smith, who Carlton also welcomed with the third selection in the Telstra AFL Draft, is no different.

It was 12 months ago when ‘Jagga the ‘Bagger’ was announced, but a seemingly innocuous knee injury in his first hitout against external opposition turned out to be an ACL injury on the eve of the season.

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While it was as tough as it gets at the time, Smith has now entered the new pre-season on the verge of a full recovery: joining Summer Sessions with best mate Cooper Lord, Smith spoke on where things currently sit.

“I’m tracking really well. When I think about it, I do think I’m somewhat like a draftee coming in again… it’s all new and exciting for me still,” Smith said.

“I’ve just got a couple of things to tick off and I should be fully training and in match sim with the boys pretty soon. It’s really exciting that I can go out there and play some footy again after missing the whole year last year.

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Snippet: How's Jagga Smith tracking? (Summer Sessions)

Jagga Smith and Cooper Lord joined the Summer Sessions podcast, with Smith detailing his recovery from a long-term injury.

“It obviously takes a few days to overcome the devastation of being out in your debut year. [But] there really is no other option, you can’t look at it any other way: as soon as I got that surgery, I thought ‘I’m just going to shift that mindset to as positive as possible’.

“I’m feeling as good if not better as I’ve ever felt physically - I’m really looking forward to the 2026 season.”

For Lord, who was at Marvel Stadium on this day 12 months ago when Smith became a Blue, even the early stages of pre-season have been brimming with positivity at the sight of his best mate back out there once again.

And one message from his former Scotch College classmate summed it up.

“A few days before we started, I could tell he was ready to go. He sent me a text the night before saying how excited he was to be out there on the track again,” Lord said.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while to be honest: it’s just been great to have him back out there. It’s been tough seeing the toll it has taken on him, but he’s handled it so well - he’s really professional.

“The way he has gone about it has been super, and I think he’s come out the other side as a better footballer and a better person.”