CARLTON AFLW Senior Coach Mathew Buck doesn’t want to be asked the ‘Does this make you feel old?’ question... but he knows it’s coming.
He says with an exasperated voice: “I remember when he came into prep!”
That’s him talking about Talor Byrne, who will become Carlton player No.1258 on Sunday afternoon when he makes his debut at the MCG. However, to Buck, Byrne will always be his former primary school student.
The stories of the Byrnes and the Bucks goes back to Mathew and wife Rachael’s time teaching at the Koroit & District Primary School, when Talor started out his schooling.
“It was a pretty small school, and I saw him go through his whole primary school days. His mum used to babysit my eldest child Oscar when he was little, and we’d babysit the Byrne boys every now and then.
“They’re good friends of ours. They were at our wedding, including Talor - I’ve got photos of him with Oscar from the day.”
Buck couldn’t help but keep tabs on Byrne as he went through his top-age draft year in 2025, constantly checking in with Carlton recruiters about how the GWV Rebels product was going.
While he never received any assurances, Buck was hopeful from the feedback he had been receiving that there was a live chance Byrne would end up in Navy Blue.
“They would constantly say ‘We’d take him, he’ll get drafted somewhere’. All I could think of was that I hoped they would, it’d be amazing.
“He’s always been a good little sports player and he’s always been as he presents. He loves playing, he’s competitive, he’s a nice kid, a quiet kid - just a proper farm boy. A tough farm boy from Koroit, which we love.”
The occasion will be marked by what sounds like quite the turnout at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, with Buck saying “I think half of Koroit is coming up”.
But while it will be exactly that - an occasion - Buck doesn’t expect that to faze the youngster, whose first ever game on the MCG will be for AFL premiership points.
“He’s got his parents, his brother and his sister, but he’s also got Chris McLaren - his coach at Koroit - who’s been a big supporter the whole way through.
“He’s not a kid that gets nervous. I spoke to Chris on Saturday morning who told me a story: he went up to Talor before the Grand Final last year asking if he was nervous. Talor said ‘Nervous about what?’. This was a senior Grand Final as a 17-year-old.
“He’s just that kind of guy. I’d love to ask him on Sunday, I reckon he’d be pretty good.”
