“WE’RE chasing more.”
On the back of a year where he played every game, won the Telstra AFL Rising Star and played a leading role in winning a final, you would be forgiven if you thought Jagga Smith would sit back with a level of contentment from his first season.
But that’s not what makes Smith who he is.
Coming into the year with plenty of pressure and expectation, Smith hit the ground running and surged in the second half of the year, polling maximum Brownlow votes against both Grand Finalists in the season’s final month.
His two goals in the final term against Melbourne ensured that Carlton emerged victorious from the first ever wildcard weekend, with no shortage of honours heading Smith’s way during the AFL awards season.
When reflecting on the 2026 season, Smith said it was all about what’s to come.
“We were proud of the growth, but 100 per cent we want more… we want more at the end of it,” Smith told Carlton Media.
“As a team, we certainly weren’t satisfied with what we achieved this year. We’re chasing more: to play in a finals series as a young group we can be pretty proud of - but we’re not satisfied.”
After an ACL injury on the eve of his first season wiped out his 2025 campaign, Smith got to work to ensure that he could attack 2026 in the best way possible.
He did exactly that.
Averaging just shy of 25 disposals per game as well as polling 12 Brownlow votes, Smith well and truly became one of Carlton’s prime movers by the end of the year.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however, with Smith’s first exposure to AFL football seeing the Blues encounter a rough patch.
“That’s not how I envisaged [the start] going,” he said.
“The second half of the year, there was that real team feel: we were really connected and playing for one another, I feel like we all had trust in one another.
“Year one was a good first year, I’m looking forward to more in the future.”
The experience of playing in front of two consecutive crowds with over 90,000 people is the perfect motivator for the young Blue.
“It was a great finals experience - the pressure is on a bit more, and it was just great to be out there and win a final.
“It was a great first game of finals footy, and I just remember waking up the next day and wanted to do it all again.”
