Some of you may remember from back in 2004, that I was quite keen on picking up a strong bodied midfield junior from the premiership Calder side named Jesse D. Smith.
I was hoping that we might have picked him up with one of the late picks that we used on McGuane & Limbach.
You may also remember that sensational game he played in the 2004 TAC GF, where he was named BOG.
Jesse Smith has had to wait some time for his debut. He suffered some injuries in 2005, but has had a very good 2006 in a dominant Bullants team. He has also needed some remedial work on his running style to transform it from shuffling to genuine running, eg lifting the knees, etc.
Anyway, I hope he does get his debut guernsey this week. Last week, he was named on the bench but missed out. I hope he does well enough to do himself credit, without actually influencing the game to the extent of causing a Carlton victory.
Jesse's fortes are stoppages & clearances, someone we could do with now. His style is very much like Bentick, whom preceded him in the Calder premiership side the year before. Some of you may recall I was very keen on Bentick as a late pick in 2003.
Carlton v Richmond
Carlton
Backs: Carrazzo O'hAilpin Walker
Half-backs: Stevens Thornton Bannister
Centres: Houlihan Smith Lappin
Half-forwards: Simpson Whitnall Fisher
Forwards: Betts Fevola Waite
Followers: French Koutoufides Rover: Scotland
Interchange: From: Bentick Blackwell Bryan McGrath McLaren Russell Wiggins
In: McLaren Smith Wiggins
New: Jesse Smith, 20, Calder U18
Go Jesse!