The Carlton Football Club is pleased to announce that Ned Cahill has signed on to join its Carlton Reserves side in 2022.

The exciting small forward arrives at IKON Park from Essendon, where he played six senior games across the past two seasons since being selected with pick No.56 in the 2019 NAB AFL Draft.

The 20-year-old will be looking to carry over his strong VFL form from last season which saw him average 15.8 disposals, four tackles and four marks across nine games.

The Blues are well aware of the damage Cahill can cause, with his most-notable performance in the VFL last season coming against the Carlton Reserves where he collected 23 disposals to go along with four tackles and six marks.

The highlight of his AFL career came in his second game, kicking two majors including the match-sealing goal in a narrow win against Adelaide.

Carlton Reserves coach Daniel O’Keefe was excited about the new addition to the team and couldn’t wait to see what the livewire small would bring to the forward line next season.

“After the re-signing of 11 players already, to be able to welcome Ned into our program for 2022 is a great outcome for the football club,” O’Keefe said.

“We can’t wait to have Ned join the team next season: we saw first-hand what he was capable of when he played against us in Round 3 and we’re excited to see him do it in the Navy Blue.

“He will be a great inclusion to the forward line in 2022 and we can’t wait to have his craftiness in front of goal and manic style of pressure in our side next season.

“He’s had that AFL experience which will be a valuable asset for our young group. At only 20 years of age, he still has a lot of upside in his game and we think he’s going to get even better in our system leading into the VFL season.”