So to allay any fears, consider this following observation from the respected draft observer and The Age journalist Emma Quayle.
Writing on Twitter this morning, Quayle spruiked: “That is an amazing trade. Henderson is an awesome, awesome get for the Blues, exactly what they would have been trying to draft”.
Henderson, the 19 year-old strong-marking key forward/defender who originally hailed from the western Victorian town of Birregurra, is now a Carlton player. In a package complete with Brisbane’s first-round selection (selection 12 overall), he returns to Victoria to join Carlton, which has parted with Brendan Fevola and its second-round selection (selection 27 overall) in return.
Though he was sidelined for 12 weeks with a broken leg two years ago, Henderson’s reputation was such that the 15-game former Lions player was originally taken with their first-round selection (eighth overall) in the 2007 AFL National Draft behind a septet of big names, beginning with Carlton’s priority selection Matthew Kreuzer, then Trent Cotchin, Chris Masten, Cale Morton, Jarrad Grant, David Myers and Rhys Palmer.
Such was Brisbane’s lofty rating of the player, that it opted for Henderson ahead of such types as Ben McEvoy at nine, Patrick Dangerfield at ten, Patrick Veszpremi (11) and Cyril Rioli (12).
Henderson originally plied his craft with the Geelong Falcons, which produced the likes of premiership players Jonathan Brown, Scott Lucas, Gary Ablett junior, Jimmy Bartel, Luke Hodge, Cameron Ling, Matthew Scarlett and Carlton’s rucks coach, Matthew Capuano.
In the lead-up to the 2007 draft, Henderson was quoted in The Geelong Advertiser as saying, “ . . . I’d really like to stay in Victoria, but to play AFL footy, who really cares. I’d be happy to go anywhere”.
Now he has his wish.
Falcons coach Garry Hocking was also quoted in the Advertiser article, saying he had no doubt about his talent.
“He’s very mobile for a big man and he’s not only a strong mark but he’s good at ground level as well,” Hocking said at the time.
“The best thing about Lachie is that he's a great kid. I also think that he’s got great leadership qualities.”
