“FIRST impressions? Lack of personality. Now, being in his inside circle? He’s a smartass, that’s for sure.”

Sam Docherty had just turned 22 and was bracing for his fifth AFL season when Jacob Weitering - the much-hyped Jacob Weitering - walked into IKON Park as the No.1 pick from the 2015 AFL Draft. 

It was on that day when they officially became teammates, a day after Weitering’s 18th birthday. From that point, as it so was back then, they were ‘Bound By Blue’. 

Now, in 2023 and leading into Weitering’s 150th game, the two are regarded among each other’s closest mates.

For months, Weitering was the guy heading into the 2015 AFL Draft. There was never really any doubt about it. He oozed leadership and was cool, classy and composed, which still holds true to this day. 

However, it’s been off the field where Weitering has come out of his shell quite markedly, according to Docherty — who can’t wipe the smug smile off his face.

“He’s certainly loosened up a hell of a lot since he came through the door. I like to think I had some part to play in that,” Docherty told Carlton Media this week.

“The boys love him. He’s a very quirky guy and a hard nut to crack. He’s very lippy and a pessimistic guy, but he somehow works that into being funny. And when we play cards on interstate trips, he’s a cheat.

“We’ve developed a really close bond, and I enjoy his personality and his quirks — and his pessimistic attitude. It gives me great joy to poke the stick at him."

He then channelled his inner Brett Kirk on the follow-up.

“He’s a unique individual."

"He’s his own man, and I love that about him. He’s joining in just as much these days, which is a fair change from the monotone bloke that I met eight years ago: he has a lot of my annoying tendencies these days, which is funny to watch.

“It also took me losing my hair for him to finally get a haircut, too.”

It’s been a fairly rapid ascendancy to the 150-game milestone for Weitering, who has missed just 14 games since his debut in the 2016 season opener. 

Not that you need to tell Docherty that, who just achieved 150 AFL games in May and is inching towards that very milestone in Navy Blue.

“Yeah, I’m flat. I get flat about everybody's milestones these days, to be fair: I’m ticking away slowly and everybody is going past me!

“But with ‘Weiters’, he’s a person of consistency but also resilience, given I reckon he’s been carrying something in 30 of his 150 games. He’s tough.”

As someone who’s had a front-row seat to all of Weitering’s AFL career so far, there’s one facet in particular which Docherty wanted to address when sitting down for this interview.

Everybody goes through their own struggles in their career: Docherty’s story is oft-told, while Weitering’s fellow first-round draft picks - Harry McKay, Charlie Curnow and David Cuningham - have had a year or more essentially wiped out through injuries. But while Weitering has never played less than 14 games in a single season, that hasn’t meant his career to date has been free of adversity.

For Docherty, the 2018 season is one that springs to mind. Weitering had played 42 out of 44 games in his first two seasons, and - for all intents and purposes - slotted into elite footballing life seamlessly. Just as everyone had expected. 

And then, by May of the following year, he was out of the AFL team, playing for the Northern Blues in Frankston as media naturally followed his every step.

Looking back, it could’ve been make or break. 

It was very much a case of the former. 

“There was that rude shock that no journey to success is straightforward,” Docherty said.

“On a personal level and on a football level, that year really challenged him. People forget it, but he probably looks back on it now as the most important year of his career, in terms of setting the identity that he’s built.

“Especially the boys that weren’t here back then, they come in and see who Jacob is now versus who he was when he was 20 years old. In hindsight, he probably thought that AFL footy was going to be a bit easier than it was after his first few years.”

That rough 2018 patch for Weitering also happened to be the first where Docherty’s footballing life was severely impacted, having injured his ACL that pre-season. Weitering sought out Docherty - who was months away from being named co-captain of the football club - for assistance.

As Docherty recalls, Weitering was devoid of confidence. But it’s been the mark of the man that, since then, he’s looked as assured as any at the elite level: just two years later, he was the John Nicholls Medallist.

“Sometimes you have to go through the hard stuff to come out as a better person and player. He definitely had that.

“I had my time off through injury, so for about two months, we sat down weekly, coded his whole game from start to finish and discussed what my thoughts were and how I could possibly help him. I think he felt his game was a lot further away from what he needed it to be, whereas I didn’t think it was.

“I remember he was battling in that year, on the mental and physical front. But he was able to work through it with [then-assistant coach] Dale Amos, who he’s really close with.”

While Docherty sat down with a younger Weitering when he was forging his path, it’s been the latter who’s mentored another young defender since arriving at Carlton. Fast forward to the week of Weitering’s milestone, Brodie Kemp is in the best form of his burgeoning career and has just re-signed at IKON Park until the end of 2025.

Funny how footy works.

“If you ask Brodie, he's been extraordinary. A lot of people see 'Weiters' as that strong, ruthless character, yet ‘Kempy’ regards him as one of the bigger influences in inspiring him to be the best he can be.

“We’ve spoken a bit about ‘Weiters’ this week. He makes you walk taller and he’s someone you love walking out on a footy field with. He’s one of my closest mates, and one of my favourite teammates to play with.”

It’s that character which makes Docherty full of confidence that, when his playing career comes to an end, he knows the Club will be in good hands.

Granted, Weitering won’t be alone.

“You probably thought as a No.1 pick, he would come in with a bit more arrogance: he certainly didn’t have any of that. When he and ‘Walshy’ walked in the door, my first thought was ‘surely this cannot be them’.

“The amount he has grown from when he walked in to the leader he is now, I feel very comfortable with who is going to take this club forward, particularly with those two. For whatever influence myself and ‘Crippa’ have had on those two, it feels like we’ve left a decent imprint on the Club.”

What’s the overriding emotion when Docherty looks back on the journey of the aspiring leader who arrived in 2015 to the co-vice captain in 2023?

“I’m proud of him. Incredibly proud of him.

“Hearing the way he speaks about me and the impact I’ve had on him, it gives me great joy — as much as he himself doesn’t want to show any emotion. It’s rare, so when he does it, you know he means it!

“He’s one that I feel like I’ve had a significant part in his journey, and I’m incredibly humbled by it. It’s a really important part of my career to be able to feel like I’ve been part of that.”