ATHLETIC, quick and plenty of scope for future development.
Carlton called out the name of Harry O'Farrell with pick No.40 in the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft: here's what the experts had to say on the Blues' newest key defensive prospect.
Carlton Head of List Management, Nick Austin:
“He’s a mad Carlton supporter from a mad Carlton family, which is part of the romance of the game. Harry is part of the AFL Academy, been injured a little bit but his athleticism and ability to develop and grow within our back seven, we can see him being an important player in our future.
“He’s one that can sit there and develop. A guy like Nick Haynes is going to be fantastic for him to learn off, Jacob Weitering as well. He needs to put on some size, but his skillset is really suitable for where we’re at.
AFL Talent Ambassador, Kevin Sheehan:
“A tall defender who had an injury interrupted season. He is a player who makes great decisions on when to mark or spoil, with the mobility and size to be a great match-up for most opposition key forwards. Has a real presence in the air, with his judgement and clean hands real assets.
“Was a member of the 2024 Marsh AFL National Academy and represented the Australia U18 team against Coburg early in the year, so he is highly regarded despite limited exposure to fully access his scope for further development. His 3.06 seconds on the 20m sprint at the Draft Combine showed his speed off the mark for a player of his size.”
Herald Sun Draft Dossier
“O’Farrell reads the play well, has a nice leap, possesses a good set of hands overhead and is capable of taking plenty of intercept marks. He impressed in a key defensive post in the first AFL Academy game against Coburg’s VFL side in April. “O’Farrell did produce some good school football performances with St Kevin’s earlier in the year, including one match where he logged nine intercept marks. But he was only seen in four games for the Cannons in the Coates Talent League, returning from injury for a round 18 clash against Dandenong.
“O’Farrell was swung forward in that match and kicked 2.4 from 10 disposals and four marks, showing some versatility. He looks up to Greater Western Sydney’s Harry Himmelberg, who has also shown abilities at both ends of the ground at AFL level.”
“[Playing for Carlton] would mean everything.
"Obviously, growing up and playing footy, you're always thinking about it. I never thought I was going to get to the AFL until probably a few years ago. I started thinking it could happen if I put the work in. It would be pretty special."
Calder Cannons Talent Manager, Seb Spagnuolo:
"He's a great ball user out of the backline, but he also goes for his marks to intercept and win the ball back for his team,”
"He gets offence off the back of that. At his height, at 196cm or 197cm, he's someone that can play a bit of a rebounding role for his height as well. We thought he could rebound. But because of the injuries, he wasn't really able to show it.
"However, we got to see it a little bit at training and it looked pretty exciting when he goes. Moving forward and projecting forward, we don't have any doubt that he could do that at the next level."
