WHETHER it’s on the field or off it, Lochie O’Brien is flying. 

The 19-year-old has gone from strength-to-strength since his return to senior team in Round 12, thriving in his role on the wing. 

After overcoming a back injury which hampered his pre-season preparation, O’Brien had a slower start to the year and had a stint in the VFL. 

Take a closer look at Lochie O’Brien’s form in Carlton Coaches’ Corner.

However, since then, he has been able to recapture the form which saw him become an essentially permanent fixture in the Blues’ midfield during his debut year in 2018.  

O’Brien isn’t alone as the only Blue to have shown improvement as the season has progressed. 

“It’s obviously been pretty good over the last six or so weeks,” O’Brien told Triple M’s Rush Hour. 

“The boys are starting to play with a bit more form and stuff like that. It’s exciting around the Club. 

“A lot of people are saying it’s a lot better brand of football, a lot more exciting and things like that. 

“It’s nice with a lot more boys hitting the scoreboard and playing higher-scoring footy. It’s really good to be a part of.” 

According to O’Brien, the back half of the season has not just reignited a sense of hope among the team: he sees it as something that Carlton fans have been waiting for. 

Bluebaggers have remained steadfast in their support of their team, having broken the Club’s membership record and seeing the Blues sit in the top four in the competition for home attendance.  

Echoing the sentiment put forward by several others of his teammates, O’Brien was full of praise for the Navy Blue faithful who have stuck by the team. 

“The way that they’ve been behind us the whole time — we like to say that we’ve got the best fans in the comp,” he said.

“The way that they have been supporting us through this tough time [has been amazing], and especially at the start of the year as well when things probably weren’t going as the way that we wanted them to.

“Hopefully they’re starting to see some kind of reward, and hopefully it carries on.” 

Away from the field O’Brien is also flying… literally.  

O’Brien’s passion for flying - driven partly by his mum’s work as a flight attendant - has seen him pursue a career as a pilot, hoping one day to be able to fly commercially. 

While fans will be happy he still has plenty of footy to play before he begins manning the controls, O’Brien is already looking forward to being able to live out his childhood dream. 

“Mum was a flight attendant. I was lucky enough to do a fair bit of travel, getting to the pilots and spending a bit of time up the front,” said O’Brien 

“I’m about eight hours down, so not that far in. It’s about 40-50 [hours] until you can get your first license and be legally allowed to take anyone else.

“It’s been something that I’ve really wanted to do since I was probably five years old, and the Club has been amazing with supporting me to do that so far.”