THE Carlton Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Nick Austin to the role of Head of List Management.

With experience extending across 14 years in list management and recruiting, Austin will take on the newly-created role that will allow him to oversee the recruitment and retention of AFL playing talent through the draft, free agency and trade.

Austin arrives at Ikon Park from the Whitten Oval, where he had two stints (2006-2008 and 2018–present), most recently as the Bulldogs’ National Recruiting Manager.

In between his time at the Dogs, Austin played a pivotal role in building the Richmond premiership list as the Tigers’ List Management and Recruiting Officer from 2012-2018.

He was also the recruiting officer and opposition analyst at Port Adelaide from 2009-2011.

Nick’s father Rod is a premiership player for the Blues, having played 220 games for the Club including the 1979 Grand Final, in a career spanning 13 years.

Carlton Head of Football Brad Lloyd said the Club was pleased to attract a highly credentialed candidate such as Austin to Ikon Park.

“Nick has an innate knowledge of what it takes to build a Premiership list as well as achieving sustained finals success, which is obviously a clear focus for us,” Lloyd said.

“In his recent role at the Bulldogs, Nick’s key focus was on the draft and his extensive skillset will be invaluable in heading up our recruiting department. Nick’s addition rounds out a highly experienced List Management and Recruiting team at the Club, where he will work closely with Paul Brodie, Mick Agresta and our entire recruiting team to ensure our playing list is well-placed, both now and into the future.

“Nick has been terrific at building meaningful relationships across the AFL industry over the last 14 years at three different clubs and we are delighted to attract yet another quality person and industry-leading professional to the Carlton Football Club.”

Austin said he was excited to get to work in establishing Carlton as a successful football club.

“To join such a great football club and be part of helping the Blues rise up the ladder is a fantastic opportunity – I can’t wait to get started,” Austin said.

“This playing group is entering an exciting stage. There is some real talent here for Carlton fans to be excited about and as a recruiting team we will constantly look to add to that talent and bring quality players to Ikon Park.”

Austin will commence his new role on Monday 10 February.