How Carlton landed the little bloke
Shane Rogers can remember casting a judicious eye over Jeff Garlett at Arena Joondalup, in the WAFL's opening round of 2008
At that time the Carlton Assistant Recruiting Manager, together with Wayne Hughes and Carlton's WA scout Ross Parker had already cast the net over anyone and everyone chasing the leather in the West Australian league, Garlett included, but Rogers and Parker fronted for the fixture open-minded.
"Anyway we were watching this night game and during the match this little bloke kept bobbing up and kicking goals," Rogers recalled. "Off the top of the head he lined up in a forward pocket and kicked four, and everything you saw last Friday night he did."
The Carlton recruiters locked Garlett's performance away in their memory banks, and through the course of the year kept tabs on their man. An initial concern was the boy's light frame. Would it withstand the rigors of senior League football?
As the season progressed, that fear was allayed. To quote Rogers: "We all thought he was a bit skinny, but he'd had a tough upbringing and we didn't know his story. But big blokes kept hitting him, and he kept bouncing back up, a bit like the rubber man".
Another concern was Hawthorn's knowledge of and interest in Garlett, given the family tie with his first cousin Lance Franklin - which is why Hughes, Rogers and co. were coy in their dealings with Swans, opting not to volunteer Garlett's name as a player of interest "because we didn't want to show our hand".
"We never really got to the bottom of why he trained with Glenferrie in the pre-season before he came to Carlton, but there was an obvious connection with Buddy and Hawthorn had had success with another Indigenous player Cyril Rioli," Rogers said.
In any event, Carlton always boasted the upper hand with an earlier selection than the Hawks, which they put to good use in taking Garlett as a first round rookie selection (sixth overall) in the 2009 draft. Preceding him was Bryce Carroll to Essendon at overall selection five, Wade Thompson to Port Adelaide at four, Casey Sibosado to Fremantle at three, Liam Bedford to West Coast at two, and Jordie McKenzie to Melbourne at one.
While it's reasonable to assume Garlett's rookie status might have somewhat delayed his elevation to senior selection, nobody bothered telling Jeff, as Rogers discovered in a funny postscript to the draft.
"I remember picking him up at the airport when he flew in from Perth for the first time," Rogers said. "I gave him the spiel about the club and the importance of knuckling down and biding your time to earn elevation to the senior list later in the season. He said to me, 'Oh no, I'll play round one, don't worry about that'. I said to him 'You've got to be elevated prior to round one' and he said 'I will'. and he was."
Today, the kid that broke into the Carlton seniors for the opening round of 2009, against Richmond at the MCG, is now, at 21, a contracted Carlton footballer - a testimony to a tremendous self-belief in his own ability and the great faith afforded him by all of his coaches.