Pre-Season Notes: Geelong vs Carlton

How good is it to have football back on the telly?

It’s not too long until the real thing kicks off – but for now it’s the AAMI Community Series, one last chance for teams to fine-tune their game plans and one last chance for players to press for a spot in the Opening Round or Round one – dependent on which team you’re following.

Wednesday night started with Carlton and Geelong at Ikon Park, with the Blues winning by 15 points to end their pre-season with two wins against last year’s Grand Finalists.

Is it a sign of things to come? Or is it a false dawn for the Blues – time will tell soon enough with their first big test next week against the Swans at the SCG as part of the AFL’s opening round – but for now, we’ll take a look at who stood out in this game.

JAGGA SMITH

It’s been a long time coming for Blues fans to see their prized youngster take to the field for the first time.

The entire football world was robbed last year when Jagga Smith ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament during the pre-season, after the Blues had to trade up the draft board to snare him at pick 3 in the 2024 AFL Draft.

After a season in the rehab group and a pre-season uninterrupted, Jagga Smith dominated in this game and essentially locked himself into a debut next week. It was an effort that was ‘work-rate’-personified and showed composure beyond his years.

In just 81 per cent of playing time, Smith racked up an amazing 37 disposals, 15 of which were contested, and also put up five score involvements and five clearances.

SAM WALSH

After signing an eight-year contract extension earlier this week, many eyebrows furrowed when Sam Walsh was in the hands of the trainers early on in the piece – injuries have not been foreign to Walsh throughout his career, especially over the past few years.

But after getting through his first pre-season unscathed in what feels like yonks, and after the little scare early in the game with his back – Walsh lit the game up with his run and carry, and his link up work in close – 20 of his 29 disposals were handballs, but still amassed 13 contested possessions and kicked a goal out of it too.

2026 looms as a big year for the man who was taken pick one back in the 2018 draft – and whilst he’s shown how good he can be – it doesn’t feel like to me that he hasn’t yet cemented himself as ‘the guy’ in Carlton’s midfield, and a big part of that probably is because his injuries have had more than their say on his career to date.

Maybe 2026 could be the year we see him take that massive jump into the elites.

THE SSP BLUES

I’m lumping both Elijah Hollands and Wade Derksen in here because both are great stories, and both were very impressive on Wednesday night.

Hollands’ time at the Blues since being traded from the Gold Coast has been far from harmonious to say the least – riddled with off-field issues and personal struggles. The Blues then put the proverbial full stop on his career when they delisted him last year, despite a year still to run on his contract.

He was still able to train over the pre-season, and even just at a glance at his performance in this game, you can see why Carlton wanted him, and why recruiters were so eager to draft him early back in 2020.

He ran hard, he created well, and he made a massive impact on the scoreboard – talent has never been an issue with Elijah Hollands, but it’s mostly between the ears that will help him realise his full potential. Two goals from 19 disposals is a brilliant start to his redemption arc.

Then we get to Wade Derksen – a mid-season draftee taken by GWS back in 2022 – who was delisted at the end of last season without playing a senior game. He had previously requested a trade to Melbourne, which never eventuated.

But the Blues liked what they saw from him during the pre-season trials and signed him on – and boy didn’t he show plenty in defence; great poise and strong in the air – it’s amazing how he never got a look in at the Giants in the years that he was on their list.

Granted, it’s a back-line that was without Jacob Weitering and Nick Haynes – so that needs to be taken with a grain of salt – but he was rock solid in defence in their absences and could put his hand up for an early debut if it isn’t next week – 18 disposals, five intercept possessions and a pair of intercept marks.

TANNER BRUHN

Tanner Bruhn missed all of last year due to personal issues, but now with that is behind him, it will be an interesting development to see where exactly he would line up.

In 2024, he was solidly entrenched in the midfield, but with the emergence of Max Holmes and the arrival of Bailey Smith last year, coupled with Tom Atkins’ reliability, where would he have fit in amongst Geelong’s grand scheme of things?

We got a firm answer by quarter time: 12 disposals in the opening term playing as a half-back operator -  creating and distributing – we saw him take a few kick-ins – sharing the duties alongside Tom Stewart throughout the game, and looked like someone who hadn’t missed 12 months of football due to a life-altering event.

He finished up with 27 disposals and nine marks on a night that showed he’s going into the 2026 season with a point to prove.

LAWSON HUMPHRIES

I was impressed with his ability to take the game on for Western Australia in the State of Origin a few weeks back, and it looks like we’ve got a good sample of what we’re going to expect from him in 2026.

Humphries picked up 11 disposals in the first term and finished the match with 24. Half of those were kicks and struck it at an efficiency of 83 per cent.  

There’s a clear direction in how Geelong want to utilise Lawson Humphries this year – another one who will shoot off from the defensive half in an effort to link up and pick out the angles to help split the play wide open.

Geelong have got many players who are very good at roles around the ground, but many of them often go unnoticed for one reason or another. Humphries is one who should be getting his flowers this year.

AND LASTLY…

The ruck rule – my goodness, we’re going to be in for a good one with this rule change in 2026.

For those who aren't across yet on how the new ruck rules work - ruckmen can't cross the centre line before engaging with their opponent at a ball up - this in turn is supposed to prevent the big hulking ruck types from charging over to wrestle their counterpart and encourage them to jump at the ball a bit more.

However, Melbourne captain Max Gawn had his reservations last week with the new ruck rules – arguing that it could potentially damage the Posterior Cruciate Ligaments of ruckmen if the knees clash in the air.

We nearly got our first case of it last night when Shannon Neale got crunched in a ruck contest in the middle of the ground. Now thankfully, it’s only a shin complaint, and the word is he should be good to go ahead of their clash with the Gold Coast next week in the opening round.

But we’re already on a slippery slope with the health of the knees of all ruckmen in the competition.

It’s also confusing watching the umpire give a free kick to Sam De Koning in one ruck contest, only because Marc Pittonet opted to move out of the way so he didn’t get himself hurt in the process – one can assume he mistimed his run-up or jump?

I sense we are going to get some tinkering from the big boys at AFL house before the season is done, and odds are we’re probably going to get it before the start of the season proper.

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