Highly anticipated Carlton youngster Jagga Smith is "tracking really well" and is nearing a return to full training as he overcomes a serious knee injury.
Smith tore his ACL on the eve of his maiden season at the Blues, after he was snatched up with Pick 3 in the suspected superdraft of 2024.
However, the Ikon Park club and its fans have yet to see the Oakleigh Chargers product at full flight, having been in rehabilitation, readying himself for the rigours of senior football.
"I'm tracking really well," Smith told Carlton media.
"When I think about it, I do think I'm somewhat like a draftee coming in again… It's all new and exciting for me still.
"I've just got a couple of things to tick off, and I should be fully training and in match sim with the boys pretty soon.
"It's really exciting that I can go out there and play some footy again after missing the whole year last year.
"I'm feeling as good, if not better, as I've ever felt physically - I'm really looking forward to the 2026 season."
Smith has been lauded for his professionalism and mindset throughout the tumultuous 12 months, which have included seeing a host of his draft class emerge as stars of the competition.
But the Carlton No.7 is keen to make a meaningful impact of his own, and dissects how he has prepared himself mentally to return bigger and better in 2026.
"It obviously takes a few days to overcome the devastation of being out in your debut year," Smith added.
"[But] there really is no other option, you can't look at it any other way: as soon as I got that surgery, I thought ‘I'm just going to shift that mindset to as positive as possible'.
"I chose to look at it in a way that I'm going to have a lot of this work under my belt before I actually come out and play senior footy. I'll be prepared to match it with the men, and that perspective changed as soon as I had the surgery done."
New Carlton midfield coach Leigh Adams is "looking forward" to working with Smith, previously saying the crafty midfielder will add a point of difference among the likes of Patrick Cripps, George Hewett, Sam Walsh and Adam Cerra.
