On the cusp of playing for Western Australia in last year's 2025 Under-18 National Championships, Luke Carrello was delivered the heartbreaking news of a long-term leg injury.
While that would have crushed most 17-year-olds' spirits, it only strengthened the resolve of East Fremantle's next prodigy.
Standing at 177cm, don't be fooled by Carrello's - now 18 years old - stature as the young bullocking midfielder can already match it with the best in the WAFL.
Carrello had been selected in WA's state squad for the critical for prospective draftees national championships. The young Shark then found out that he would be spending three months on the sidelines with a ruptured ATFL ligament in his ankle that required surgery.
The midfielder-forward spoke with Zero Hanger about how he made it through that tough period in his fledgling career.
"It was a hard time for me," Carrello said. "Missing the state champs was a real disappointment. I put in a lot of effort to make that side and I was looking forward to it, but I think the big thing for me was I had a big support network.
"My family were really good for my rehab, they cooked food and looked after me really well.
"Mentally you have to distract yourself from the fact you'll be sidelined for, for me it was 15 weeks. Whether it's playing board games or chess or going out with mates or doing those sorts of things, just to disassociate with footy and connect with people and just enjoying being a teenager and going to school."
While Carrello was busy working on his pawn structure and castling techniques on the chess board at home, the young gun was also putting hours into his rehab at the club to make sure he was ready to hit the ground running when he returned later in the 2025 season.
Former AFL player and East Fremantle veteran Jonathon Marsh has been a mentor to Carrello in recent years, handing him his senior debut guernsey a week before his 18th birthday.
Marsh said he has been nothing but impressed by how Carrello has adapted to life as a senior footballer and believes he is destined for higher honours.
"As (Carrello) was doing the rehab for that, I was going and doing my swimming and things like that," Marsh told Zero Hanger.
"He was in the pool doing 2-3km sessions just trying to get himself right just so when he came back he could impact. The way a young person attacks their rehab probably speaks volumes and he just went about it as an ultimate professional. When you start seeing things like that you go, ‘Oh, we have a good player on our hands'.
"I reckon if he doesn't get drafted this year, it won't be long before he is in the system. There's no doubt."
Having seen former Sharks teammate Milan Murdock's immediate impact at AFL level for West Coast after being picked up in the Supplemental Selection Period, Marsh said he sees Carrello taking a similar trajectory in the future.
"I actually think there are a lot of similarities with him and Milan in terms of how they attack, A, games but, B, training, injuries, they just leave no stone unturned," he said. "I think Luke's one of those ones who is going to adapt to the skill level and the requirements the higher up level of football he plays.
"I have got no concerns with him getting to an AFL club. Once again, I think he will keep his head down and ask some questions, but I just think he will be that kid that you just really don't have to worry about in terms of standards and being able to fit in at the intensity.
"Definitely his running power (is a strength), he works hard on that. To the point that he would be a top five as an 18-year-old at our club for the running stuff. He has got a good combination of power and speed, so he can actually break away from a stoppage.
"I think if you put time and effort into him he could be a real tough in and under type mid. He could thrive in that role. But how we play him, if he needs to be on the outside and break lines, he has identified his own running patterns there and he can link up with handballs and be damaging outside too, which is a really rare blend. Both of those things are definitely what AFL clubs will look at."
Carrello said he has quickly acclimatised to senior WAFL level and his stats back up that belief. After returning from injury late last year he was given the option to return to Colts level and hunt a flag, or debut and play for the senior side to finish off the year. For those close to Carrello, it was no surprise the driven competitor chose the latter.
Across his first four senior games, Carrello averaged 21 touches, including an impressive 18 disposals in a hotly contested elimination final with Perth in front of a 5,800 strong crowd.
This year, Carrello has played in a variety of roles across half-forward, wing and inside midfield in a side that has lost a lot of experience over the off-season. Throughout the opening five rounds he has averaged 18.4 disposals .
The 18-year-old has his eyes locked in on making it to the AFL, but he understands hard work and diligence is the only path forward. Modelling his game off Brisbane star and two-time Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale, Carrello said he is balancing the mix of keeping his strengths at the forefront but also adding damage to his game.
"Obviously, it's a bit disappointing and I could make lots of excuses about why I think I should be drafted, but at the end of the day, it's not going to change anything, so for me, it is about focusing on things I can control," he said.
"For me, I know that's working on my game and playing my role for East Fremantle in the WAFL. That thought of getting drafted lingers at the back of my head, but it's out of my control and so it's something I try not to focus too much on.
"My main strengths are my work rate, my ability to cover ground and work contest to contest and put myself in good positions to receive or win and have the ball and then also track back defensively. That's my one wood is my work rate and I think at AFL level it would transition well just because of the way the game is played and if you are running good patterns, like I said before, the higher the level you go, the more predictable it is and some ways it's easier.
"Coming into this year, I definitely had some weaknesses and things I needed to improve on. I'm not the most damaging player. In the pre-season a big focus for me was driving my legs, taking the game on and being a bit more damaging. Also my kicking, I did a bit of work on my kicking and I think I have become a lot more efficient and a much more damaging kicker.
"I think I'm ready. I think a lot of 18-year-olds aren't prepared for the level, where as I back myself in that I have had that experience at senior level and I feel like I am 100 per cent prepared that if I do get the opportunity that I would make the most of it for sure."
