By Jonty Ralphsmith
Over the Christmas period, the Star News’ sports team will be re-sharing some of the most popular stories from over the course of 2023.
Thank you for supporting our newspapers over the course of the year. We hope you enjoy the selection and have a wonderful holiday period, however you choose to celebrate.
Between the ages of 10 and 16, Gippsland Power prospect Lachie Smith played just three games of footy.
In round two 2022, he debuted for the Power, having played two local games the previous day.
Now, roughly 30 games later, he’s firmly on the radar of AFL clubs.
A late inclusion for Gippsland’s clash with the Western Jets, the former basketballer had attended less than a handful of preseason training sessions ahead of his debut.
On the Saturday, he played an under-18 clash for Warragul, then put his hand up to fill in for a reserves side short on numbers.
Those who watched him that day said he was comfortably best-on-ground.
Basketball tournaments hardened the Bunyip junior up to the rigours of back-to-back games, and he called on those reserves on 10 April 2022.
A mature-bodied ruck filling in for Max Knobel, who would go on to be selected by Fremantle in the 2022 National Draft, his production rate was an unknown.
But it didn’t take long for talent lead Scott McDougal and those around the club to realise they had ‘found one’.
“He played on the Saturday and we thought ‘right, we’ll look after this kid and only use him off the bench when we have to’ and he was like a big diesel engine,” McDougal said.
“He had every excuse to stop competing because he had played the day before.
He had no preseason and he could’ve put the cue in the rack in the last quarter and say ‘hey, I’ve done my bit’, but the one thing that stood out about Lachie is that he does not quit on anything.”
In a close encounter at Morwell, an hour down the Princes Highway from the Smith family’s Bunyip North hobby farm, he kicked the winning goal for his side.
A sweeping left foot shot on the run, from 30, that embodied his skillset.
“Once he got out there and started moving around, you couldn’t fault his effort and lo and behold, the next week, we were looking at magnets and decided ‘nup, we can’t get rid of him’,” McDougal said.
That game for Gippsland, and what has since transpired, confirmed his junior coach Dave Carpenter’s high hopes for the one-time basketball aspirant.
Carpenter, a family friend of the Smiths and junior coach at Warragul Gulls Football Club, has seen Lachie play footy and basketball since he was about 10-years-old.
Smith was a Vic Country basketballer until under-16s, using his size to stand as a constant threat off the board.
He and Carpenter have maintained regular dialogue, with Smith crediting his former interleague coach for returning to the footy field.
“I honestly thought he would be drafted,” Carpenter said, reflecting on conversations with a younger Lachie.
“That was my mindset when I was ringing up to get him back to footy.
“His marking was phenomenal, his ruck work was excellent, he had soft hands from the basketball background and he has good spatial awareness.”
Those skills shone through in a trio of under-15 games that Lachie played for fun under Carpenter, his first taste of footy since under-10s.
Like in those formative years, he used his size to bully kids and crash packs.
Key-position teammate Wil Dawson jokes that Smith has been the same size since he was 10, able to push everyone out of the way at his pleasure.
The pandemic also aided Smith’s eventual footy preference; caps on indoor sports, such as basketball, remained in place longer than those on outdoor sports.
But unlike basketball, footy was never seen as a viable professional pathway, hence his willingness to play VJBL basketball in the lead-up to last season.
Smith went on to play 11 games in 2022 after that memorable debut, entering this season with a focus on his ruck craft.
To condition him to the seasoned bodies of senior footy, a key focus for him has been using his frame.
Smith holding his own in a series of senior matches for the Gulls, between his representative footy, was a pleasing display of his gradual development.
At Gippsland, he came into his own after the first month, when he developed continuity as the go-to ruck more permanently.
Smith played each of Vic Country’s four games, going up against well-regarded rucks Mitch Edwards, Ethan Read and Will Green, all likely to have their names read out in the first round.
His battle against Edwards was an intriguing one, as it saw two rucks with similarly adept follow-up games go up against each other.
“Most rucks are very long down the line and he wasn’t like that; he’d tap the ball, then you’d go setup and he would be getting the short 45 kick,” Smith reflected.
“I’m the same, I don’t want to be a ruck that taps it and that’s all.
“I like to get involved around the contest, follow up well, get a few touches and help the midfielders out.”
Smith finished the season averaging 26 hitouts and 20 disposals in the eight games where he was the primary ruck.
In a ruck-strong draft crop, Smith remains on the edge of selection, either late in the AFL National Draft on November 21 or at the rookie draft the following day.
Combativeness and game awareness were areas he improved throughout 2023 and his limited footy background makes him a high upside player with the right tools.
“He does stuff you can’t teach,” McDougal said.
“In my time at the Gippsland Power, I’ve never seen a ruck that dominates as a midfielder once it hits the ground like him.
“His eyes see things and his hands are able to do things that big strong men can’t do.
“He’s still such a baby in terms of his footy so we can’t wait to see him in three years time.”
That he had never worn a shin pad in his career until Vic Country’s clash with Vic Metro, despite warnings from McDougal and others, offers an insight into his footy experience.
“I had to ask Wil Dawson where to buy one from,” Smith said.
“I used his for the Vic Metro game because I didn’t have one and had copped a knock to the shin and didn’t want another one.
“I guess I thought I was tough not wearing one, but Ethan Read got me good.”
