CARLTON has been rocked by the news that star No.3 pick Jagga Smith will miss the entire 2025 season, with scan results on Sunday morning confirming he sustained an ACL injury in the club's practice match defeat to St Kilda.
Smith had enjoyed an enormously impressive first pre-season at the Blues, but hurt his knee on the cusp of three-quarter time on Saturday morning and limped from the field in pain.
Despite clearing a series of run-throughs and sprints during the three-quarter time interval, scan results have confirmed an ACL injury that will sideline Smith for his debut AFL season.
The prognosis has shocked Carlton officials, who were confident Smith's injury was only minor, with assistant coach Tim Clarke declaring the incident was "nothing too serious" after Saturday's game.
It is a devastating blow for the Blues, who had been seriously impressed by Smith's summer – he had appeared a lock for the club's round one team – having arrived at Ikon Park as the No.3 pick in last November's Telstra AFL Draft.
Carlton had traded aggressively last year to move up the draft board, shifting out 2025 first and second-round picks to land pick No.14 from Hawthorn before moving out picks 12 and 14 as well as forward Matt Owies to land the No.3 selection and secure Smith at the draft.
It showed just how highly Blues officials rated Smith, who had been among the most prolific ball-winners in junior football for a number of years. Last season, he averaged 33.8 disposals for the Oakleigh Chargers in another dominant campaign.
"It certainly was not the news we were expecting and we really feel for Jagga, he has not put a foot wrong from the second he walked into the football club back in November," Carlton football boss Brad Lloyd said in a statement on Sunday.
"Jagga possesses incredible professionalism for someone so young and an absolute dedication to push himself to get better every single day – two qualities which will have him in a strong mindset to progress through every stage of his rehab.
"While it is really unfortunate we won't see Jagga out of the field this season, he will continue to soak up as much knowledge as he can from his teammates and coaches during his first year in the AFL system, before setting himself to attack his second season head on."
Carlton has already lost defender Nic Newman to a long-term knee injury that is set to rule him out for much of 2025, with the veteran having ruptured his patella tendon midway through last month.
The long-term absences of Smith and Newman come after the Blues suffered a horror injury run last year, when coach Michael Voss spent large parts of the season being lucky to have 30 available players to choose from.
