IT'S LUCKY that Lachie Plowman isn't the type to dwell on things. If he were, he would have a bit on his mind this week.

Plowman is considered one of the top talents available at this year's NAB AFL Draft. A member of the AIS-AFL Academy, the 17-year-old is a tall, mobile key defender who started the year in brilliant form for the Calder Cannons in the TAC Cup.

But Plowman has been hit by bad luck. In Calder's loss to the Geelong Falcons on Saturday, Plowman leapt for a mark but had his legs taken out from under him.

He landed on his arms, dislocated his left elbow and also had some ligament damage. On Tuesday he had surgery on the injury, and expects to miss the next eight weeks, including the NAB AFL Under-18s Championships.

But, despite the setback, he's optimistic. He knows in the next few days and weeks it will sink in that his season to impress has been largely interrupted, but he won't let it get him down. His older brother Pat is making sure of that.

"He broke both his arms at one point and we were laughing at him, but now he's trying to laugh at me," Plowman said.

Although the national championships are usually viewed as the best indicator of a potential draftee's place in the pecking order, Plowman's pursuit of a spot on an AFL list shouldn't be jeopardised too much. He has done everything right to this point.

Plowman's passage began to take shape properly last year, when he played 15 games for Calder and represented Vic Metro in the under-18s as a 16-year-old. After playing against opponents older than him for most of his junior footy, it didn't faze him.

He took a lot out of the experience, like how to counter better players, where to position himself, and how to change his game to suit different forwards.

"He needed to experience good forwards in good company and he learned a lot from it," Anton Grbac, AFL Victoria's metro talent manager, says. "We were very encouraged."

He was inducted into the AIS-AFL Academy, and only recently returned from his first trip overseas, a 13-day tour of Europe with the academy.

On it they visited Italy, England and France, all places a long way from Plowman's family home, which sits up a hilly driveway in the quiet town of Macedon, northwest of Melbourne, where the pet dog and chickens mingle in his backyard.

In Europe he learned about living away from home, being independent and facing some new challenges, like getting directions from natives who spoke no English, and dealing with a flight that he says was "pretty bad." 

Most of all, though, the tour gave Plowman a sense of what it's like to be a full-time athlete. He liked it.

"It was good to learn about the lifestyle of a footballer and how full-on it always is," he says.

"Even though we were travelling a lot we were still always doing something to get our bodies right, or to make sure we can get up for the next game. I really enjoyed that part of it."

Plowman, though, enjoys most things. "He plays with a smile on his face," Calder regional manager Ian Kyte says.

That's not to say he isn't a natural competitor. His approach as a defender is simple: beat your man, attack and do the team things. He's a player with a handle on the basics but also a knack for the flashy.

As a defender he goes for his marks, and more often than occasionally Plowman is able to create a spoil, win the ball back and kick-start Calder's rebound with his penetrating kicking.

Michael Ablett, the AIS-AFL Academy's assistant coach, likens him to three-time Geelong premiership defender Andrew Mackie, and others say there are elements to Plowman that are similar to former Vic Metro defender and young Essendon star Michael Hurley.

"He really attacks the contest," Ablett says. "Through his own hard work, he has just started to separate himself from a lot of players, including some in the academy."

Before his injury, Plowman said he had worked hard on his physicality and strength, just so every time he went near the ball he made an impact. "I think if you do that then people are going to look at you and think that you've been working hard at something," he said.

Prior to the elbow setback, he was also looking at becoming a more rounded player. When he was growing up he was a midfielder who used to drift forward. Back then, he would sharpen his skills by kicking at the fork in a tree outside his house with Pat, and other older brother Joel.

Pat is an umpire and has officiated plenty of Lachie's games - "I got smashed in the head one time and was bleeding and he didn't give me a free kick," Lachie says - and Joel plays for Macedon. All three live at home with parents Elaine and Brendan.

Lachie wouldn't mind going back to the days of playing through the midfield. At Calder training he sometimes runs past Kyte with his trademark grin and asks when he can have a run in there. "I try to give them a few hints," he says.
Even two weeks ago, coach Martin Allison was addressing his team during the week and told Plowman he'd be taking on Bendigo Pioneer, and fellow AIS-AFL Academy member, Jake Stringer. 

Allison noted Stringer sometimes pushes into the midfield, which led to Plowman asking a question: "Does that mean I can follow him in there?" He was told no. Elaine thinks her son is pegged as a backman, but recruiters do want to see his 191cm frame thrown into the middle later this year to see how he handles it.

In the meantime, he has some waiting to do. After a few of days on the couch to get his elbow right, he'll slowly get back into training and rehabilitation, and will go to Calder games when he can.

With Plowman likely to miss the national carnival, Vic Metro has already invited him to be a part of the team and help as much as he can with the squad, and the AIS strength and conditioning coaches will make sure he doesn't lose too much fitness or muscle.

Throughout the process Plowman knows there will be times he's disappointed not to be out there, spoiling marks and bounding out of defence with the ball in hand. But, even still, it will be hard to wipe the smile off his face. It always is.

"If something goes wrong then there's no point getting down on yourself," Plowman says. "You just try to look at the positives and get on with it."

Callum Twomey is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.