Both Carlton and Brisbane will welcome top-rated 2024 draft prospects to their pre-season training programs over the summer, with the two clubs having links to a quartet of talented teenagers through father-son or Academy avenues.
The Blues are set to welcome Glenelg-based pair Ben and Lucas Camporeale to Royal Parade in the coming months ahead of the pair's busy draft campaign.
The sons of Carlton premiership player Scott Camporeale, Ben and Lucas have ties to the Blues that will likely see them making the move from South Australia to Melbourne's north in 12 months time.
The duo have been named in the AFL Academy squad for next year and are set to share their 2024 journey with Glenelg and South Australia in what shapes as a frantic year for the father-son prospects.
They will also spend time at Princes Park and work under senior coach Michael Voss during the pre-season, with the Blues to be mindful of the heavy workload that awaits them.
"Definitely, they'll come in," list manager Nick Austin said of Carlton's pre-season plans for the Camporeale twins when asked by Zero Hanger.ย
"Whether it's before Christmas or in the new year, they'll come in for sure and spend a week.
"It's a big year, they've got AFL Academy, Year 12, they'll be playing for Glenelg and state football for SA, so we've got to be careful of how often we bring them across and how much we put on their plate.
"Any opportunity we can get that fits with their schedule, we'll certainly look to do that and support them that way."
Ben and Lucas capped off promising bottom-age campaigns with selections for the Future Stars game last September, a showcase match that includes the top-rated 17-year-olds prior to their draft year.
Ben took out the best-on-ground title after collecting a game-high 30 disposals to go with eight marks, eight rebound 50s and five inside 50s in a win for Team Naitanui, while Lucas was equally promising with a 19-disposal, nine-mark effort for Team Selwood.
Both in the mix as top 20 prospects for 2024, the Blues' list team had the Camporeale boys in mind throughout their trade planning this off-season.
"Those boys showed great improvement over this year from where they were at the start of the year," Austin added.
"If they do that again, we'll have to work out where they sit. We went after some future fourths in our trade period to get ready, but we don't know how high they're going to go.
"They're both tracking nicely, so we'll just wait and see."
Brisbane are set to welcome their own highly-rated 2024 father-son prospect, Levi Ashcroft, to their own summer training program.
The son of club great Marcus and younger brother to Lions young gun Will, Levi will be joined by Brisbane Academy talent Sam Marshall in training with the AFL squad.
Recruitment manager Stephen Conole confirmed on Tuesday that the teenage duo will make the trip up to Queensland at the cessation of their schooling year.
"They're both doing Year 11 down here (Melbourne) at the moment, so when those lads finish school they'll go up and train," he confirmed.
"They'll come back for some AFL Academy, but they'll certainly do a bit over summer.
"We look forward to those boys going through the pre-season."
Much like his older brother, Levi Ashcroft firms as a Pick 1 chance and will be among the leading prospects heading into next year following a strong campaign with the Sandringham Dragons and Vic Metro.
The inside onballer would help lead the Dragons to successive Talent League premierships, with the father-son prodigy in line to claim a stunning third straight flag at the junior pathways level next year.
Marshall is also linked to the Dragons and played in a pair of matches during the Talent League season, while his best football would come at the higher level with the premiership-winning Allies, who he also represented on two occasions in 2023.
"For both of those kids to do what they did as bottom-agers at the National Championships was outstanding," Conole said.
"Levi played in a premiership, won the Dragons' best and fairest and had a super year. For Sam, to come down and play school footy, play for the Dragons, Allies, make the (AFL) Academy for a kid who's still developing physically, he's shown some enormous improvement.
"We're quite excited to see what those boys can do over the next 12 months."
