Fremantle draftee Jaren Carr had to wait two extra years before landing on the Dockers' list as a father-son selection, with the Western Australian club having monitored the over-age forward closely this year and seeing clear growth in his game.
The son of former Docker Matt Carr, Jaren broke through for a senior WAFL debut this year with South Fremantle as a mobile 191cm forward threat.
Carr played nine games at the state league level, averaging 11.9 disposals and 4.1 marks to complement his strong form for the Dogs' reserves.
Improvement in his disposal use and impact on games were the key areas that turned the Dockers' heads, having knocked back the chance to draft Carr in 2022 and 2023.
Matt Carr was viewed as a late bloomer before going on to play 134 games for the club, with the Dockers hopeful his son can have a similar career in purple.
Fremantle list boss David Walls said Carr's efforts to work on his game over the past 18 months have deservedly secured him an AFL contract.
"It was probably the improvement that he showed," Walls said of Carr's rise.
"He's always been a super runner, but he's been a late grower and developer. His old man Matty was pretty similar. Everyone said that he really filled out at around the age of 21-22 and Jaren seems to be doing the same as well.
"He played some senior footy at South Fremantle and some reserves footy as well, but as I said he's a super runner. He's grown to about 190cm now.
"His kicking has improved out of sight, that's probably the other big area that he's got to a level now where he'll be able to compete at AFL."
Carr was the third and final selection Fremantle made at the National Draft, having recruited Vic Metro MVP Murphy Reid at Pick 17 before securing Charlie Nicholls at Pick 34.
The Dockers' selection of Reid saw the club pounce on one of this year's draft sliders and add to a midfield unit already brimming with young talent.
The curious selection followed Fremantle's plans to attain the Sandringham Dragons ace, who could be used across multiple positions next year.
"I think everyone inside the top 15 sort of got the player that they were looking for," Walls said.
"We have a lot of mids, a lot of inside mids but we see him as pretty versatile. He can go through the midfield, he can also play wing and he's very, very smart up forward as well.
"We also see potential to develop him off half-back. So he's going to be a real asset for us with his versatility.
"We're super excited with where we got him."
Nicholls is a 197cm key forward out of South Australia who enjoyed a strong year for Central District and SA at the U18s levels.
Having shown an ability to offer support in the ruck or play behind the ball, the Mintaro Manoora product is another name the Dockers are keen to work with in the years to come.
"We really rate him as a player. He's still very raw and he's going to take a few years to develop, but we love his attributes. He's competitive," Walls added.
"He reads a flight of the ball really well and is strong overhead. He ran 29.6 for 20 metres, for a guy at 197cm that's pretty impressive.
a good country lad ๐ค
welcome to the Freo family, Charlie.#foreverfreo #AFLDraft pic.twitter.com/V46ymBRsaF
— Fremantle Dockers (@freodockers) November 22, 2024
"He's played a lot of footy forward, that's where he played for South Australia, but we've seen him go back, and he can do that role well. He's also pinch-hit the ruck as well. So we see him as a long-term player and he's pretty exciting with the attributes he's got to develop."
Fremantle also picked up local ruckman Aiden Riddle in the Rookie Draft on Friday, a selection that was made after Gold Coast swooped on cut Dockers youngster Max Knobel.
The club had planned to re-list Knobel via the draft but were three spots further back in the draft order than the Suns, who took the opportunity to add the Fremantle ruckman.
