Jagga Smith Biography

Jagga Smith believes his injury-enforced stint on the sidelines taught him valuable mental lessons.

"I hadn't really had too big of a setback before that knee injury, so it taught me a lot about resilience and perspective," Smith said.

"I wish it didn't happen, but sometimes you've just got to take the learnings out of those experiences."

Jagga Smith is the round one AFL Rising Star nominee after tallying 32 touches, 11 score involvements, and three clearances from 73 per cent game time in the Blues' scrappy four-point win over Richmond.

Jagga Smith will travel to the United States this week in one of the last parts of his recovery from an ACL injury, with the Blues confident their star prospect will be fit and firing heading into 2026.

Smith will meet with the world-renowned rehabilitation and reconditioning expert Bill Knowles in Philadelphia as a final reward for his diligent recovery from an ACL injury he sustained in February on the eve of his debut campaign.

Jagga Smith admits that having a season-ending knee injury was difficult to deal with.

"I remember going in for surgery on the eve of the season and being in that waiting room for surgery, and on my phone I'm seeing all these boys who I got drafted with getting announced for their debuts and I was going into surgery to get my knee reconstructed," he said.

"I was thinking 'This is just unfair. This is a nightmare'. I just didn't think that a knee injury like this would happen to me, but that's how naïve you are when you're young and you haven't been injured. I remember that clearly, sitting in that waiting room on my phone and going 'This is a nightmare'."

Carlton's No.3 pick, Jagga Smith, will miss the entire 2025 season due to an ACL injury suffered during a practice match.

"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.

"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 select Jagga Smith with pick No.3 in the 2024 National Draft.