In his first year at Carlton Jarrad Waite was a riddle wrapped in a footballer inside an enigma (apologies to Churchill). In our darkest year he was the only player on our list not to play a game. It was almost as if the club was saying this boy is too good, not even a wooden spoon is going to interfere with his development. So it was that at the end of his first year that only the dedicated training track watchers had an inkling of what might come.
Picture: AFL
2003 rolled around with a new coach and finally the first game in Round 1 against Sydney. In only his 6th game he gave pretty boy Shane Crawford a wack to the jaw and copped a 2 match ban. While some saw it as reckless others salivated at the thought of a Carlton player prepared to push his weight around so early in his career. By Round 10 the youngster had earnt himself a Rising Star nomination, everything was looking great. Then less than four weeks later tragedy struck with his proud Dad Vin suddenly passing away. The death of a parent is one of the hardest kicks in the guts anyone would want to go through. The club gave him the option of missing training sessions and the game against the Demons. Being only 20 years old and with the pain of loss still fresh and raw the young man attended every training session, addressed the players thanking them for their support and played against Melbourne with an inspirational display of football and a goal no one will ever forget.
They had been an eventful first 14 weeks, but out of tragedy the real worth of a man is seen. The Carlton faithful saw the Leadership potential of Jarrad Waite in those 14 weeks. The only thing left now was to let hours of training, tonnes of weights and miles of running turn the boy into a matchwinner.
2004 presented another challenge, the dreaded 'Carlton foot injury'. It took until Round 12 to make his debut for the season. Another year and another test for the young man. In only 29 games of football he had experienced, suspension, recognition, tragedy and long-term injury. These are the sorts of experiences that either break a soul or forge an iron will. The results of season 2005 so far indicate that the boy may be made of stern stuff indeed.
In his fourth year at the club Jarrad Waite has put in some encouraging performances. At the beginning of the year he was being described as a 'Panther', a lovely word picture that describes well his loping but fluid attack on the ball. If we compare Jarrad Waite in his fourth year to some of the best forwards in the AFL we see that at this stage in his development he compares very well (figures for Waite are for his 11 games so far in 2005).
If we look at what these players have become we can see what Vin's boy still needs to do to be considered an elite player.
It is an exciting prospect, how much upside will there be?
I don't know, but I can't Waite to find out.
Picture: The Age
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