By Jonty Ralphsmith
Dingley star and former Casey VFL-listed high-leaping forward Caleb Lewis was drafted to Gold Coast with pick 14 at Wednesday night’s Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
The 2024 Southern Football Netball League leading goal kicker pulled on his new colours on Saturday in the VFL, and was the Suns’ only multiple goal kicker in a heavy loss to Coburg.
Despite being Casey VFL-listed for the past two seasons, Lewis has broken through for just four VFL games, with his improvement mostly born out of his buy-in to the Dingoes, crossing from VAFA club St Bede’s ahead of 2024.
“I can’t thank the club and the boys enough,” Lewis said of Dingley.
“They’ve been a massive part of facilitating my happiness as a footballer, and my ability to go out and play by myself and feel every emotion – when I have an off game, when I have an on game, they get around me no matter what and let me play to my strengths.
“Obviously spending most of my playing days at Dingley over the past few years, they’ve been a massive help.
“It’s definitely led by Zach Horsley as coach, he’s been massive (in) allowing me to play to my strengths, play footy and enjoy it.”
Lewis becomes the third player added to an AFL list this year whose rise started in the SFNL, following Port Adelaide signing Cheltenham’s Josh Lai in the Supplemental Selection Period (SSP) and former Highett player Tom McCarthy getting taken by West Coast with pick 1 of the Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
It continues an upwards trend for the competition in recent years, with a host of former AFL players and current VFL-listed players in action across the league.
On the radar of AFL clubs in 2021 as a raw defender, Lewis went up the other end in his first two seasons of senior footy, kicking 49 goals in 14 games of senior VAFA footy in 2023 after similar dominance at under-19s level the previous year.
He remained a forward when he crossed to Dingley, improving his ability to spearhead an attack.
“It definitely has taught me to take a tackle,” Lewis said of the SFNL.
“It’s a lot more physical than VAFA Premier B was.
“As the (player) that everyone wants to kick to and hit, you definitely cop a bit more love from opposition players but it taught me to be a bit more physical and fight back.”
While his playing opportunities were sporadic at the Dees, he paid tribute to their impact on his journey.
“They were awesome (in teaching me about) understanding roles, understanding patterns, those sort of things,” Lewis said.
“Working through vision with coaches and the training standards at Casey obviously being a VFL club, everyone’s really going all out (so that) helped me go that extra bit harder each session.”
Casey VFL head coach Taylor Whitford has witnessed Lewis’ growth across his time at the club and is confident he has plenty of traits transferrable to the top level.
“He’s a forward that can leap high and take the ball at its highest point and his physical attributes allow him to impact when the ball is on the ground as well,” Whitford said.
“He can cover the ground well and the way Gold Coast play will suit him.
“It’s a good opportunity for him and the hard work starts now for him.
“We’ve worked hard with his habits off field to build consistency – he’s become settled and has really matured with the way he tackles his day-to-day.”
Lewis flew up on Thursday when he was introduced to the players, coaches and staff members and is keen for what’s to come.
“It’s a massive opportunity to grow as a footballer,” Lewis said.
“Now I’m working with (coach) Damien Hardwick, I’m keen to pick his brain and some of the other key forwards and understand what is setting them apart from the rest and how they’re making progress and learn off them (to become) a more complete footballer myself.”
Roan Steele, a former Casey player who has come runner-up in Casey’s last two best and fairests before moving to Perth to play in the WAFL this year, was picked up by Collingwood with pick 8 on Wednesday night.
Their selections follow Jai Culley winning a list spot at Melbourne in the SSP earlier this year, and three players, including Lewis, representing AFL Victoria’s Young Guns series last month.
“Roan will take to the AFL lifestyle like a duck to water because he’s an ultimate professional and he has been for a couple of years and he’s been working hard for an opportunity,” Whitford said.
“He’s a super runner.
“He blows the GPS up which lends itself to playing multiple roles – he could play as a winger/halfback or they could use him through the mid-forward layer.”
“We stopped training and got the phone out to watch Caleb’s pick go through and I told them about Roan as well and the smiles on their faces…we almost couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the night.
“It shows firsthand the success story – players play VFL footy to get drafted and to show them that it potentially isn’t too far away if you do the work helps us immensely.
“Both of those boys are relatively local as well so to show you can come to Casey and gain that opportunity is outstanding.”
