The footy season might be done and dusted, but Lachie Cabor is leaving no stone unturned in his mission to become an AFL player.
The Shellharbour teenager is one month away from finding out if that dream translates into reality, with the AFL Draft to be held on November 20. With the trade period wrapping up this week, attention will now turn to the draft, with Cabor among Australia's brightest prospects hoping to get picked up by a club.
If successful, he will follow in the footsteps of Shellharbour Swans junior James Bell (Sydney) and Kiama product Jack Mahony (Hawthorn) in becoming an AFL-listed player.
"I've been doing some running training and been in the gym, just trying to get my body and get as fit as I can. I'm having a big pre-season and we'll see what happens after that," Cabor told the Mercury.
"Seeing how close it is now, it just makes you want to work harder because you don't actually realise how close you are to being drafted. So you do get hungrier the closer it gets."
A Sydney Swans Academy product, Cabor has long been earmarked as a potential draftee.
He was accepted into the 2023 NAB AFL Academy last November, a program which recognises the best young talents who are one year too young to be drafted.
The 18-year-old has remained active this year as he continues to push hard to get onto an AFL list. Highlights have included representing the Australian AFL Academy Boys under 18s team in a clash with Carlton's Victorian Football League side in May.
He was also part of the Allies under-18s side which claimed its inaugural title at July's AFL National Championships.
Earlier this month, Cabor was invited to attend an AFL State Draft Combine in Melbourne, where he was put through a series of rigorous tests including for vertical jumping, sprinting and a 2km time trial.
"I was pretty with my results, but they could be better so I'll keep working at that in the off-season," he said.
"I've now got to play the waiting game until draft night and we'll see what happens. But if it doesn't go my way, I've still got plans in place for next year and I'll give it another crack."
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
