"Closest thing to Nick": Legendary Blue knights superstar rookie

Carlton are through to an Elimination Final off the back of two brilliant performances by their superstar young guns - already earning comparisons to the game's premier players.

Since debuting at the beginning of the 2026 season, Jagga Smith and Harry Dean have shone beyond your average rookies.

In fact, with Smith awarded the Rising Star award just ahead of runner-up Dean, the pair became the first players from the same club to finish first and second in the count since 2004.

Saturday night's performance against Melbourne in their first ever taste of finals football was a clear reflection of the talent the two Blues possess.

Jagga's 29 and two goals - both arriving in the final term - left him in contention for best on ground, while Dean managed career highs with 20 disposals and 11 intercepts behind the ball.

As ruckman Marc Pittonet explains, their competitive nature has driven the standards at the club since their arrival.

"It's hard to explain - I like to think that I'm pretty competitive, but they are on another level," Pittonet told AFL Nation.

"We've seen the celebrations from Harry Dean, celebrating with the crowd for a spoil.

"There's competitive, and then there is those two. They just love football, they love competing and they love playing for Carlton to be honest.

"They are feeding off every contest and they don't want to lose anything, and to be honest, they are actually bringing along the older blokes, because it's contagious what they are bringing.

Given their incredible debut seasons, Carlton legend Anthony Koutoufides has handed down significant praise to the pair, comparing Smith to the game's best while reflecting on Dean's father and Blues legend, Peter.

"Unfortunately last year Jagga injured his knee and missed the entire year," Koutoufides told SEN's Wildcard Countdown.

"To me, he is the closest thing to Nick Daicos in the competition. Maybe I'm calling a little bit out here, but I think he is a wonderful player.

"His Dad was crazy mad; this guy is taller, he is more athletic than his Dad. I respected his Dad so much as a player, he just gave his all.

"We called him 'The General' for that reason, because he put the club first before himself.

"He is one of those players that does all the small things that maybe went unnoticed by a lot of people but not by us as his teammates.

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