2022 Player Preview | #4 Lochie O’Brien

Written by Ari Stamatakos

Throughout the 2021 Pre-season, Blue Abroad will be providing content to cover everything you need to know about the Carlton Football Club. For what should be an exciting and intriguing 2022, let's take an in-depth look at all players on the Carlton list and preview their 2022 season. #4 Lochie O’Brien 

2022 Preview

Lochie O’Brien has a lot of similarities to Paddy Dow. Drafted in the same year. Both have obvious deficiencies that frustrated the fans. Both have excellent qualities that can excite the fans. And both, are arguably on their last chance. LOB, more so. After a very disappointing 2021, this saw him moved to the rookie list, effectively saying that it's do or die this season.  

The slinky left-footed player is perhaps the only competent winger on the Carlton list. When he plays and plays well, he is scintillating to watch. Silky left-foot that is able to hit any player on the chest. He is perhaps the only player that the fan-base has faith to kick to the ball inside 50 to a target. What he lacks in physical presence, he makes up for in football skills. 

While all these pros are good. There are also some profound cons. With physicality being the most notable. He struggles to impose himself on the contest. Often shirking tackles and waiting on the outside of packs. Granted, he is an outside midfielder at heart, but it would go a long way if he put his head over the ball a little bit more. 

Furthermore, his consistency is another key issue with O’Brien’s game. In some games, he is very noticeable and can influence the outcome of a game through his elite ball use. However, the very next week he can have half the disposals and be absent throughout proceedings. 

Michael Voss has a lot of work to do with LOB in terms of his ability to influence games for a prolonged period of time. He has enough talent to be more than a ‘role’ player. Voss will need to engrain that competitive mindset and tenacity into O’Brien. If he can do that, then he could finally become that player that we all wanted him to be back in 2017. 

The Best Case Scenario 

Considering how on edge O'Brien's AFL career is, and by how much he is on the edge - the most important thing for him is to break his way into the side and become undroppable. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he needs to start averaging 20+ disposals a game. But he needs to become an extremely valuable winger that provides assets to the side that no one else can.

He has abilities that set him apart from the rest of the players in his position, so he just needs to lend into those, sharpen that iron, and become undroppable. He has to force Voss’ and make him develop a system that can get the best out of him.

He adds youthful exuberates to this side and can be a key part of Carlton’s future. But it must start from this season. This is the season where LOB can prove himself to the rest of the competition. 

The overall best-case scenario is that, by the end of the year, we, as a fan base, are talking about O’Brien as a start-up 22 player, locking down that wing spot for the next decade. 

Status Heading Into 2022

Sporadic Starting 22