Cricket
Racing
Rugby
League
Motorsport
Football
Golf
Combat Sports
Basketball
Tennis
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Mid-season draft: Tom McCarthy’s rapid rise from local footy to the AFL
SEN • May 28th, 2025 5:46 pm
There haven't been many that have come from as far back as Tom McCarthy to make the top level of AFL football.
It was only last August that he played his last game for Highett in Division 2 of the Southern Football Netball League. Now just nine months later, he’s set to be taken by West Coast at pick No. 1 in Wednesday’s AFL mid-season draft.
15 games for Richmond in the VFL last season and another seven in 2025 where he’s been named in his side’s best six times, has been all the elite football McCarthy has needed to catch the eye of recruiters, with the 24-year-old never previously a Coates Talent League player.
While becoming an AFL footballer has always been a dream for McCarthy, it was nowhere near close to becoming a reality only very recently.
“It’s always a dream, but that was cut off around 13 or 14 when I knew that I probably wasn't going to go anywhere, to be honest,” McCarthy told SEN’s Whateley.
“I was at Cheltenham Panthers Juniors in the South Metro League, and there was absolutely no pathways football. I’d probably say I wasn’t even in the top 10 in that junior team.
“I guess I’m just sort of a really late bloomer. I started to hit my straps just before COVID and having that year off I sort of reset.
“Then when I was about 22 I really took off and found some confidence in my footy and began progressing through my career.”
The opportunity to land at Punt Road came through now Richmond VFL high-performance manager Jarrad Kay, who was an assistant at Highett.
After doing a pre-season with the Tigers in 2024, McCarthy quickly adjusted to the pace of state-league footy.
“Jarrad was probably the man that got me through to that program,” McCarthy said.
“In the back end of that year at Highett (in 2023) I really sort of found a strong confidence in my game, and I knew I could take it to the next level.
“It definitely took a couple of months to adjust, but sort of after that Christmas period of the pre-season, I felt really comfortable at home at the VFL level.”
Still, McCarthy was a fair way off really getting attention from AFL clubs… that was until Round 1 of this year’s VFL season where he picked up 24 strong disposals against Coburg.
That early performance came on the back of some standout VFL practice games, and he’s since had 22 or more disposals in six of his seven state league games in 2025.
“It was about Round 1 this year (when I started getting attention),” McCarthy said.
“I had a few really strong cracking games that I was really happy with and started to slowly get interest around that time.
“It was probably at about Round 4 or 5 when it really took off. Then I knew I could definitely be an AFL player.”
With the 187cm half-back/midfielder set to make the SFNL Division 2 to AFL jump in less than 12 months, he’s living proof that you can always dare to dream as a local player, no matter what level you’re playing at.
“I didn't think I'd be anywhere near the AFL level,” McCarthy said.
“To those guys playing local footy at the moment, you can sort of still dream, it's very possible and playing at senior level is still a great experience.
“It definitely held me in good stead and I actually can't believe that I'm here today talking to you and thinking about the possibility of being drafted.
“It’s definitely been a big couple of years.”
Listen to McCarthy’s full chat with Whateley here.
