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“Stoked to get the opportunity” : Evans excited for opportunity at Carlton after SSP selection
Nicholas Quinlan • February 23rd, 2025 3:46 pm
Francis Evans hopes to be able to make an impact for Carlton as he joins their main list from the SSP period.
Evans was selected by Carlton on Thursday having beaten out the likes of Denver Grainger-Barras for the spot.
His selection onto the list has been seen as a replacement for former Blue Matthew Owies.On SEN’s Sportsday, Evans spoke with Gerard Healy and Kane Cornes on his delight at being picked up by Carlton for the AFL season and returning home to Melbourne.
“It’s a bit of a weird one, I guess internally I was pretty confident, but Carlton had committed to a few blokes on the SSP list so the opportunity for me to train were pretty limited. But I just grinded away and just though I was good enough to put the runs on the board at training and match play,” Evans said
“Moving back to Melbourne was good for me I guess, being close to family and mates living away for five years. I guess that’s a good thing that came from it.”
The former Geelong and Port Adelaide player had his best season of his AFL career last season where he played 17 games for the Power which included all three finals games. During that he managed to score nine goals for the season.
However, despite his best efforts he was delisted by Power at the end of the season as they looked for reinforcements in the small forward space.
“Their (Port Adelaide) feedback I guess was that they wanted to get a few more small forwards through the draft and the trade (period),” he said.
“They said I lacked a little bit of polish and class so it is was it is, I wasn’t going to fight back too much or anything.
“I didn’t necessarily agree with it but that’s fine.”
The nature of the SSP often sees many former/delisted AFL players compete extremely hard against one another for a final list spot as they look to take a hold of their second lifeline or in Evans’ case a third. But now that Evans has been selected, he is looking to make the most of the opportunity.
“It can be pretty brutal when you put it like that,” he said.
“All those boys were doing really well. I’m obviously stoked to get the opportunity from the club and I’m going to take it with both hands.”
Looking forward to the season ahead, Evans believes that he will largely play as small forward for the Blues but has hinted at possibly moving up the field.
“At the moment, front half. That small pressure forward I guess which I have been doing for the last few years and have been kinda getting used that role and doing it well,” he said.
“Any little things for the team, I think that’s a part of the game that’s where I can make a bit of a difference and potentially on the wing if the team needs me.”
Carlton will play against the GWS Giants in Manuka Oval for the AMMI community series on Friday the 28th of February at 5:20pm AEDT time.
Photo Credit: Carlton's X account
