In what’s being called the biggest signings in the history of the club, the Warragul Gulls will have two Carlton stars joining their ranks next season.
One of them is former Carlton, GWS, and Swans player Jed Lamb, who will return home to Gippsland where he started his football journey.
While it’s Jed’s first year at the Gulls, the star footballer said he’s looking forward to being back close to family and friends where he originally grew up.
“I’ve got family back in Warragul and I want to get back there and play with my nephews hopefully,” Jed said.
As a youngster, Jed was one of eight children growing up in Poowong North, and has always been close to his siblings.
His passion for footy started at Nyora, where he played until grade six. The Lamb family then moved to Yarram where he played the remainder of his junior football until graduating from Gippsland Power.
In the 2010 draft, he was first choice for the Sydney Swans and came in at pick 21.
“It was a bit surreal when you first walk into the rooms and see all the players you idolise like Adam Goodes, Jarrod McVeigh, Ryan O’Keefe,” he said.
After moving to Sydney, Jed made his AFL debut in 2013 and was then traded to GWS where he spent another two years. It was then onto Carlton where he took up the Navy Blue and formed connections with former Warragul player and now Carlton forward Harry McKay.
Jed spent eight years in the system, and over his AFL career he played 66 games and kicked 43 goals.
Reflecting on his experience, he said he fulfilled his childhood dream and is now looking forward to a future at Warragul.
“I sort of missed (AFL) in the first year when I was out of the system but life’s pretty good now and there’s more to life than footy, that’s for sure,” he said.
After leaving the AFL, Jed said he was lucky to get a position at construction and infrastructure company John Holland and signed up to play football for Bendigo as part of his work contract.
“I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do when I finished footy then this opportunity popped up and we’ve just been doing it ever since. I love the job, I love the crew I work with, life’s pretty good,” he said.
After the contract was up with Bendigo, he reconnected with an old family friend, Warragul coach Dean Alger, and began talks about coming on board with the Gulls.
“When I was playing down in Bendigo it was really hard to get to training and stuff with work, but now I’m close I’ll be able to attend a lot more trainings which is something I enjoy, so I’m looking forward to that,” he said.
Jed now lives in Melbourne and said his family were also looking forward to having him around more often.
“Coming from Gippsland to Bendigo it’s a bloody big trip…so they haven’t seen me play much in the last couple of years and it’s exciting to get them to come and watch,” he said.
A big drawcard of Warragul was their young playing group and successful development programs, which Jed plans to be involved with.
“That’s something I really enjoy is helping the younger kids improve their football so I’ll get down there and do a bit of that as well,” he said.
The 29-year-old will likely play up forward for Warragul and said he’s looking forward to a strong competition in the Gippsland League.
“They’ve got a really young group and it’s really exciting and obviously they didn’t finish too high last year but I don’t think they’re too far off,” he said.
And at Warragul, it’s sure to be an intense preseason with an AFL star now in the ranks.
“Coming from an AFL system I genuinely think I’m a pretty hard worker and like to keep pretty fit, so by the time games come around I’ll be fit and ready to go and hopefully have a good year with the Gulls,” he said.