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Carlton attracted plenty of comment for its selection of East Fremantle midfielder Kane Lucas with the club's top pick, No.12 overall, at last week's AFL national draft.
The popular view was that the Blues needed and would go for the best key position prospect with their precious first-round pick.
But in Lucas, the Blues have acquired a youngster who's prepared to do anything and play anywhere to establish himself in the senior line-up.
While Lucas won Under-18 All-Australian honours as a medium forward in 2009, his draft camp results - 2.93 seconds for 20 metres, a 14.4 beep test, 10:05 minutes for the 3km run and 7.95 seconds for the agility test (ranked first) - are classic 'midfield'.
The 18-year-old agrees that's where he would like to end up, but it's more important to get an education first.
'I think playing WAFL seniors last year with East Fremantle really prepared me well,' Lucas told Sportal
'I had a number of different roles from forward to back to midfield and tagging so I'm ready to answer the call whatever's thrown my way.'
'I haven't set any major goals yet, but if all goes to plan, I hope there's a role for me at senior level for sure, anywhere that I can make a contribution.'
Interestingly, when asked to list his best attributes, Lucas made no mention of the athleticism that his draft camp numbers would tend to indicate.
Instead, it was versatility, his ability to win the ball and determination to give 100 percent 'always'.
Lucas said he was rapt to be hooking up with the likes of Chris Judd, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs.
'To have so many No.1 draft picks and guys like Chris Judd, real professional athletes, it's really exciting,' he said.
Lucas said came to terms a long time ago with the prospect of having to leave Western Australia and is approaching his tenure at Carlton as part of a natural progression.
'I'm pretty open-minded, I knew the chances were that I would have to move somewhere,' said Lucas.
'I love Melbourne as a city, obviously it's the home of football and Carlton's got a very rich history.'
'I'm very excited to move here and it's my new home.'
