LAWSON Humphries’ story is too good to be true. He will tell you as much.
But even after the 21-year-old strips away some of the hype, what the Geelong defender is doing in his debut season is still amazing.
Recruited with the second-last pick of last year’s national draft at No.63, Humphries made his senior debut in round 16 and two games later had earned a Telstra AFL Rising Star nomination.
Now he’s preparing to play in his first preliminary final.
This time last year, he was playing in the WAFL reserves finals for Swan Districts.
“It’s funny – I’ve actually said to a few people – I played more (WA) senior games last year than ‘ressies’ games. I just played the finals in the ressies,” he told media before Wednesday morning training at GMHBA Stadium.
“So everybody is like ‘Aw, he’s a ressies player’ – but I did actually play League. It makes the story sound better, so I will let them run with it.
“It’s been a bit of a weird one, I guess, I hear it a bit, but I try not to read too much into it.
“I think that’s when you start to get a bit content with it – people say ‘Aw, he’s done so well’. But I feel like I have a lot of development to go.”
Still, Humphries admits last weekend’s 84-point qualifying final win over Port Adelaide was big.
“On the weekend, I was trying to take it all in because a year ago, I was watching the (AFL) finals on TV,” he said.
“Being able to be a part of it and really taking it in – ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ (Port Adelaide’s pre-game anthem) – just the energy of the pre-game especially … such a passionate crowd like Port, it was pretty amazing.
“It’s kind of surreal that it’s all happening, but I’m loving it.”
There are also several clear reasons why Humphries is having such an unlikely impact.
The Pilbara native learned his footy at Wickham, a mining town more than 1500km, or 16 hours’ drive, north of Perth – so a regional community like Geelong suits him well.
He also went to boarding school at Hale in Perth, so moving across to the other side of Australia for his career was not too big a stretch.
Last year was the third time Humphries had nominated for the draft, so he’d been made well-aware there were areas of his game that needed work.
Lawson Humphries completes the agility test during the 2023 AFL National Draft Combine at Curtain University. Picture: AFL Photos
In the 2022/23 off-season, Humphries worked with Perth athletics coach Paul Edmiston on his running.
Humphries had coach Greg Harding in his corner at Swan Districts and when he moved to Geelong, he was to meet another more-than-handy mentor.
His older brother Joshua had often raved about Nigel Lappin, the Fab Four midfielder who was a star of the Brisbane Lions’ 2001-03 premiership three-peat.
“I knew a lot about him as a footballer. But as a person and as a coach, he’s been so good,” Humphries said of Lappin.
“You’re talking about being away from home – having a positive figure like that, a senior figure, around the club, it makes you feel a lot more welcome.”
It’s Lappin as much as anyone who has drummed into Humphries the need to take the game on, to be as physical as possible despite his slight frame, and to stick to the Cats’ ironclad structure in defence.
And if the AFL doesn’t work out, he’s also studying anthropology at university.
That’s not a well-worn career path for a footballer, but his father Ross works in mining and Humphries is interested in the Indigenous cultural heritage aspect of the industry.
“It’s pretty good pay, as well, in the mines – that’s always a bit of an incentive,” Humphries said with a grin.
