GEELONG Falcons duo Jack Pickett and Noah Williams have been given a taste of life in the AFL, joining the Cats for preseason training as they eye this year’s national draft.
Pickett (Torquay) and Williams (St Joseph’s) are both members of the 2026 AFL National Academy and have hit the track with Geelong this month as part of their training program.
The valuable opportunity comes as both players enter their top-age under-18 season, with their sights firmly set on becoming AFL players later this year.
At 193cm, Pickett is a strong tall forward and kicked 31 goals from his eight matches with the Falcons last year.
As he trains with the Cats, he will learn plenty from arguably the AFL’s best key forward in Jeremy Cameron as he looks to make his mark in his draft year.
Williams is a speedy midfielder who recently won the best on ground award for Team Boak – named after Port Adelaide great and Torquay local Travis – in the annual under-17 Futures match on the MCG.
He will look to pick the brains of Cats guns such as Bailey Smith and Max Holmes to fine-tune his craft ahead of the season.
The two are not the only Falcons who have had a glimpse at an AFL preseason, with various other players such as flying defender Ben Rongdit (Colac) joining in as part of the Next Generation Academy program.
Rongdit was eligible for last year’s draft, but was unfortunately overlooked after he suffered an ACL injury which forced him out for the majority of the season.
As he recovers this year, Rongdit will rejoin the Falcons program as an under-19 player and will look to keep his AFL dream alive.