SWAN Districts colts and reserves premiership player Lawson Humphries is now an AFL-listed player, heading to Geelong for the 2024 season.

When Humphries ran out onto Steel Blue Oval for a pre-season training session last Tuesday with his Swan Districts teammates, as far as he knew he was still getting ready for the 2024 WAFL season to build on his accomplishments in 2023.

Going into the AFL draft, he did have hopes that Geelong would select him with the interest they showed in him, but once he started training on Tuesday night, he tried to put it out of his mind until coach Andrew Pruyn pulled the team together unexpectedly.

“I was half expecting it I would say. I had spoken to Geelong on the Tuesday morning and they had spoken to me a few times, and seemed quite keen but they still couldn’t give me any guarantees,” Humphries said.

The smooth moving and skilful 20-year-old has shown great versatility with the ability to play off half-back, to go through the midfield and he also did well with his stints in attack in 2023.

Humphries is delighted that the Cats had selected him while he was with all his teammates and at the Swan Districts Football Club, and said he has so many people in black-and-white to thank for making it happen.

“Those boys are the reason that I’m sitting in this position and the club as well have been such a huge support for me,” he said.

“So, to share it with the club and the people who helped me out, it does mean a lot and those boys I’ve played colts with them, won a flag with them and then won a ressies flag.

“To share it with them, they’ve been such a big part of my development and 100 per cent, I think it was the best way possible for me to find out.”

Humphries still can’t believe that he’s about to call players like Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins and countless other Cats greats as teammates come this time next week.

“There’s a lot of legends and they’ve had a lot of guys in the last 20 years who have been greats of the game so it’s definitely going to be tough to compose myself at the start.

“But I think once we start kicking the footy around I’ll be straight back to business and be able to focus – I’m just super excited to start.”