Nathan Freeman was drafted by Collingwood with pick 10 in the 2013 National Draft and was projected as a dynamic midfielder of the future.
However, ongoing hamstring injuries derailed his career and he ultimately only played two games – for St Kilda in 2018.
He has since found his footing in the VFL, dominating for Frankston early in the 2021 season.
Freeman is averaging 41 disposals per game across the opening fortnight of the season and has been a crucial cog in the Dolphins’ engine room.
The mid-season draft is coming up in June, but the 25-year-old isn’t thinking about the future.
“To be honest, I don’t even think about it. I’m enjoying my footy and playing down at Frankston with a great bunch of blokes,” Freeman told SEN’s Sporting Capital.
“I don’t think anyone wants a plodding inside mid, it’s all talls they want in the draft at the moment.
“I think there’s better prospects down at Frankston than myself. We got blokes like Will Fordham, Anthony Brolic, Bailey Lambert who’s the son of Craig, he’s doing great things down at Frankston.
“Lambert is a weapon. He’s only played three VFL games in his life coming from Richmond VFL across to us and he’s a ball of energy. He has so much confidence in himself and it’s showing in his performances.
“He hits the scoreboard, he’s elite in defence, plays tall, plays small, marks it over his head and he’s got a fair few weapons that would be quite appealing to AFL clubs if they came down and took a look.
“He’s a different type. A versatile player with elite endurance and elite speed are the ones clubs are looking at. I can imagine he would get some serious interest now. He’s a weapon in his own right and such a good player.”
Freeman’s bad luck started early in his career, with a hamstring tendon injury constantly thwarting his development.
“When I did my first hamstring down in Geelong, we actually didn’t think it was too bad at the time and then I got a scan at there was some tendon involvement,” he said.
“That adds quite a few weeks onto the recovery time, but it just sort of lingered and it didn’t get back to 100 per cent and the next year I came back through the VFL and I did it again and went under the knife to clean up a few things and to repair the tendon which was injured for the previous 12 months.
“It just sort of never got right and we kept trying but it was such a unique injury in the way it was acting and behaving and we couldn’t put a finger on what it was and how to treat it.”
Freeman feels he left his run at AFL level too late during his time with the Saints.
“It was a little bit of a surprise (to be delisted by St Kilda), but I’m a bit of a realist and I had a few games to perform at the end of the year and I was out of contract and I had a shoulder injury that needed surgery at the end of the year which would have delayed the start to my pre-season,” he said.
“Where we were coming from as a club, I think we went through a bit of a cleanout towards the end of that year with Darren Minchington, Sam Gilbert, Brendon Goddard and those sorts of players.
“It was just bad timing in a way. I still felt I had a bit to give at the level, but that’s footy and it’s a brutal game. You can’t stay stagnant and I sort of left my run too late.”
Frankston hosts Aspley at Skybus Stadium in the VFL in Round 3.
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