“BECOME the best.”

Northern Territory AFL Draft prospect Lloyd Johnston has a simple aim if he can reach the top level, with the humble defender living his best life at the moment. If Johnston can indeed earn a place on an AFL list in 2023, then the talented teenager said he would stop at nothing to become the best possible player.

“Become the best AFL player out there on that football field,” Johnston said at the National Draft Combine. “I want to be known as the best.”

It might seem like a simple and common goal, but to understand Johnston’s motives, one has to dig a bit deeper. As a child growing up, Johnston watched the likes of Adam Goodes, Shaun Burgoyne and Buddy Franklin run around on his television screen, and aspired to be like them. However living in a remote community had its challenges and making it all the way from his lounge room to the MCG seemed a pipe dream.

For many years, that is all the AFL seemed for Johnston, a pipe dream. Johnston hails from a remote town called Borroloola. Located on the McArthur River, it is best known for its fishing, but is 1000km south east of Darwin, with around 1000 residents.

“When I was a kid I come from a place where you only watch AFL on TV,” Johnston said. “As a kid I said I would love to be there but you would never think that you would make it that far coming from (my) community. Then when I got older I didn’t really care about the AFL until about two years ago when people were telling me that I had talent and seeing how AFL players lived their lives and just the environment.”

Johnston quickly rose up the ranks through the Territory, and moved to Darwin for the Clontarf Academy. He travelled for six weeks straight this year, and while he admitted it was “frustrating” at times, he knew he had to maximise his chances of reaching the top level. Over the past 18 months, Johnston won the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) Rising Star award, with the Wanderers talent describing his emotions as “proud, but nothing big for me just yet”.

In 2022, Johnston progressed further, earning a place in the Allies side, where he was able to use his elite speed off half-back, but the defender is far more than just a speedy player. He rates his marking and vision with ball-in-hand as some of his major strengths, while his natural footy smarts also come to the fore. His major improvement is his endurance, which is hardly a surprise given his lack of time in an elite junior system.

A few years ago, Johnston was just at home kicking the ball around in his local community, and this year, he was rubbing shoulders with the Gold Coast Suns AFL players at training, and representing the Suns’ VFL side.

“Seeing what their fitness is like, I need to be at that level,” Johnston said. “When I was doing the training with the Gold Coast, it was on another level, it was just quick movement.

“Playing against in my first game … you’re nervous. My first game was a very bad game, but then the second game I came out with the mindset just saying ‘you blokes are just other regular blokes’ that I know that I’m better than. I just went out and dominated, it was all just the mindset coming into VFL.”

The Hawthorn supporter was able to run out on the Gabba as part of the Allies’ AFL Under 18 Championships, an experience he describes as one of the “best moments of my footy career”. Naturally having not tested himself at that level, Johnston was incredibly “nervous” meeting players from across the country.

“I was nervous at first and seeing other talented players who could be possibly better than you but in the Allies,” Johnston said. “But they’re really good blokes, very loving blokes, good to be around.”

When receiving the National Draft Combine invitation, Johnston was surprised at first believing it was a State Draft Combine invitation. On further inspection, his surprise turned to downright shock.

“At first I thought I got invited to the State Combine and I was like ‘oh yeah that’s alright’ but then I looked again and said national and I was like ‘holy shit’ and ‘damn, that’s a lot’,” Johnston said.

“I actually wasn’t expecting anything, I didn’t think I was going to go anywhere just starting footy three years ago … but then I got invited to the National I was like ‘oh wow’.”

Johnston is adapting better to the lifestyle of being an AFL Draft prospect, and has gone from a young boy who dreamed of playing like ‘Buddy’ or ‘Goodesy’ to one who could be the next generation of Indigenous talents coming through the league. With the draft less than a week away, it is fair to say there will be plenty of interest coming from the small town of Borroloola.