Luke Jackson (footballer)

Luke Jackson
Personal information
Full name Luke Jackson
Nickname(s)

Dogga[1]

Unicorn
Date of birth (2001-09-29) 29 September 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Fremantle, Western Australia
Original team(s) East Fremantle
Draft No. 3, 2019 AFL draft, Melbourne
Debut 13 June 2020, Melbourne vs. Carlton, at Docklands Stadium
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight 100 kg (220 lb)
Position(s) Ruck, Forward
Club information
Current club Fremantle
Number 9
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2020–2022 Melbourne 52 (30)
2023– Fremantle 45 (42)
Total 97 (72)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 23, 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Luke Jackson (born 29 September 2001) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for the Melbourne Football Club.

Early life

Jackson attended Willetton Senior High School in Perth, Western Australia.[2] He was childhood friends with NBA draft pick Luke Travers. The pair both attended Willetton Senior together as part of their renowned basketball academy.[2] He was also childhood friends with fellow 2019 AFL draft pick Trey Ruscoe, the pair attended the same primary school and played junior football together.[3]

Early basketball and football

In 2018, Jackson represented Australia at the Under-17 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Argentina and won gold at the Under-16 FIBA Asia Championship in China.[4] He was named in the all-tournament team for the U16 Asian Championship.[5] The AIS basketball program was keen for him to move to Canberra in 2019 and begin a pathway which could have led him to college in the United States.[4]

Jackson represented Western Australia at the AFL Under 18 Championships for two seasons, where he ended up winning under-18 All Australian selection.[6][7][8] He also played for the East Fremantle Sharks for the 2019 season in the colts division.[9][10] Jackson grew up as a supporter of the Fremantle Football Club.

AFL career

Jackson was recruited by Melbourne with pick 3 in the 2019 AFL draft.[11][12][13] Jackson debuted in the Demons' one-point win over the Carlton Blues in the second round of the 2020 AFL season.[14] He collected 7 disposals, 1 behind and 1 tackle.[15] After being omitted for the next 3 rounds, Jackson re-entered the team in Round 7. He won the Rising Star nomination for Round 10.[16][17][18] In that game he kicked 2 goals, including the opening goal. On top of that, he also collected 8 disposals, 14 hitouts and 2 marks.[19] At the conclusion of the year he took out the Harold Ball Memorial Trophy, an award given to the best young talent for the Melbourne Demons.[20] Jackson re-signed for a one-year contract extension at the end of the year, keeping him at the club until 2022.[1]

Jackson became a part of a select few players in the AFL to receive two Rising Star nominations in their careers after he received a 2021 AFL Rising Star nomination for his 22 disposal, 1 goal performance in Round 7 of the 2021 AFL season,[21] and won the award overall at the season's conclusion.[22] Jackson was a part of Melbourne's 57 year drought breaking Grand Final victory over the Western Bulldogs.[23]

Following Melbourne's loss to the Brisbane Lions in the 2022 semi-final, Jackson reportedly met with the club and formally requested a trade to his home state of Western Australia, however he did not nominate a specific club and allowed offers from both West Coast and Fremantle.[24] Jackson was traded to Fremantle on 10 October for a first-round pick, a future first-round pick and a future second-round pick.[25] Upon joining Fremantle Jackson signed a seven year contract tying him to Fremantle until at least 2029.[26]

He made his debut for Fremantle in round one of the 2023 AFL season against St Kilda at Optus Stadium. Round 15 saw Jackson collect 17 disposals, 9 score involvements and kick three goals during Fremantle's 32 point win over Essendon.[27] Western Derby 57 saw Jackson collect 19 disposals, 26 hitouts and kick a goal in Fremantle's win over West Coast. He finished the game equal best on ground after tying with Lachie Schultz for the Glendinning–Allan Medal.[28] He finished his first season at Fremantle with a fourth place finish in the club's fairest and best award.[29]

He was ranked the sixth best ruckman in the league by Nine's Wide World of Sports in February 2024.[30] Jackson made the line-up for Fremantle's opening game of the 2024 AFL season against the Brisbane Lions at Optus. He was named as the sole ruckman after fellow ruckman and teammate Sean Darcy was ruled out due to injury.[31] Jackson was impressive collecting 30 hit-outs and kicking two goals in the 23 point come from behind win.[32] He was arguably Fremantle's best player the next week against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, collecting 24 disposals, 21 hit-outs, two goals and 10 score involvements.[33]

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 17, 2024.[34]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
H/O
 Hit-outs
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T H/O G B K H D M T H/O
2020[a] Melbourne 6 6 3 2 19 33 52 9 8 29 0.5 0.3 3.1 5.5 8.7 1.5 1.3 4.8 0
2021# Melbourne 6 24 16 9 107 201 308 72 48 255 0.7 0.4 4.5 8.4 12.8 3.0 2.0 10.6 3
2022[b] Melbourne 6 22 11 12 118 185 303 65 81 243 0.5 0.5 5.4 8.4 13.8 3.0 3.7 11.0 2
2023 Fremantle 9 23 22 19 165 181 346 78 81 406 1.0 0.8 7.2 7.9 15.0 3.4 3.5 17.7 6
2024 Fremantle 9 16 14 10 96 185 281 45 50 268 0.9 0.6 6.0 11.6 17.6 2.8 3.1 16.8 TBC
Career 91 66 52 505 785 1290 269 268 1200 0.7 0.6 5.5 8.6 14.2 3.0 2.9 13.2 11
  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. ^ 2022 statistics include one game in which Jackson was substituted out of the game due to injury (round 23) and was replaced by James Jordon.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b Gibson, Ben (18 November 2020). "Dogga the Demon: Jackson extends contract with Melbourne". Melbourne Demons Media. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Smith, Ben (30 June 2022). "Cut the B.S: From high school to the big time, Luke Travers and Luke Jackson's paths forever entwined". perthnow.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022.
  3. ^ Luke Jackson and Trey Ruscoe, retrieved 14 October 2023
  4. ^ a b Rynne, Nick (25 June 2018). "Luke Jackson is a young man with a big choice to make - footy or basketball?". The West Australian. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Sotto, Sun and Wigness lead the FIBA U16 Asian Championship Mythical Teams". fiba.basketball. 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Luke Jackson". Aussie Rules Draft Central. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  7. ^ Twomey, Callum (4 July 2019). "REVEALED: The 2019 U18 All Australian team". AFL Media. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  8. ^ Waterworth, Ben (15 November 2019). "This star AFL draft prospect wants to buck a ruck trend — and he's set to be snapped up very quickly". Fox Sports. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  9. ^ Fogliani, Lenny (5 June 2019). "AFL U18s Championships Preview: Western Australia". WA Football. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  10. ^ McArdle, Jordan (1 May 2019). "Luke Jackson, Jeremy Sharp and Liam Henry among the first-round draft prospects in WA's AFL National Under-18 Championship squad". The West Australian. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Who would you have taken at pick No.3? We ask the recruiters". Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Luke Jackson". Footywire. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  13. ^ Gibson, Ben (27 November 2019). "Melbourne lands Jackson with pick No.3". MelbourneFC Media. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  14. ^ Harrington, Anna (10 June 2020). "Bennell locked in for Demons AFL debut". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Round 2 • Carlton v Melbourne - Player Stats". Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Melbourne's Luke Jackson joins former WA teammate Mitch Georgiades as Rising Star nominee in 2020". The West Australian. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  17. ^ Gibson, Ben (8 August 2020). "Jackson earns Rising Star nomination". MelbourneFC Media. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  18. ^ Twomey, Callum (8 August 2020). "Dees finally break four-year Rising Star drought". AFL Media. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Adelaide vs Melbourne - Player Stats". AFLTables. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  20. ^ Gibson, Ben (23 September 2020). "2020 Best and Fairest: All the winners". Melbourne Demons Media. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  21. ^ "Athletic Demon joins exclusive club with second Rising Star nod". AFL Media. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Action Jackson: Young Demon crowned Rising Star". afl.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  23. ^ "'We should unleash him': The big call that won the Dees a Grand Final". afl.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  24. ^ Gleeson, Michael (13 September 2022). "Action on Jackson trade: Demon requests trade home to WA club". The Age. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  25. ^ @AFL_House (10 October 2022). "Trade paperwork lodged" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. ^ Geleit, Lachlan. "FREO STAR OUTLINES "NUMBER ONE ROLE" FOR LUKE JACKSON". sen. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  27. ^ Healey, Catherine. "'Bragging on that shot!' Freo's 'natural forward' delivers ... with a warning to rivals". foxsports. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  28. ^ Schmook, Nathan. "Dockers do it easy over hapless Eagles in derby demolition". afl.com.au. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  29. ^ Schmook, Nathan (12 September 2023). "Purple reign: Star Docker caps brilliant year with maiden Doig Medal". Australian Football League.
  30. ^ Pavlou, Anna (26 February 2024). "Who is the best big man in the game? The top 10 ruckmen who will stamp their authority on 2024". Nine's Wide World of Sports.
  31. ^ Barrett, Jackson. "Fremantle Dockers confirm Sean Darcy's injury timeline, but Luke Jackson says he is ready to fill the void". thewest.com. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  32. ^ Chadwick, Justin. "Dockers star Luke Jackson liking the taste of ruck role". canberratimes.com. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  33. ^ Cotton, Ben. "'Ominous' beast poses Freo dilemma in epic comeback as 'exciting' Roos shine: 3-2-1". foxsports.com. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  34. ^ "Luke Jackson". AFL Tables. Retrieved 9 November 2020.