To describe Jacob Edwards’ AFL experience in 2021 as a rollercoaster would be understating things.
After being overlooked in the 2020 NAB AFL Draft, the 202cm ruck/forward prospect surged into draft calculations in the first half of the new season, with his rise culminating in his selection as the first pick in the mid-season draft.
Unlike the other prospects in last year's mid-season draft, Jacobs Edwards was not available to come straight into North Melbourne’s program. He still had his final year of school to finish.
Coming into the club on weekends and during school holidays, Edwards was given a small taste of what life as a Kangaroo was like and took part in the VFL clash with Port Melbourne, where he sealed a promising performance with a well-taken goal to ice the game.
Now adapting to life as a full-time professional athlete, he says he’s using his experiences from the last 12 months to drive his own standards forward.
“Once school finished I had a bit of an off-season break which I enjoyed, but I couldn’t wait to come back in,” Edwards told North Media.
“I missed a fair bit being able to only come in for a couple of weeks last year. It’s so much better being here full-time and not missing anything in training, or education-wise.
“Playing those VFL praccy games and that one official game gave me a bit of an idea about the strength of the players at that level and how quick the game is. I want to use that as a base to push for a senior spot this year to hopefully play a game in 2022.”
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Edwards is currently the only player on North’s list to have been recruited in a mid-season selection period. While technically a part of the 2020 draft class that features the likes of Will Phillips and Tom Powell, he’s integrated well into the club’s current crop of first-year players.
Due to his limited time at Arden Street last year, he says he’s viewing 2022 as his debut campaign.
“I’m taking this as my first year and I’m still trying to learn all the basic rules, tactics and everything we’ve got going on around here.
“Being a first year with (Josh) Goater, PC (Paul Curtis), ‘Horney’ (Jason Horne-Francis) and ‘Jacko’ (Archer), we’ve become pretty close and we’re all trying to learn and build together.
“I did have a bit of an advantage over those other first year boys since I had an idea of the standard that needs to be achieved.
“I was telling them before pre-season even started about the level that’s needed, and about how they couldn’t muck around once they got here.”
Still just 19, Edwards is primed to learn the ruck/forward position from one of the greatest players to ever perform the role, all-time AFL hit-out leader Todd Goldstein.
On top of ‘Goldy’ the Kangaroos have Tristan Xerri, former Tiger Callum Coleman-Jones, and even Charlie Comben as options to run through the middle of the ground.
Edwards says he’s looking to learn from them all.
“Goldy is a big one, just on ruck craft. I’m always trying to get advice from him on how to move around the ground, where to tap, how to tap and body positioning, and CJ’s great as well. He’s been playing footy for a few years now and he obviously knows what it takes to win at the senior level having been in a successful team that won premierships at the Tigers,” Edwards said.
"Josh Walker’s been another big one, he’s been playing on me a lot when I’ve been forward and he’s back and he’s helping me with positioning in that forward 50 and how to work my body around the contest. He’s played all around the ground so he knows all the spots and how the game works in each position, so he’s a great player to learn off of.
“I just want to work my hardest to have an impact on the game and do my best to play my role as a forward or a ruck as well as possible, and learning from guys like that will help me do that."
