Richmond VFL development coach Xavier Clarke provides ‘Roar Vision’ with an insight into the pre-season progress of the Tigers’ first pick in last year’s AFL national draft, exciting, young small forward/midfielder Jack Higgins.
His first pre-season at Tigerland
“He ran a 10.10 3km time trial, which is elite midfield running. If you can up to your first pre-season running those times, you’re only going to get better. His strength stuff in the gym’s been pretty good, too. And he’s been able to understand our game plan pretty quickly and pick that up.”
Key on-field attributes
“His ability to win the ball and use the ball. And in traffic he’s really good. He reminds me a lot of Jack Graham the way he runs between stoppages. His run and ability to be able to get back in defence, and then also join in the attack, is certainly one of his biggest strengths. He’s really good in the contest and making tackles . . . And he gets a really good balance between contested and outside possession as well. The other good thing about Jack is he’s really dangerous when it goes forward. He knows where the goals are, and he loves a goal . . .
Turbo-charged Tiger
I think he’s got the nickname ‘Turbo’ now because he’s always just flat out the whole time . . . His second and third efforts, staying in the contest, is something that he’s really brought to the VFL . . .”
Innate front-and-square ability
“He is dangerous when he goes forward because he just knows where to get to the right spots . . . He has good running ability to get forward and he generally gets there one-out, front and centre as well.”
Marking ability
“It’s pretty good for a small guy. Jack’s not a massive midfielder, but he can be really strong overhead. We saw before (highlights package) him one-out in the goal-square, being able to use his body, get off and take a mark. So he’s good at that. He sees the game really well.”
Likely role in the senior side
“It’s a tough one because he can play as a ‘mid’, he could play high half-forward, he could even play a bit similar to the way a (Kane) Lambert plays, as well, at some point. So he’s got an ability to play different types of roles for us. Is he ready for AFL football? At the moment, we’re not sure, but he’s certainly shown really good signs in the pre-season . . . Hopefully, Tigers fans will see him playing senior footy soon.”
