In a special series leading into this week’s AFL national and rookie drafts, Richmond Media is looking at those members of the Tigers’ 2020 premiership team who have proven to be brilliant, bargain-basement buys for the Club. Our specific focus is on the start of their Tigerland journey. We turn our attention today to dual premiership midfielder Jack Graham.
What the Richmond recruiters said about Graham after he’d been drafted
Matthew Clarke: “Jack’s got a mature body . . . The knock on him might have been, has he got a lot (of growth) left in his body? He’s probably not going to grow much taller or get much bigger – but he doesn’t need to.
The thing about Jack is his ability to transition-run defensively, as a midfielder, was as good as we’ve seen in a long, long time.
A lot of the boys at junior level tend to just go chasing the ‘pill’ and get it forward and kick a goal. But Jack’s ability to stick his head down, turn the other way and run back, was as good as we’d seen in this draft pool. And his GPS numbers were off the clock compared to most other boys in the group.
So we’re really excited to have him.
He was State (SA) under-18 captain this year and has impressive leadership qualities.
One of our guys that works over there (in Adelaide), said they hadn’t seen one of the SA (under-18) captains like him in the last 10 years . . .
He’s one of those guys that grabbed the players after the coach had spoken to them just to say, ‘Okay boys, this is what we’re doing, so let’s get on board’ . . .
Jack’s a super competitor. He tackles fiercely, he crashes in, he forces turnover, contested ball.
If you win contested ball, can tackle and can run, you give yourself a chance to play at the elite level.”
Francis Jackson: “Jack had a wonderful (under-18s) national carnival (captain of SA, winner of the Larke Medal and All-Australian representative).
His work ethic and competitiveness are outstanding.
He works really hard and is a leader, who just leads with great example.
He’s really hard in the contest, yet he’s an outstanding runner.
He’s played against men, so (at Richmond) he’ll play in the midfield and win a lot of contested footy – clearances, inside stuff.
But he’s an elite runner as well. So that really gives him a point of difference.”
South Australia’s under-18s coach at the time, and SANFL Head of Talent, Brenton Phillips, on Graham:
“Jack has outstanding work ethic and consistency, along with a good mix of contested ball and outside creativity.
His general game sense and endurance are impressive.
While his pace is okay, he compensates for any issues in this area with his ball-reading ability and leadership.”
Richmond Media article on Graham’s AFL debut in 2017
Talented, tough, young midfielder Jack Graham had the equal most tackles by an AFL player on debut in Richmond’s big win against Fremantle at Domain Stadium yesterday.
Graham, with 11 tackles, joined Collingwood’s Rupert Wills, who set the debutant tackling record late last season.
It was an impressive first-up display overall by Graham. Along with those equal game-high 11 tackles, he had 13 disposals, including six contested possessions, four inside-50s and kicked a goal.
The strongly-built 19-year-old didn’t seem fazed in the slightest by taking the significant step up from VFL football, where he’d been having a major influence, to AFL ranks.”
Jack Graham fact file
Draft history: Richmond’s second pick (No 53 overall) in the 2016 AFL national draft.
AFL debut: Round 22, 2017 v Fremantle, Domain Stadium.
Total games: 55
Goals: 21
Playing honours: Dual Richmond premiership player 2017, 2020, Club life member 2017.
