Jackson to take on full-time Tiger role
10:55:06 AM Fri 24 February, 2006
Tony Greenberg
richmondfc.com.au
Former Richmond and Swans defender Francis Jackson has been appointed the Tigers’ full-time Recruiting Manager.
Jackson, 51, has spent the past 12 months assisting Richmond’s recruiting department on a part-time basis.
Richmond’s Director of Football Greg Miller explained that Jackson had made such an impression in 2005, the Club was keen to secure his permanent services.
‘The Club’s Board made a strategic decision in 2005 to go without a separate football recruiting division. I took on the role and received great support from a volunteer recruiting team, which Francis Jackson was part of,” he said.
“It was a great exercise for Francis to see how Richmond operated and to work closely with Terry Wallace and myself during the year.
“This gave Francis the confidence that he could now undertake a full-time role, and it gave Terry the confidence that he was a very astute football judge.”
Jackson played six senior games for Richmond from 1973-74, before being part of the famous trade deal for Swans’ star John Pitura in 1975. He went on to play 100 games for the Swans and earn a reputation as a tough, reliable backman.
“My relationship with Francis goes back to when he transferred over from Richmond to South Melbourne in ’75. I was one of the first blokes to meet him and we finished up becoming very good friends,” Miller said.
“An interesting part of Francis’ football career was in 1979 when he had a knee operation early on and missed the whole season. He was held in such high regard as an astute football person that Ian Stewart (the Swans’ senior coach at the time) immediately installed him as the club’s under 19s coach for the season.
“Francis had a further coaching stint with Sandringham in the VFA in 1987, and throughout my time in footy, he’s always been a good ally in the recruiting stakes.
“He worked very closely with me at the Kangaroos and, more recently, with Neville Stibbard at the Kangaroos.
“When I arrived at Richmond, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to bring him across straight away, but given the opportunity of a full-time role, we decided to get him across 12 months early (in 2005), to see how he liked the Tigers again – and how the Tigers liked him.
“And, it’s been an excellent relationship so far. He was instrumental with our draft choices last year and he now heads up the recruiting department.”
Jackson will officially start duties at Punt Road on April 1 after finishing the first school term of 2006 at Brighton Grammar, where he’s been heavily involved for many years as sports master and coach of their first-18 football team.
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