Jackson sees improvement aheadBy Jennifer Witham
Tue 02 Aug, 2011Full press conference:http://bigpondvideo.com/RichmondTV/377084/dan-jackson-press-conference/-------------------------------------------------------------------
On the eve of his 100th AFL game, Richmond midfielder Daniel Jackson says he believes the next phase of his career will provide the on-field success that has eluded him so far.
The 25-year-old commerce student has never played in a final, and has played in 29 wins, 67 losses and three draws since he was selected by the Tigers with pick No.53 in the 2003 NAB AFL Draft.
Despite that, Jackson believes the Tigers are moving in the right direction, and that the second half of his career will produce much more success than the first.
"Another 100 [games] would be a big call … but I'm more confident now than I have been for the whole time I've been at the club," he said on Tuesday.
"We've got the right people and there's something I've picked up over the years - if you get the right people with the right character, they're going to find a way to get the job done.
"That's what we've got at the moment. They're young and they're a bit inexperienced but we're all striving in the same direction and it's just a matter of time now."
Jackson, who has taken seven years to complete his university degree and is one year away from graduating, is a strong believer in life away from football.
He's an avid Tweeter - taking to the social media forum to express his views on the US debt crisis as recently as Monday - and his Twitter profile describes him as, "A footballer with an opinion, a taste for good food, an ear for live music and a love of travel".
He encourages other players at the club to "have balance" in their lives as well, to help them escape from what has been often the harsh reality of playing for a struggling side.
"It is one of the things that has kept me sane, especially through stressful times over the years, just to have other things to fall back on," he said.
"Whether it's study, or tweeting and trying to keep out of trouble there, or even travel at the end of the year, if you have those things to fall back on, life just continues on as it needs to."
Jackson won't have his family at Sunday's clash with West Coast at Patersons Stadium - as his parents have "picked the favourite child" and gone to Amsterdam to watch his brother row in the Under 23 World Championships.
He'll have friends there instead to witness something he's pretty pleased about achieving after a workmanlike eight years.
"I was never going to be one of the stars of the competition. I'm just one of the guys that has to do his job and as one of the leaders, look after the after guys," he said.
"That's what I pride myself on doing. If I play another 50 games like that, I'll be very happy with my career.
"I was drafted was as a 17-year-old and I was pretty raw, and I thought I'd be lucky to play 20 games, and then I got to 50, and here I am playing 100.
"Probably it's taken a bit of luck with circumstance with where I've been for the last eight years but I'm looking forward to the next 50 because I think they're going to take us to the big places."
It will take some doing to get a favourable result on Sunday, with the Eagles winning their past seven games at home, and five of their last six against the Tigers at the Perth stadium.
Jackson says while the Tigers can take heart from the Eagles' 12-month turnaround that has seen them go from 16th at this stage of last season to fifth this year, they'll take more from a win over a potential top four team.
"We could be playing one of the lesser teams this week and we could win and people would be happy that we did but if we go over to Perth and beat the Eagles, people will certainly be turning heads and saying that maybe we haven't quite hit the wall as other people has suggested," he said.
"It has been a tough month but we certainly haven't hit a wall. There's still five games to go, we've got a lot we can achieve, and there are a lot of teams that are a bit older that might not see it the same way.
"With a young group, there's just so much more you can do. You can build momentum, you can get young guys experience, you can have guys that may not have found form all year find it and it just means their pre-season is so much better for it.
"We've got plenty to gain and that's the way we're going to attack it."
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/119992/default.aspx
