Vice versa: 18-year-old Shane Edwards makes his first appearance for the Tigers tonight, while his older teammate 23-year-old Jake King lines up for the first time. Picture: Michael Dodge. Plumber perfect for leaky Tiger defence
20 April 2007 Herald-Sun
Scott Gullan
A PLUMBER from the suburbs lining up in the back pocket for Richmond. Ring a bell?
Tonight at the MCG the new millennium's answer to Kevin Sheedy - 23-year-old Jake King - will make his debut for the Tigers.
The King story is one which would stir Sheeds' heartstrings given it is a ripping tale of making it against the odds.
Growing up in the northern suburbs, King cut his teeth in the Diamond Valley League with North Heidelberg.
He had an ill-fated stint with the Northern Knights for two seasons which was ruined by injury and his own attitude.
"I was a smart-arse, mate," King says about his TAC Cup days. "Like everyone else at 18 you don't really give a s--- what anyone says.
"I probably only played seven games in the two years I was with the Knights. In the last year I had bad stress fractures in the back just through growing, so I basically gave it up."
With his AFL dream all but over, King returned to North Heidelberg, the club where his stepfather, uncles and brother had distinguished careers.
He put most of his energy into his plumbing apprenticeship, but he carried a football to every job and at lunchtime would enter into kick-to-kick with whoever was up for it.
Two years ago after he starred for North Heidelberg throughout the finals, earning best-on-ground in the grand final victory, King's family took matters into their own hands.
"I was happy playing for North Heidelberg and I actually wasn't going to leave North Heidelberg," he said. "But my stepfather, my brother and a couple of uncles pretty much threw me out of the club.
"They said, 'On your bike, we are not playing you next year even if you do come back'."
They urged him to give it one last shot at a higher level before giving up playing in the big time.
King trained with Essendon for a few weeks over the pre-season before finding himself signing with the Coburg Tigers in the VFL, under another back pocket player, former Hawthorn champion Andy Collins.
He quickly made his mark and when he was the joint winner of Coburg's best-and-fairest, the AFL dream had been reignited.
"It wasn't until I reckon three weeks before the end of the year that people started saying stuff.
"A couple of phone calls were coming here and there so then the mind started thinking, 'Hang on, we might be in with a go'.
"There was still the age factor which worried me. I was turning 23, that's five years on an 18-year-old kid coming out of the system."
A week before December's rookie draft Richmond told King he was under consideration, then on the morning of the draft the club rang and confirmed he would be at Punt Rd.
King put himself on coach Terry Wallace's radar by impressing in three pre-season practice matches and was promoted off the rookie list to replace the injured Carl Peterson before Round 1. He is described as a "hard-at-it defender" in the AFL season guide with his measurements at 174cm and 74kg, which King disputes.
"They have robbed me there. I'm nearly the same size as Nathan Foley (177cm), in fact I am taller than Foley, so let's go with 178cm."
Joining him on the MCG tonight is another Tigers debutant, South Australian Shane Edwards. The No. 26 pick in last year's national draft, Edwards, 18, has had a more conventional route than his teammate.
A 180cm midfielder with pace, he represented South Australia in the national under-18 titles, then played 10 senior games for North Adelaide in the SANFL.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21587796%255E19742,00.html
