TIGER GIVEN PROD IN RIGHT DIRECTION
By Michael Lovett
AFL Record
Round 5, April 27-29, 2007
After being given his ‘marching orders’ in suburban football, a young rookie has made his mark at the elite level.
It's not often you get told to leave a club when you have just played in a premiership side. But in the nicest possible way, the uncles and stepfather of Richmond rookie Jake King gave his football career a lifeline.
After playing in a premiership in 2005 for North Heidelberg in Melbourne's Diamond Valley Football League, King was as happy and content as any 21-year-old playing local footy.
And why not? He'd been voted man of the match in the grand final, he had won North Heidelberg's best finals player and was looking forward to coming back for another pre-season, albeit a little earlier than his pre-season of 2005.
But that's where his stepfather Craig Brandt and uncles Graham and Cristian Brandt stepped in.
The Brandts are one of the best-known football families in Melbourne's north.
They are close, tight-knit and loyal.. . and they don't take no for an answer. King's uncle Cristian – aka 'Puffer' - takes up the story.
"Jake was playing really good footy and we felt he should take it to a better level than we were playing," said Brandt, who played alongside his nephew in the 2005 premiership.
"He ended up doing a few weeks of pre-season training with Essendon but that didn't work out. (VFL side) Coburg gave him a call and he had a great season last year, won their best and fairest and his footy has just gone ahead in leaps and bounds."
So what triggered the turnaround?
"You go back to when Jake was playing in the Northern Knights (in the TAC under-18 competition) and he had a bit of an attitude problem," Brandt said.
"Footy to him was a bit take it or leave it and he probably didn't give it his best shot. He has always had the ability but it was a matter of fine-tuning his attitude and dedication.
"Even in the year we won the flag, he wasn't sure if he was going to play. At one stage, he said to me: 'I think I might take a year off'. Well, we put a bit of a rocket ... up him and he eventually came back but he hadn't done a pre-season."
Fast forward two years and the transformation has been remarkable. After his standout season in the VFL, King was given a chance to tryout for one of two vacant spots on Richmond's rookie list.
Suddenly, the young man who couldn't be coaxed to a pre-season with North Heidelberg was burning up the track alongside AFL stars such as Matthew Richardson, Brett Deledio and Kane Johnson.
The tough-as-nails defender/onballer was duly taken by the Tigers in the 2007 NAB Rookie Draft and then another door opened when senior list players Mark Coughlan and Carl Peterson were placed on the long-term injury list.
King made his debut last Friday night against the Bulldogs and, while the Tigers fell to their fourth loss, the 23-year-old rookie gave a good account of himself.
He also gave hope to all mature-age footballers that you are not on the football scrapheap at 23.
And perched in the stands were a large contingent of the Kings and Brandts from North Heidelberg, proud as punch that they had shown their son/stepson/ nephew/brother the door.
