Originally posted at http://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/2015-02-21/bigger-fitter-jack-ready-to-attack
Third year Sydney Swans forward Brandon Jack is a firm believer that hard work and respect are integral components of any AFL player, and is going into season 2015 with elevated stocks of both.
It’s all a product of what the 20-year-old forward rates as his best pre-season.
“I just set out to work my arse off,” he explains bluntly.
“I wasn’t satisfied last year … I’d rate it a 4 out of 10 … and I was driven by the fact that I wasn’t in the side in the finals.
“I’ve never played a final which is something I definitely want to do this year.
“I knew if I’m going to be a regular senior player I had to work harder, and that’s what I’ve tried to do over the summer.
“I’m a lot more confident because I’m fitter and stronger, and hopefully the senior players will respect me a bit more because I’m doing the hard work.
“I’m feeling more confident around senior players like Jarrad McVeigh and Lance Franklin and guys like that, and hopefully I’ll earn the respect of the senior group.”
Jack points to two significant measurements of improvement over summer.
His recent 3km time trial was 30 seconds faster than at the same time last year, and he clocked a personal best in the club’s yo-yo test, another endurance test which he explains is a faster version of the better known beep test.
Also, he’s added “two or three kilos” to top the 80kg mark after doing four or five weights sessions a week over an exhausting pre-season.
“It was bloody tough,” he said. “We’d get to Saturday and I’d just sleep because I was so tired.
“I like playing a bit of golf but the boys were too stuffed to do anything.
“I’m not that much bigger but I feel a lot stronger which is the important thing.”
Jack has played 17 AFL games in two years but, significantly, only four in the first half of the year.
He played Round 11 in 2013 and Rounds 5, 7 and 9 last year, and is hoping to win a spot in the Round 1 side against Essendon at ANZ Stadium on April 4.
“I’ve done things a bit differently this year in that I haven’t set myself any specific goals but definitely long-term I want to play Round 1 each year and earn a regular spot,” Jack said.
“I’ve just tried to train well, focus on the next session, make sure I’m running well, and doing all the little things well.”
Jack’s 2015 preparations began long before the official start of the Swans’ pre-season. He did three running sessions a week during his time off with fellow Swans youngsters Daniel Robinson and Lloyd Perris.
“We figured if we were going to have a good year, we had to get a head-start and try to have a good fitness base,” Jack said.
“It was good because we pushed each other pretty hard.
“Robbo has had a great pre-season and has improved out of sight. He’s got a different role as a half forward and is going to have a big year, and although Lloyd has had a bit of a setback with his knee, he’ll have a good year too when he gets back on the track.”
In a Swans side with a lot of players who can rotate through the midfield, Jack is keen to offer himself as another option for coaching staff in this part of the ground.
“I still consider myself a half forward or a small forward, but when I played in the Reserves last year I played a bit of midfield,” he said.
“It was something new for me and I was reasonably consistent.
“I enjoyed it, I found a bit of the footy and kicked a few goals, and hopefully with my added fitness I can at least give the coaches another option in the midfield at times.”
Set to turn 21 in May, Jack has had a significant change of lifestyle over the summer.
He’s moved out from under the wing of big brother and Swans co-captain Kieren Jack.
Instead he’s living in a flat at Coogee with teammate Sam Naismith.
“It’s the next stage of my life,” he explained, having lived with Kieren for the past two years.
“We’re just around the corner so I still see him a fair bit … he’s been around for dinner a couple of times. In fact, I reckon he misses me.”
Ironically, Jack and Naismith, a 22-year-old ruckman who made his AFL debut in Round 23 last year, are the two products of the Swans Academy to have played at League level.
Jack, son of ex-Australian rugby league legend Garry Jack, is a firm advocate of the Academy system which has faced some criticism from Melbourne clubs.
“It was great for me and without the Academy I wouldn’t have played at the same level,” he said.
“I was a rugby league player as a kid and didn’t take up footy until I was 15. I really enjoyed it so I stuck at it but I was pretty hopeless.
“I got knocked back from a lot of representative teams, and it was only the fact that I was able to train in a quality environment that saw me get to where I am.
“I didn’t have a guaranteed spot or anything. I went through a full draft before I was picked up as a rookie. But clubs like Sydney need to be able to offer this sort of thing (the academy) if they are going to attract good kids.”
Widely respected throughout the club as a mature and well-balanced young man, Jack is continuing part-time study in a combined journalism/law degree at University of NSW.
“I’m more focussed on the journalism … I do it with Lloyd (Perris). We get through. I think it’s good to do something like that outside footy.”
So perhaps Jack could have written his own story?
“I don’t think so,” he said sheepishly.
If he did, what might he write about himself?
“Got a bit of work to do,” he replied in typically modest fashion.
Naismith excited for camp
Developing ruckman Sam Naismith will head home as part of the Sydney Swans community camps across New South Wales today and tomorrow.
Naismith, originally from Gunnedah in north-east NSW, will visit Tamworth with Swans teammate Jake Lloyd.
The Swans will also host two-day camps in Wollongong, Bowral, Newcastle, Port Macquarie, Gosford, Armidale, Wagga Wagga and Sydney metro locations.
Naismith said he was looking forward to his visit to Tamworth.
“It’s about 45 minutes from my home town Gunnedah,” he said.
“It’ll be good to go back with Jake and talk to schools, the community and talk to the local AFL teams and give back to the community.
“Hopefully I can catch up for dinner with Mum one night too.”
The 22-year-old made his AFL debut for the Swans in the final round of the 2014 home-and-away season against Richmond.
After a pre-season temporarily interrupted by glandular fever, which he has now overcome, Naismith will look to add to his one AFL match this season.
“It was a massive learning curve playing in round 23 against (Richmond ruckman) Ivan Maric,” he said.
“I enjoyed every minute of it.
“I took a lot of learning out of it with my physical presence around the ground, my fitness and how to be smart around the stoppages.
“It was a massive step up in every aspect.”
Naismith has had to work his way back into pre-season after overcoming the illness and is confident he is now heading in the right direction.
“I got glandular fever at the end of the off-season and that slowed my progress with training until Christmas, which has been a bit of a pain,” he said.
“I lost six kilos pre-Christmas, so I had to focus on my diet, gym work and rehab over the first two months of 2015.
“I’m over it now and back into training.”
Naismith said he would take confidence from co-captain Kieren Jack’s recovery from glandular fever in the 2013 pre-season, which resulted in a second-placed finish in the club’s best and fairest.
The rookie-listed tall has relished his return to training and is fast making up for lost time.
“Being out with the group, being around the boys and being out on the training track – there’s nothing else like being out there and getting involved,” he said.
“Personally I’ve been trying to lift my voice and have a really upbeat attitude.
“As a (ruck) group we’re just doing our competitive work – centre bounces, ball-ups, throw-ins, positioning and body work.
“Now we’re working with games, we’re working with the midfielders and our hits as well, which is important at this time of the year."
Naismith said he was hoping to get some game time under his belt in the Swans’ intra-club practice match on Friday.
“It’s all coming around pretty quick, so it will be interesting to see how everyone goes,” he said.
Last Modified on 24/02/2015 09:04
