ON June 21, 2014, a young boy ran out onto Cobram’s Scott Oval to make his Murray Football League debut for Deniliquin at the tender age of 14 years and 264 days.
The Rams hammered a Cobram team featuring future AFL key position player Esava Ratugolea by 160 points.
Ten years later, that young boy turned in a brilliant display in the Smithy’s VFL Grand Final to win the Norm Goss Medal in his 106th VFL match and lead Werribee to its first premiership in 31 years.
And now, after a whirlwind nine days, Jack Henderson finds himself on an AFL list after Melbourne swooped late to steal him from under the nose of the West Coast Eagles as a supplementary selection period signing.
Henderson headed across the Nullarbor on a last-minute invitation on February 9 after Eagles premiership hero Dom Sheed ruptured his ACL.
He played in their AFL match simulation win over Richmond on Monday, before the Demons’ interest surfaced.
The 25-year-old midfielder decided the take the opportunity closer to home and will join Werribee premiership teammate Aidan Johnson at the Demons.
Werribee’s second Norm Goss Medal winner in a row – behind Shaun Mannagh who parlayed his 2023 VFL Grand Final best afield display into an AFL contract with Geelong – Henderson was the man who turned last year’s decider against Southport on its head.
With his side trailing by 19 points early in the third quarter, he booted two long goals in a quick succession to haul his side back into the game.
He finished with 23 disposals (10 contested), seven marks, five clearances, eight tackles and five inside-50s to win the best on ground medal.
It capped a marvellous season where he stepped out of the shadow of the superstars that had led Werribee for a decade, finishing just one vote behind J.J. Liston Trophy winner Dom Brew in the Tigers’ best and fairest count.
Henderson’s move into the midfield saw him average 22.3 disposals (10.5 contested) at 73.5 per cent efficiency, 4.5 marks, 5.6 clearances and 5.7 tackles, while also booting 15 goals.
He also represented the ‘Big V’ in the VFL’s close loss to the SANFL at Gather Round, picking up 19 touches in a strong display at Stratarama Stadium.
Originally from the tiny community of Blighty, midway between Deniliquin and Finley, Henderson played under-14s for the Redeyes in the Picola league before stepping up to the Rams for his last season in that age group while heading to Geelong for school.
He aligned himself with St Mary’s but still headed home to wear the blue and gold of the Rams whenever he could.
Henderson played 13 games for the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup (now Coates Talent League) in 2017 before joining Werribee the following year.
He has been a fixture in the Tigers’ team ever since, remarkably missing just one game in that time, which came in Round 22, 2023 when he sat out with a minor knee complaint.
He also ventured to South Australia during the COVID-interrupted 2020 season, playing eight matches for Sturt in the SANFL.
Henderson extends the VFL’s outstanding 12 months of producing AFL talent to 17 players, joining Southport’s Ben Jepson (Gold Coast Suns) as an SSP signing this year.
Werribee teammates Riley Bice (Sydney Swans) and Aidan Johnson (Melbourne) and Richmond’s Sam Davidson (Western Bulldogs) were picked up in the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft in November.
Jack Hutchinson (Collingwood to West Coast Eagles), Max Hall (Box Hill Hawks to St Kilda), Cooper Lord (North Melbourne to Carlton), Saad El-Hawli (Northern Bullants to Essendon), Campbell Gray (Essendon to Richmond) and Ned Long (Collingwood promotion) were taken in the 2024 Mid-Season Rookie Draft.
Meanwhile, last year’s SSP delivered Lachie Sullivan (Footscray Bulldogs to Collingwood), Marty Hore (Williamstown to Melbourne), Mykelti Lefau (Richmond promotion), Josh Eyre (Collingwood promotion), Ethan Phillips (Port Melbourne to Hawthorn) and Tyler Sellers (North Melbourne promotion).
