The Tigers took Jakobi with their first pick in the 2011 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (pick 11 overall), and even the AFL web site was caught out, with no photo and few statistics on the 186cm rebounding defender.
But Tigers recruiting manager Francis Jackson said that the 19-year-old had been on his radar for years.
"I've known Ben since he was 12 when he shifted from NSW to Brighton Grammar, where I was a teacher," Jackson told richmondfc.com.au. "He played a bit of footy in New South Wales, and then played footy down here to the extent that he represented Victoria at under-15 level.
"Then, unfortunately, he had a stress fracture of his foot, which plagued him for about 18 months, so he only played a few games for those two years.
"He played only two games for the Sandringham Dragons, but I knew he had ability from watching him at school.
"So I was keen to get him to Coburg so that we could just guide him in the right direction."
Jakobi kicked 11 goals in a school game while playing out of the goalsquare, but has been at the other end of the ground in the VFL.
He heads into the 2011 pre-season with a fit body for the first time in several years, and the knowledge that Melbourne were interested enough to apply to have him train with them in the lead-up to the draft.
"He played at Coburg in the reserves this year - he had a knee injury at the start of the year which slowed him up, but after that he played an entire season, which is the first time in three or four years that he's had some continuity in his footy," Jackson said.
"He played some really good footy towards the end of the year, and this is the second year he's been training with us.
"The coaches have been very pleased with his skill level and his ability to kick the footy.
"We certainly didn't pluck him, we've been well and truly aware of his ability for a long time."
