JACK Grimes’ story is a rare one in the era of the NAB AFL Draft; the sublimely skilled defender-midfielder is a lifelong Melbourne supporter and can now proudly say that he plays for the club he loves.
Grimes had a premonition he would be whisked away interstate leading up to November’s NAB AFL Draft, but the Diamond Creek lad was overjoyed to hear Melbourne recruitment manager Craig Cameron read out his name when pick No.14 rolled around.
“It’s worked out really well actually because all of my family are
“I really had no idea going into the draft what would happen, whether I would be staying in Melbourne or whatever, but I’m still living at home at the moment so my family is really happy with the way things turned out.”
It was the perfect end to a season that exceeded all his expectations up until he was diagnosed with stress fractures in his back.
“I would have said up until the 28th of July, when I got injured, that it was going perfectly because everything was going pretty much the way I wanted,” he said.
“I started to play some good footy with the [Northern] Knights, I went over to
“It was all going really well; I’d set myself some goals at the start of the year and I had been pretty happy in that regard. But then I got injured which was a bit of a setback and was disappointing.”
Grimes is still managing the injury, but with plenty of work on his core strength, is confident of being fully fit to attack the post-Christmas training block.
In an indication of where the club sees his future, Grimes has been placed in the midfielders’ group as he learns the ropes and he certainly has the endurance and the talent to push for senior selection in his first year at the club.
But in addition to those characteristics, he has leadership qualities that are rare in one so young.
He has a relaxed, self-confident air about him as he talks to the media that some AFL players years ahead of him have been unable to master.
Awarded the Ben Mitchell Medal at the
“I got voted captain when I never used to think I said a word at training,” Grimes said of the first time he was elevated to the top job at under-16 level.
“I used to be really shy and didn’t say much, but then I got voted captain, so after that I thought I should be talking up a little bit more.
“After that I still wouldn’t have called myself that loud off the field, but on the field I started to say a bit more and really started to try and encourage my teammates.
"I really enjoy that side of it because you’re not just worrying about yourself, you’re worrying about everyone else, which actually improves your own performance too I think.
“At the start it did get to me a bit and I thought I had to be something that I couldn’t, but I started to realise that people get voted into the leadership group not on who they could be, but who they are already. I tried not to really change much after that.
“When you’re in the leadership group that we had you are really looking out for a lot of the younger guys, instead of just yourself, and it involves you in the game a lot more.
"I really like it in that respect and it’s good to get voted by your teammates as captain as well; it’s good to know that they respect you.”
Alan McConnell, the
“Jack is an exceptional kick with both his right and left foot, he’s a good reader of the play and he’s got exceptional endurance as quantified by his testing,” McConnell said.
“He’s an excellent leader … he’s played his best football for the Northern Knights in the finals; when the games were most in the balance was when Jack played his best football.
“There were a couple of matches last year where he turned the game with his ability to read the play and influenced the game with his use of the ball.”
There is, of course, a huge gulf between TAC Cup and the AFL, and while Grimes appears to have all the tools necessary to forge a long career at the elite level, he’s taking nothing for granted as he takes the first steps in what he hopes will be a fruitful journey.
“The first thing you’ve got to do is earn the respect of everyone because they don’t know anything about me yet,” he says.
“At the moment I think all of us new guys are getting home and going straight to bed every night, we’re that tired, so it’s all about just getting used to the process for us and adjusting to the training load.
“It’s weird at the moment. Every now and then I just sit back and have a think about what I’m doing because you sort of get lost in it sometimes, but it is pretty amazing. I can still remember running around the backyard when I was really little and hoping to play for the Demons one day.
“Now it’s actually happened and it does feel a little bit weird; it still hasn’t sunk in properly I don’t think.”
