Jack Higgins reveals stunning goal was a school trick he taught himself

RICHMOND rookie Jack Higgins didn’t realise it immediately, but his scissor-kick goal-of-the-year contender against Collingwood would become a viral sensation, and explains how it all unfolded.

Jack Higgins’ goal-of-the-year contender. Picture: Michael Klein

JACK Higgins’ mind flashed back to when he was 11.

As the Richmond forward chased a ball spinning towards the goal line, his childhood memory sparked an idea.

“I saw Dustin (Martin) and (Matthew) Scharenberg going for a contest, and that’s when Scharenberg slipped over and did his knee unfortunately,” Higgins told the Herald Sun.

“The ball fell back and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m on here for an open goal’.

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“The ball did a Shane Warne sort of right turn and edged towards the goalpost.

“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to run into the goalpost. What can I do?’

“So I’ve elevated the ball drop and remembered back in primary school, me and my mates used to do scissor kicks (with a soccer ball) on a gym mat.

“That memory went through my head, and I kicked it over my head and middled it and thought, ‘What have I just done?’ ”

A quick-thinking Jack Higgins went back to a childhood memory to pull off his goal-of-the-year contender. Picture: Michael Klein

Higgins, of course, was talking about his goal-of-the-year contender.

It was Round 19 against Collingwood and, in front of 88,180 fans, the teenager’s quick thinking gave the Tigers a 10-point lead in the third quarter.

Higgins ranked the goal his No.1 highlight from a memorable debut season where he has grabbed headlines and hearts.

“I couldn’t believe it for literally the next week,” he said.

“I could not believe I just did that. It got shown to me so many times.

“It was crazy. But I didn’t even realise it was that good until the end of the game when (Fox Footy’s) Nick Dal Santo came up to me.

“I just thought it was another goal. I saw the replay (on the scoreboard) and thought, ‘That’s a cool goal’ but didn’t think much of it.”

The next day spearhead Jack Riewoldt replicated the move at a local park on an Instagram video viewed 118,000 times.

The day after that, Higgins completed a footy clinic in Glen Iris.

“I saw all these kids doing it and I was like, ‘What have I created? What have I done?’” he said.

Higgins grabbed the headlines with his spectacular goal against Collingwood. Picture: Michael Klein

Jack Higgins scissor-kick goal against Collingwood became a viral sensation. Picture: Michael Klein

“That would’ve been me five years ago doing that.

“After the game I checked my phone and it was going crazy.

“I got over 400 texts from mates – Facebook messages and Instagram DMs (direct messages) and that.

“It was shared all over my Facebook wall and I was like, ‘What have I just done?’”

“When they went to score review I thought they thought maybe it was a throw.

“I knew definitely it wasn’t touched. But it got called a goal and I thought that’s crazy.”

The No.18 draft pick ranked his first game and goal his No.2 highlight, with his viral halftime speech against Sydney No.3.

“I hate that celebration that I did (after my first goal),” Higgins said.

“It was shocking, I’m never watching that again. The halftime speech – everyone was messaging me about it… What did I say, what did I say?”

Originally published as Jack Higgins reveals stunning goal was a school trick he taught himself