Dragons young gun Jackson Ford reveals ‘dark days’ behind his unlikely rise into the NRL
Jackson Ford was cut twice and suffered as many shoulder reconstructions - yet he still joined that famed Gerringong production line which boasts the likes of Mick Cronin, Rod Wishart and the Sims boys as an NRL starter.
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Maybe if Jackson Ford had a different surname it would’ve been easier to quit on his dream.
Like when he trialled with Illawarra Harold Matthews a few years back, and was first kid cut. Or a year later, when punted again in SG Ball.
“And both times,” he says, “without even playing a game.”
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Which was tough for this Gerringong carpentry apprentice. A wiry NRL wannabe who, having left school in Year 10, had taken to eating six sandwiches each smoko — then washed them down with a box of barbecue shapes — in a desperate bid to enlarge his frame.
Ford, see, has never been the biggest fella.
“Not the fastest or strongest, either,” he concedes.
Yet still, he is now in the NRL anyway. Not only 11 games into his new life as a rising St George Illawarra backrower, but joining that famed Gerringong production line which boasts the likes of Mick Cronin, Rod Wishart, the Sims boys, even his uncle Pete — who played 56 games with Parramatta.
“But that’s what the Fords do in Gerringong,” says this new Dragons No.13.
“We play rugby league.”
Still, you reckon there were times when he must’ve thought otherwise.
Especially when you hear how, growing up, Ford was not only overlooked for every Group 7 representative side, or twice cut by Illawarra Juniors, but also told he was too small, then too weak. Before his teens were finished, suffering through a pair of shoulder reconstructions, too.
“So there’s been some dark days, definitely,” he concedes.
But still, know this is the grandson of Gerringong legend Russell Ford.
Way back in the day, an aspiring St George fullback who, according to family legend, was all set for an overseas footy tour when he stopped into the tiny South Coast town, met a local girl and – within a blink – had himself nine children.
“Sorted Gerringong rugby league for 50 years, too,” laughs grandson Nathan, the older brother of Jackson and Lions first grade captain.
A local team, coincidentally, which also boasts another three Ford cousins. With more again playing lower grades, and scattered throughout the juniors.
“So there’s quite a tribe,” the skipper tells News Corp Australia.
“We’ve even got a couple of younger cousins in the Steelers Harold Matthews squad now”.
Which not so long ago is where Jackson Ford had aimed to make his own name. Only problem?
“I was average,” says the 22-year-old starting for only the third time in his career against the reigning premier Roosters on Thursday night.
“In Harold Matthews, I was invited to try out for Illawarra. But as soon as they held the trials it was ‘nah, no thanks’ — I was kicked out. Same thing happened the next year, too. I trialled for SG Ball but was cut before round one.”
Which by his own admission, left the aspiring leaguie “devastated”.
“I was working as a carpenter and getting mum to drive me to all the training sessions in Wollongong,” he continues.
“They were really long days. So then when I got dropped the second time, that’s when I started to wonder if it was all really worth it. Growing up, I’d never even made a Group 7 side. And now it was like I was just that fringe player who was does all the training but never gets close to a game.”
Worse, Ford felt he wasn’t in the mix physically.
“Weakest kid there,” he concedes.
“Even at that young age, there were boys who’d been doing gym work for ages. But me, I’d never even stepped inside one. So while no one said directly that I shouldn’t be there, you could tell they didn’t have any belief in me.”
But again, the kid was a Ford.
“And there aren’t many soccer players in Gerringong,” he laughs.
Which is why every afternoon after work, and before heading to train with whatever team was going to cut him next, this Dragons wannabe started lifting weights with both his older brother and another local kid who has since done OK – Manly winger Reuben Garrick.
“Realistically, it didn’t look like I was going to play NRL,” Ford continues.
“But I love footy. So every time they knocked me back, I thought ‘stuff you, I’ll come back better’. I knew I was never going to be the biggest or fastest. So I tried to become the fittest. Really ripped into stuff like those Yo-Yo tests.”
But still, success never came. Or not really. With Ford, first, busting his arse to become a “fringe SG Ball player” in his second year, then having to battle back from what would be his first of two shoulder reconstructions -— earned while helping Gerringong to the 2016 premiership.
Hell, even when this rangy backrower was finally picked for Dragons Under-20s, he still went unselected through the first six rounds.
But then by Round 7, well, a starting forward got injured. With Ford then upgraded from spectator to bench. And guess what? By the end of that same year, Jackson Ford was Dragons Under-20s Player of the Year. But as for his luck changing?
Um, no.
But nor did his work ethic.
Which is how this kid eventually overcame a second shoulder reconstruction — caused when Greg Eastwood “absolutely smashed me” in reggies — to then go on the run that’s seen him play NRL, re-sign until 2022 and now loom as the likely replacement for departing NSW Origin star Tyson Frizell.
Indeed, more than simply make the NRL, Ford now wants to prove himself an NRL player.
At 97kg, for example, the backrower still wants to get heavier. Although in the gym, he now sits among the Dragons best with lifts including a 170kg bench press. But as for how it feels just to finally be here?
“Honestly, I try not to think about it,” he says.
“If I start reminding myself that I’m actually here, starting games in the NRL … yeah, I find myself getting a little nervous.”
So instead, Ford hits golf balls off a handicap of 10. That, and rides jet skis with his mates.
While before COVID put the NRL into lockdown, the young Dragon who still lives at home with his parents also enjoyed walking to the Gerringong hotel where his old first grade coach still pours the schooners.
“I always enjoy going to the pub for a chat with Mick,” Ford says of Eels premiership hero Cronin.
“He’s just a great bloke who loves the game and loves his players.”
Now aged 69, Cronin still coaches the Gerringong side which, managed by Jackson’s father Geoff, also boasts more Fords than could once be found on a Bathurst 1000 starting grid.
“I’ve played first grade 12 years and Mick Cronin has been my only coach,” says Nathan, who has also won four premierships with the Eels legend.
“And the culture he creates here, it makes you want to give back, too.”
Little brother agrees.
Asked about his ability to fight on through the rejections, the busted shoulders, even those whispering he simply wouldn’t cut it, this newest Dragon credits his town, his club and all those cousins comprising it.
“I’ve got 34 on the Ford side and every single male plays league for Gerringong,” he grins.
“Around here, it’s just what we do.”
Originally published as Dragons young gun Jackson Ford reveals ‘dark days’ behind his unlikely rise into the NRL