Former top tennis junior turned Eastern Ranges wingman Jackson Ross looms as AFL draft prospect

HE was one of Australia’s former top tennis prospects but Jackson Ross is looming as a potential selection in this year’s AFL national draft.

Eastern Ranges’ Jackson Ross is brought down in a tackle last year.

HE was one of Australia’s top tennis prospects but Jackson Ross is looming as a potential selection in this year’s AFL national draft.

Ross was a former Australian top-10 tennis junior but now has his sights set on making it onto an AFL list after returning to football less than two years ago.

The 17-year-old played junior football with South Belgrave until under-11s before his tennis career took off.

He had aspirations of being world No. 1, winning a Grand Slam and his favourite player was Novak Djokovic.

In hindsight he said those lofty ambitions were “a bit extreme”.

Eastern Ranges wingman Jackson Ross was a promising tennis player.

Jackson Ross was selected for Victorian to play at the nationals in 2015. Picture: Chris Eastman

“I just wanted to get the most out of myself and possibly go to college,” Ross said.

“In 2013 I went over to Europe to try a few Europe region tournaments and you see the best in the world over there.

“It was pretty crazy to see what they can do.”

However, after grinding away on the court since the age of four, he made the decision to leave tennis and start playing football.

“I lost a bit of passion for it because I was playing seven times a week for 12 years,” he said.

“I never know what I could have done but I’m loving my choice of going to footy now.”

After just a handful of games with a few mates for Victorian Amateur Football Association club Old Haileyburians in 2015, he found his way on the Eastern Ranges list after impressing with his ability to cover the ground.

The lean, athletic 192cm, 76kg wingman, likened to Hawthorn triple premiership player Isaac Smith, cracked nine TAC Cup games last year and was among Ranges’ best players in their Round 1 win over Calder Cannons.

Sandringham Dragons’ Lachlan Filipovic gets a handball away while under pressure from Jackson Ross last year.

In the past two weeks he has been shifted forward and booted 10 goals for Hailebury College in the APS competition.

While he has been overlooked for the Vic Metro squad, Eastern Ranges talent manager Len Villani said Ross remained a part recruiters’ conversations to be taken in November’s draft.

“AFL clubs still have him very much in the mix so it is not going to hurt his chances one way or another,” Villani said.

“We’ve proven in the past, as have a lot of the other TAC Cup regions, that you don’t have to play Vic Metro or nationals to be able to get drafted.

“Seventeen boys outside of Vic Metro got drafted into the AFL last year and three of those boys came from Eastern.”

Villani said Ross remained a “raw” and “untapped” talent.

“He would be an outstanding late pick in terms of his scope and his athletic traits,” he said.

“He is as good on the GPS, athletic testing and the way he covers the ground and his speed, distance, metres per minute — all the indicators you need from an athletic perspective are there and they’re elite at his age.”