TAC Cup 2018: Jack Ross wins the Jack Honey Medal as Oakleigh Chargers’ best and fairest
OAKLEIGH Chargers’ inside midfielder Jack Ross has kept his AFL draft ambitions alive after a blistering finish to the TAC Cup season.
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OAKLEIGH Chargers’ inside midfielder Jack Ross has kept his AFL draft ambitions alive after a blistering finish to the TAC Cup season.
Ross rounded up a crack field in the last couple of rounds to take home the James Honey Medal as the club’s best and fairest.
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The Waverley Park Hawks junior topped the charts with 67 votes, 10 clear of Collingwood Next Generation Academy prospect Isaac Quaynor. Matthew Rowell, touted as an early candidate for the No.1 pick in the 2019 draft, rounded out the top three with 53 votes.
Ross captained Vic Metro’s under-16s team at the 2016 national championships but was overlooked for under-18s honours this year.
The 18-year-old responded to his omission with a flourishing finish to the season to earn a state combine invitation.
Five of his 12 TAC Cup games came in the last month of the season, averaging 25 disposals in that time to help propel Oakleigh to the grand final.
Ross said he used the disappointment of his Vic Metro snub as motivation for the second half of his season.
“I did dwell on it for a couple of nights,” Ross said.
“It was pretty upsetting but then you’ve got to look at the bigger scheme of things and the bigger picture.
“It was straight to business after that and getting down to the second half of the season.
“Individually, I was really happy with the way things worked out and I was a bit surprised with the end result at the best and fairest.”
At 186cm and 85kg, Ross thrives on the contested side of the game.
“Obviously my size is one of my strengths and my competitive edge,” he said.
“I love the contested side of the game and I think I have a pretty unique feature with that willingness to throw my body around for the better of the team.”
Oakleigh coach Leigh Clarke praised Ross’ mindset in overcoming the disappointment of not making the final cut at Vic Metro.
“I now have a role model to drive kids who don’t make Metro,” Clarke said.
“He did exactly what you need to do when you don’t make Metro and that’s to keep going out and dominating your role like he did.
“Some are really flat because they see it as the next step in the dream when it’s not always the case.
“He’s been nothing but positive about the way he went about it.”
Clarke said Ross would be a “really good acquisition” for an AFL club.
“He has the physical attributes and footy smarts,” he said.
“I’d really love to see how he develops once he’s got that real look inside an AFL club because I think he’s someone who could play AFL footy pretty quickly.”
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