Port Adelaide star Jason Horne-Francis on his time at North, the crowd boos, lessons learnt and a new hobby
Jason Horne-Francis has had plenty of scrutiny in his first two years in the AFL. He opens up about the lessons learnt, his year in Melbourne, the boos from fans and his new hobby.
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There’s a story Port Adelaide players who played with future Australian Football Hall of Fame member Nathan Buckley like to tell about his early days at Alberton.
Basically, when Buckley was competing in the SANFL for Port in 1992, he had a crack at a darts game other players were playing and he was terrible. This being a footy club, his teammates well and truly let him know about it.
Months later, Buckley was smashing his teammates on the dartboard. It was subsequently discovered that he had been coming in early to practice ever since he had the piss taken out of him.
In his short AFL career to date, Jason Horne-Francis has had plenty of comparisons to the Buckley of more than 30 years ago.
There’s the looks, blond hair, pulled up socks, black boots – although Horne-Francis has been sporting some bright ones this pre-season at Alberton.
There’s also the highly publicised move from a club after their first season. Buckley was drafted by Brisbane but moved to Collingwood. Horne-Francis shifted from North Melbourne to Port Adelaide.
And then there’s the darts.
“It would have probably been two months now and I have been playing probably every day for about two hours,” Horne-Francis says.
“But yeah I have been grinding in a sense.”
However, unlike Buckley, it seems Horne-Francis has taken to the game more naturally.
“I’ve had about 20 I think … so I’m going all right,” he says when asked about how many (top score) 180s he has hit.
“When I put my mind to things and want to be good at something and if I have a little bit of ability I’ll just try and be as good as I can be at it.
“So that is one of the things at the moment.”
Horne-Francis’s love of his new hobby is set to result in the installation of a darts board in the new Port Adelaide facility at Alberton.
“I’ve made a joke to some of the boys that whenever I go to America next I might play in a tournament over there if I get good enough,” he says.
“A few of the boys are into the darts now that I’ve been sending them videos of me hitting a couple of 180s. There’s probably six or seven boys getting into it.”
But Power senior coach Ken Hinkley is yet to be won over.
“He’s giving me shit at the moment about not being good at darts, so I need to be good to prove him wrong,” Horne-Francis says.
“If we get a dartboard at the club then I can show him.”
It is this single-mindedness to be notjust good but great at everything he does, as well as his ability, that has Horne-Francis being touted as one of the most exciting young players in the AFL.
But at the same time, there is a big focus on the 20-year-old to slow down and stop being so manic on the field.
Off the field, the life lessons for Horne-Francis have been many, especially over the past two years.
For the second time, he has moved out of home and, interestingly, that process meant he again crossed paths with the legendary Malcolm Blight.
With partner Isabella, Horne-Francis has recently moved into a new house and their new neighbour is one of the legends of the game.
“I haven’t met him yet (since they moved in); I’ve met my other one but haven’t met him yet,” he says.
But the two have crossed paths before.
“(Blight) presented my guernsey to me (when I was drafted by North Melbourne at No.1 in the 2021 draft); it is kind of funny.”
That night wasn’t just memorable because Horne-Francis became the No.1 pick.
Just before it was confirmed, the TV feed cut out at the Cathedral Hotel in North Adelaide, where Horne-Francis was watching the draft with family and friends.
It left the room in silence for nearly a minute, with Horne-Francis being filmed looking at his watch and his manager Ben Williams needing to use his phone to get a stream of the broadcast – and confirmation of the young star’s selection.
Eleven months later, Horne-Francis requested a trade to come back to South Australia with a year remaining on his contract.
“I don’t think there was a moment,” Horne-Francis says, when asked if there was a specific point of realisation that North Melbourne and living in Melbourne wasn’t for him.
“I was definitely missing my family and friends all year, and I guess it was kind of an
all-year thing, like I was missing being here and missing having them as company every weekend and every week.
“So, you know, there wasn’t probably a certain moment, but it was probably just the love for what I have got back here.”
AFL clubs do a significant amount of research into whether a player could be a “flight risk” when they are drafted away from their home state.
Becoming homesick even surprised Horne-Francis himself.
“I probably was in a sense; I actually said to Mum (Trish) I thought I would be all right moving out of home when I first moved over, and it wasn’t the case,” he says.
“So it was definitely a surprise to me.”
And there were other tensions.
Used to winning across his junior days, Horne-Francis played in 17 games for just two wins at North Melbourne that year.
He was dropped ahead of a match in Adelaide against the Crows because he did not do an ice bath recovery properly.
“I guess I was a first-year player … I was 18 years old and I can definitely say that I didn’t do everything right,” he says.
“I was still learning a lot of things and I think a lot of 18 year olds are the same, but I just happened to be the No.1 pick and had a bit more pressure on me.
“I didn’t do everything right, but I was definitely grateful for the opportunity that North gave me and I can’t thank them enough.
“Definitely (there are regrets) – I think as a young person you have heaps, but it is just about how quickly you can grow from them.”
Adding to this was the constant pain Horne-Francis felt during his first year, with scans shortly after he joined the Power finding that his abnormally large calf muscles were preventing blood flow from his knees.
He subsequently underwent surgery, and now sports some big scars on the back of both legs.
“I could run out games, it wasn’t stopping me from doing that – it was just really annoying. It was something that was there for most of the game,” he says.
“It was a frustrating year. Especially at the start of games it would flare up a lot and be really sore and it would be really frustrating.
“I wouldn’t say it held me back, but because when I do things I like to do them the best I can and try to be the best, so while it didn’t hold me back it was definitely just that annoying factor.”
Port Adelaide and Horne-Francis himself knew the scrutiny would be fierce on him after the trade from the Kangaroos to the Power, which also involved GWS and West Coast in a complicated deal that essentially sent Horne-Francis, and Willie Rioli from the Eagles, to Alberton and gave the Kangaroos the No.2 and 3 picks of the 2022 draft. (North Melbourne drafted George Wardlaw and Harry Sheezel.)
But in Horne-Francis’s second game for the Power, a heavy loss to Collingwood at the MCG, something unexpected happened.
He was booed.
He expected it from Roos fans, but from fans of other clubs?
“It is pretty normal leaving a club and then getting booed (by their fans). But definitely at first I was a bit confused when it was teams I didn’t play for,” he says.
“But in a sense I kind of got it and learnt how to deal with it.
“It is part of footy … everyone gets it (but) there was a little bit of shock at first.”
It is testament to Horne-Francis’s increased maturity over the past year that he says he accepts the booing could happen again, and he has worked on ways to deal with it.
“I went through a lot in my first year (at the Power) and probably can’t top what I went through, so I feel like I am very well prepared for what is to come in the future,” he says.
“I learnt a lot; I learnt that footy is 80 per cent in the head and 20 per cent on the field. Dad (Fabian Francis) has always told me that, from when I was a young kid.
“It was hard early … but that is a part of footy and that is what comes with it.”
While Horne-Francis says he is ready to deal with it in 2024, it did come to a head on the Saturday night of the first ever Gather Round in Adelaide.
After his young star was booed at his home ground by neutral fans, coach Hinkley went on the offensive in his post-match media conference.
This was after Hinkley sought out Horne-Francis post-game in the torrential rain and passionately reminded him of how he can help the team after a quiet game before three-quarter time.
“It was super special; that was a moment I won’t forget really,” Horne-Francis says.
“It was a bit of a life lesson for me, especially in footy. I wasn’t having the greatest game and speaking to Kenny at half time, it kind of brought me back to local footy days when I had my dad around me and he used to do the exact same thing.”
Former Power captain and mentor Travis Boak was also influential in Horne-Francis handling that situation and getting through the other side.
Boak took Horne-Francis aside at the height of the booing to ask if he was OK.
It’s a gesture that still means a lot to Horne-Francis – who then went with Boak to visit renowned human movement specialist Austin Einhorn in the US during the off-season.
“I’ve probably never had someone like that in my corner,” Horne-Francis says of Boak.
“As a player to come up and ask me how I am … that gave me confidence to know that I had someone like that next to me. Hopefully I can be that to some of the younger boys down the track.
“It always gave me confidence speaking to them (Hinkley and Boak); they always tried to help me and pump me up and help me with what I need to do in those situations.
“And even having my family at home and being able to speak to them, that was really big and Dad is a really big motivator whenever I can speak to him.”
There was a concern at one point that Horne-Francis’s love of footy could be impacted by the booing. He says while it didn’t eat away at his love of footy, it did change some aspects.
“Thinking back on it now, I remember I used to say ‘oh I want to go No.1 (in the draft)’ but now I probably wouldn’t want to,” he says.
“But that is what comes with it and it is a learning curve and hopefully I can help other first round draft picks through it.
“It is a tough gig, but I am grateful.
“I think a lot of people are the same – (becoming an AFL player) is what you dream of growing up and it definitely wasn’t what I expected.
“I knew you had to train a bit more, but I didn’t know all the other stuff that came with it. But I’m still loving my time here.”
While it wasn’t as consistent as he would have liked, Horne-Francis’s first season with Port Adelaide Power did result in 16 Brownlow Medal votes.
Some of them came as a surprise to those watching, and to Horne-Francis himself.
“I was a bit (surprised), I think everyone was. Some of the votes I will admit I definitely should not have got them, but I guess you’ll take it,” he says.
Horne-Francis hasn’t just been learning about the off-the-field professionalism and mental strength required to be an AFL player.
On a personal note, a couple of years ago it was discovered that Horne-Francis had Indigenous heritage – the Wardaman people in the Northern Territory – through his biological father (whom he has no relationship with).
“I’m really still learning about it,” he says.
“Like a lot of the Indigenous boys at the club I’m still learning about it, probably a bit more than the others with me finding out only a couple of years ago that I am Indigenous.
“We just found out; Mum always used to say that he (Horne senior) said he was, but we didn’t actually know if he was.”
Finding this out has Horne-Francis keen to learn about his heritage, and that of Fabian Francis – whose surname he added in his draft year.
“I guess I wanted to be Indigenous, especially having Fabian, my dad,” he says.
“I wanted to look up to him and be like him, so it was good to find out.”
Horne-Francis has been up to Darwin on multiple occasions, where Francis – who has Torres Strait Islander heritage – grew up.
“Two cultures in one really, so I am trying to learn about both (his and Fabian’s),” he says.
“But the main one is Fabian’s one, he is my dad basically, I talk about him like my dad so definitely trying to learn about his (culture) and what he used to do.
“And just going up there and seeing family and friends and where Dad grew up is really important for me.”
The impact Francis, who played 86 games for Port Adelaide, 22 for the Brisbane Bears and one for Melbourne, has had on Horne-Francis has been significant.
Francis has been in the young man’s life since the now-Power star was a child.
“He has helped me with everything really,” Horne-Francis says.
“I probably couldn’t be here today without him. I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for me.
“He’s given me a lot of advice, tips and tricks. He taught me how to kick on both sides of my body. He has just been great.”
Being around family was the main reason Horne-Francis sought the move back to South Australia.
Before he was drafted in 2021, Adelaide Football Club had offered North Melbourne three first-round picks for the rights to select Horne-Francis.
And the word midway through 2022 was that the Crows could be ready to return with a two first-round pick offer should Horne-Francis push for a move home.
But – while he grew up a Fremantle supporter – Port Adelaide is the South Australian club that held, and continues to hold, a special place in Horne-Francis’s heart.
“It is probably another dream come true, to play for the club that Dad played for,” he says.
“Looking up to him basically my whole life, and just trying to be like him all the time.
“I always wanted to come here and play for Port Adelaide. I grew up watching them and loved the way they played and I love Ken as a coach.”
Horne-Francis had spent time at Alberton before he was drafted, as part of the AFL National Academy.
“That love for Port Adelaide probably grew even more when I (was) there,” he says.
Yet, before he was drafted, there was a wariness around playing for an SA club.
“Adelaide can be a little bubble with two teams here, that’s why my dad would say to me he never wanted me to play for an Adelaide club,” he says.
“Because it can be a bubble here; but he realised once I went to Victoria that he wanted me back. I think we have said a lot of things that we regret saying.”
When he returned to Adelaide, Horne-Francis spent the first year at home with his parents in Christies Beach.
It allowed him to be with his younger siblings, sister Phoebe and brother Fabian junior.
Horne-Francis says wanting to see the young Fabian grow up was a big part in the move back.
“We are a really close family and we enjoy each other’s company,” he says.
“My siblings missed me a lot and I missed them, whenever they can get over to my house they are straight over there.
“(Fabian) is loving it, he is in the pool 24/7. It went green the other day so he wasn’t happy about that cause he couldn’t get in.
“It is good to be able to go down into the rooms and have my family there. And him especially, he is kind of just like me, so it means a lot to me and my family.
“I get to watch him grow up, which is the important thing, and when he gets into footy hopefully I can help him and give him someone to look up to.”
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