Mt Barker stint reignites footy passion for Zach Jackson as he prepares for WAFL return with Perth Demons

Talented midfielder and reigning Kleemann medallist Zach Jackson will return to the WAFL after his brilliant season with Mt Barker in the Great Southern Football League. The new GSFL season starts later this month and the Bulls will be without their best player from 2022. Jackson, the older brother of Fremantle young gun Luke, was a joint winner of the Kleemann Medal as the GSFL’s fairest and best player with Railways’ Matt Palfrey. His first country footy stint was an immediate success, winning the prestigious honour after polling 21 votes across 15 games while also claiming the Sean Plaisted trophy as the competition’s leading goal kicker with 63 majors. Jackson informed the Bulls of his intentions to return to the WAFL late last year and has completed a preseason with Perth before the new competition starts this week. The move will allow him to spend more time in Perth, watching Luke during his first season back home with the Dockers after the much-talked about trade from Melbourne. The 23-year-old said he loved his time playing with the Bulls and it helped reignite his spark for the game. “My season with the Bulls really sparked the passion for footy again,” Jackson said. “I had one of my most enjoyable years and with a great playing group, coaches and culture at the club, knew I wanted to get back to a higher level of footy. “I had told the Bulls my intentions late last year and I think it was pretty well known that it would be a one-year stint towards the end of the season. “Missing pretty much the whole weekend with footy and travel and wanting to be around home to support Luke and his footy with Fremantle also was a big factor.” Jackson has played 14 league games for East Fremantle across 57 WAFL matches in total and spent a year with his junior club Canning Vale before venturing south to Mt Barker. A chance to link up with Peter German was also a big part of Jackson’s decision to pull on the red-and-black. “There was an opportunity to originally join Perth a couple years ago once I left East Fremantle, which fell through and led to me playing a season at my junior home club in Perth and then the Bulls,” he said. “Perth once again showed some interest late last year, there was also a possibility of setting up something with the Eagles WAFL side. “After meeting with Perth I knew I wanted to be a part of a rebuilding club under Germo, therefore my decision was pretty easy. “So far I haven’t looked back and the culture down here is extremely positive and we have a sense of excitement for what could happen over the next few years.”