By Jonty Ralphsmith
Haileybury coach Matthew Lloyd has compared the leadership of 2022 captain Jakob Anderson to Fremantle star Andrew Brayshaw.
A product out of Dingley Football Netball Club, Anderson has held leadership positions throughout his junior career before leading the Bloods this year.
Lloyd coached Brayshaw at school-level in 2017 before he was taken at pick two in the AFL National Draft, and he is now seen as the benchmark for leadership at the school.
“(Anderson) was voted as captain because there is great respect for the way he prepares, how comfortable he makes everybody, whether you’re year nine, 10, 11 or 12, he’s selfless on and off the field, the direction he gives to players on the field is second to none,” Lloyd said.
“In terms of that, he’s up there with Andrew Brayshaw who was a great leader in 2017. He’s so warm and genuine.”
People who know him say the 18-year-old is a victim of the ‘good kid’ cliché, not because he doesn’t fit the stereotype, but because the phrase’s overuse means it doesn’t do justice to how much his character is a point-of-difference.
“From a character point-of-view, he’s the best in the draft this year,” said one person familiar with the current crop.
On a personal front, it has been an interrupted year for Anderson, who missed three games of school footy before a hamstring injury ruled him out of the final two NAB League games for Sandringham including the premiership.
But amid the adversity, the defender remained involved, at school level with a notebook in hand as backline coach and at Sandringham working the phones and providing messaging to players on the interchange.
“In terms of influence, the Brayshaw year was the premiership year so it can be easier but this was challenging,” Lloyd said.
“(We were) off to a slow start and came home well, and he was having to fight injuries and illness and the team not performing as we wanted to but he stood strong and kept the group together through the year which I admire him for.”
For Anderson, unity was the focus of his leadership as he sought to facilitate a stronger culture than previous years.
“I’ve always thrived off the idea of being a role model and someone people can look up to so I try to hold myself in a good light, not to have the title but to use the responsibility to generate some good change and leave good values,” Anderson said.
“It’s the simple things that go unnoticed…I tried to be really social among the group and be out of my shell a little bit because if you’re out of your shell, others follow it, and I welcomed as many mistakes as possible because I knew that would lead us to growth as a side.
“I was a player a few years ago that feared mistakes and worried what people would think if I made mistakes, but the older I’ve got and more I have been around elite programs (I’ve realised) if you’re not making mistakes, it’s probably an indication that you’re playing within yourself.
“If I’m doing that I’m not playing to my strengths and showing my weapons, so I knew if I was taking risks at training in front of everyone, others would do the same which would make us a more exciting and risk taking side.
“Learning from mistakes is how you grow.”
A calm defender that reads the play early, marks and rebounds, his cogent on-field communication is another noted aspect of his game.
Anderson averaged 14 disposals and four marks in his seven NAB League games, and is seen as a fringe draft possibility rather than a certainty, with his aforementioned injuries coming at untimely junctures of the season.
Dragons backline coach Cam Feild has been involved in his journey for several years and sees great upside to his game.
“He was more or less a captain-coach out on the ground,” Feild said
“You could see the guys looked at him to be a calming influence. When he went down (with a hamstring injury), I thought ‘that’s going to stretch us’.
“I didn’t know if we could win the flag without him, that’s how much I value him.
“He’s grown a few inches this year and his game awareness has improved, having seen where he’s come from in preseason to now and the work he’s willing to put in, I think he’s worth the investment.”
Anderson’s final game this season was in the National Championships final between Vic Metro and Vic Country, matching up on first round prospect Bailey Humphrey.
Vic Metro coach Jason Davenport praised his work in shutting the power forward down as he showed off his one-on-one acumen, taking four intercept marks on Humphrey.
“We prefer ‘Ando’ closer to goal because his composure allows him to not feel too rattled or )feel the) pressure of the game, and his ability to influence from an intercepting perspective was spot on but also his ability to defend when he had to was done at a high level,” Davenport said.
“We loved ‘Ando’s’ games and in the immense pressure moments, he stood up.”
