Luke Jackson’s teammates were sure to show their appreciation for the 21-year-old’s efforts in Walyalup’s thrilling seven-point win against Narrm.
 
Already one of Walyalup’s most important players as a key forward who rotates through the ruck, Jackson became essential when Sean Darcy came off with a hamstring injury halfway through the second quarter.
 
It left Jackson going solo against two of the game’s star ruckmen in Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy.
 
Jackson held his own with eight clearances - equal with Christian Petracca as the most on the ground - as well as 19 disposals, six tackles, five inside 50s, five hitouts to advantage and a goal.

It earned him a special shoutout from Senior Coach Justin Longmuir in his post-game address, with his teammates rallying around to congratulate him.
 
Walyalup leader Jaeger O’Meara spoke about the new recruit’s impact against his former team.
 
“He was huge, Sean was obviously a big loss for us as he’s been playing extremely well for the first half of the season,” O’Meara said.
 
“For Luke to (take the ruck duties) from halfway through the second and to just compete with two really good ruckmen, it was a great effort from him.
 
“Also against his old side, it’s hard to not be anxious for those matches and Luke obviously did a great job.”

Speaking to Fox Footy post-game, Jackson said he tried to remain upbeat in the high-pressure contest.
 
“When Sean came off, I was a bit like, ‘oh no!’ - it was a big blow, so I just tried to compete my hardest against ‘Maxy’ and Brodie, it was good to get the win,” Jackson said.
 
“It’s just a game of footy at the end of the day.
 
“I love the boys at Melbourne, they’re such good blokes. It’s good to see them again and play them.
 
“I feel like everything is clicking with the new team, I know my role really well, all the boys know their role and we have a good bunch of coaches as well.
 
“I feel like everything is on the rise here.”

O’Meara said he’d taken the time to chat to Darcy post-game and was hopeful the ruck had only sustained a minor hamstring injury.
 
‘He’s a little bit flat as you can imagine,” O’Meara said.
 
“Obviously with the bye next week, that means he won’t miss a match there.
 
“Hopefully it’s not too long, I think he’s got a little hamstring so they’ll scan that when they get back to Perth and figure out how bad it is.”

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