Passion Still Burns For Jacobs

Julian Jacobs last played for Perth in 2013.  After two years spent cycling in the National Road Series with Otoc-Vault Racing he has returned to Lathlain Park where he has played the majority of his 56 league games.

While away Jacobs kept a close eye on how his former team where travelling and found himself coming to games as a spectator this season.  Frustrated that he could not be out there and a realisation that he still had a desire to compete at WAFL level has seen him return to the Demons.

“I was getting a little bit of itchy feet and wanted to come back and have an input and take what I have learnt from cycling in how hard you have got to train and how hard you can actually push yourself.”

“I’ve probably had the hardest eight weeks of my life while cycling.  I was over on a training camp in Italy with GDT who were a local team.  There I was training with guys who were 60 kg’s and very lean in the upper body and I’m around 85 kg’s which made it hard for me to climb.”

“Cyclists are mentally the toughest athletes I have come across, never complaining and always getting the job done without fail.  They are disciplined beyond belief, no late nights or drinking.  They just train, eat, sleep and rest.”

“My coach Gordon Hindley showed me the level you have to be at and how disciplined you have to be.  Gordon showed me how far you can push yourself and was a mentor in a sport I knew little about.”

With only seven players from Jacobs last game still at the club, he is looking forward to a fresh start with a new playing and coaching group.

“I did not know Earl (Spalding) at all so to come to the club and have a brand new coach is good for me in the fact that I have to start again, build his trust and show him what I can do on and off the field.”

“The coaching has been fantastic and the fitness level of the guys is higher than I would expect coming back this early.”

Earlier this year Jacobs was helping run his brother Jesse’s mayoral campaign for the City of Canning.  One day they were driving in the car when Jesse questioned why Julian wasn’t running for a seat on the Town of Victoria Park.

“I was like well I have lived here for five years, why not.”

Jacobs ran for mayor and a position on the council.  Unfortunately he was unsuccessful in becoming the mayor but he did get the backing of 811 residents to become a councillor for the Town of Victoria Park.

“As a councillor I am passionate about Victoria Park and I want to be involved in this awesome vibrant town.  Vic Park is the place to be and live with so many exciting projects and events.”

Jacobs wants to use this preseason as a springboard to take his game to the next level and admits that it will be crucial to get used to the feel of a football in his hands again.

“I want to push myself as far as I can go fitness wise and really try and go to that next level in the running phase and then the kicking and the skills would be imperative to me coming back after having a couple of years off.”

“I want to get the ball in my hands as much as possible and be a leader out there on the field.”