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Before joining Canterbury in 2010, Josh Jackson had never been selected in any representative team of note, but the 23-year-old second-rower is now considered an integral part of NSW coach Laurie Daley's long-term Origin planning.
Chosen as 18th man in the opening game of this year's triumphant series, Jackson is being groomed as a cornerstone of the Blues back row, along with Boyd Cordner, once the likes of Paul Gallen, Greg Bird and Anthony Watmough bow out.
"I loved it; it was a great experience and I got a sort of feel for what Origin was all about and what you have got to do to get there and what to do when you are there," Jackson said as he prepared for Sunday's sudden-death finals clash with Melbourne at AAMI Park.
"I think that was the whole point of it. I think that was why I was brought in – just to get a bit of a taste of it and just to see what it is like and how to prepare for it."
Daley said he had been impressed by Jackson's attitude in Brisbane and predicted a bright future for him.
"Josh is on his way to playing at a higher level," Daley said. "We try to give everyone we think is a chance of playing Origin a taste if we can and got that and we were very impressed with him in camp.
"He works very hard on his game. He is very genuine, very respectful, wants to improve and continues to get better week in and week out and year after year. If he keeps going the way he is going, it won't be long before he cracks it."
Renowned commentators Peter Sterling and Phil Gould are also known to be big fans, as is NSW Country coach Trent Barrett, who has chosen him for the past two annual clashes against City.
Yet while growing up in Gulgong, near Mudgee, and Newcastle, Jackson failed to catch the eye of representative selectors.
After moving to Newcastle in 2007 with parents Paul and Judy, Jackson was playing SG Ball for the Knights two years later, before being recruited to the Bulldogs by Peter Mulholland.
In his first season with Canterbury, he won the club's 2010 under-20s player-of-the-year award and gained selection in the Junior Kangaroos.
"The Junior Kangaroos was probably the first big rep team I made," Jackson said. "At school, I didn't make any NSW teams or anything like that.
"I was never a flashy player growing up. I sort of just based my game on effort and that has pretty much got me where I am.
"I am still not a flashy player or anything like that. I just try to do the little things right and train hard and play hard."
While he had always wanted to play in the NRL, Jackson spent his first two years after leaving school studying exercise science at Newcastle University and hopes to complete the course before the end of next season.
"If I wasn't playing I wanted to work somewhere in sport and I would like to do that after I finish," he said. "If I can stay in and around rugby league, that would be great."
His partner Madison Reynolds is also studying and is in the fifth year of a medicine degree.
"She works pretty hard," said Jackson. "She is always studying and it is full on. I am very proud of her." Jackson joked: "I am pretty lucky, I haven't really had many injures, but she does pull my stitches out."
Canterbury officials say Jackson is the prototype of the modern footballer, who watches his diet, looks after his injuries, trains hard and does everything to prepare himself to play to the best of his ability on game day.
He also has a maturity above his years and is closer to James Graham, Aiden Tolman and Michael Ennis than he is to some of the younger players in the team.
"They have taught me a fair bit since I have been training and playing with them," Jackson said. "I think the main thing is that you don't want to let your teammates down."
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler has also had a big influence on Jackson's development after handing him his NRL debut in round 16 of the 2012 competition against Melbourne in Mackay.
Jackson has not missed a game since, including the 2012 grand final loss to the Storm at ANZ Stadium.
"Des gave me my chance back in 2012 and he showed a lot of confidence in me to pick me in the grand final after only 11 games in first grade, so I really appreciate that," Jackson said.
"It was a big year for me and the grand final was definitely one of the highlights of my career thus far. But it was disappointing to lose and you get a long time to think about it during the pre-season, so we definitely don't need any extra motivation for playing them this weekend."
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...gin-future-20140912-10g2pt.html#ixzz3DBtsTKRC
Chosen as 18th man in the opening game of this year's triumphant series, Jackson is being groomed as a cornerstone of the Blues back row, along with Boyd Cordner, once the likes of Paul Gallen, Greg Bird and Anthony Watmough bow out.
"I loved it; it was a great experience and I got a sort of feel for what Origin was all about and what you have got to do to get there and what to do when you are there," Jackson said as he prepared for Sunday's sudden-death finals clash with Melbourne at AAMI Park.
"I think that was the whole point of it. I think that was why I was brought in – just to get a bit of a taste of it and just to see what it is like and how to prepare for it."
Daley said he had been impressed by Jackson's attitude in Brisbane and predicted a bright future for him.
"Josh is on his way to playing at a higher level," Daley said. "We try to give everyone we think is a chance of playing Origin a taste if we can and got that and we were very impressed with him in camp.
"He works very hard on his game. He is very genuine, very respectful, wants to improve and continues to get better week in and week out and year after year. If he keeps going the way he is going, it won't be long before he cracks it."
Renowned commentators Peter Sterling and Phil Gould are also known to be big fans, as is NSW Country coach Trent Barrett, who has chosen him for the past two annual clashes against City.
Yet while growing up in Gulgong, near Mudgee, and Newcastle, Jackson failed to catch the eye of representative selectors.
After moving to Newcastle in 2007 with parents Paul and Judy, Jackson was playing SG Ball for the Knights two years later, before being recruited to the Bulldogs by Peter Mulholland.
In his first season with Canterbury, he won the club's 2010 under-20s player-of-the-year award and gained selection in the Junior Kangaroos.
"The Junior Kangaroos was probably the first big rep team I made," Jackson said. "At school, I didn't make any NSW teams or anything like that.
"I was never a flashy player growing up. I sort of just based my game on effort and that has pretty much got me where I am.
"I am still not a flashy player or anything like that. I just try to do the little things right and train hard and play hard."
While he had always wanted to play in the NRL, Jackson spent his first two years after leaving school studying exercise science at Newcastle University and hopes to complete the course before the end of next season.
"If I wasn't playing I wanted to work somewhere in sport and I would like to do that after I finish," he said. "If I can stay in and around rugby league, that would be great."
His partner Madison Reynolds is also studying and is in the fifth year of a medicine degree.
"She works pretty hard," said Jackson. "She is always studying and it is full on. I am very proud of her." Jackson joked: "I am pretty lucky, I haven't really had many injures, but she does pull my stitches out."
Canterbury officials say Jackson is the prototype of the modern footballer, who watches his diet, looks after his injuries, trains hard and does everything to prepare himself to play to the best of his ability on game day.
He also has a maturity above his years and is closer to James Graham, Aiden Tolman and Michael Ennis than he is to some of the younger players in the team.
"They have taught me a fair bit since I have been training and playing with them," Jackson said. "I think the main thing is that you don't want to let your teammates down."
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler has also had a big influence on Jackson's development after handing him his NRL debut in round 16 of the 2012 competition against Melbourne in Mackay.
Jackson has not missed a game since, including the 2012 grand final loss to the Storm at ANZ Stadium.
"Des gave me my chance back in 2012 and he showed a lot of confidence in me to pick me in the grand final after only 11 games in first grade, so I really appreciate that," Jackson said.
"It was a big year for me and the grand final was definitely one of the highlights of my career thus far. But it was disappointing to lose and you get a long time to think about it during the pre-season, so we definitely don't need any extra motivation for playing them this weekend."
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...gin-future-20140912-10g2pt.html#ixzz3DBtsTKRC
