AFL Origin: Fremantle Docker Luke Jackson learnt about midfield from Patrick Cripps and Marcus Bontempelli

Fremantle star Luke Jackson capitalised on every opportunity to fast track his midfield education during AFL Origin, revealing he shadowed Brownlow medallist Patrick Cripps while representing Western Australia and then carefully studied Victorian captain Marcus Bontempelli as an opponent throughout Saturday night’s game. Jackson will spend more time playing as a midfielder throughout 2026 after making his name as an athletic ruckman. He was part of a star-studded centre square to start the game, playing alongside Cripps and Kysaiah Pickett, while Victoria had Bontempelli, Nick Daicos and Patrick Dangerfield in the middle. Jackson was directly opposed to Bontempelli for the first three ball-ups in the middle of the ground, and was later opposed to Daicos, Hugh McCluggage and Caleb Serong at different points of the game. He said competing with and against the best midfielders in the AFL gave him a vastly greater insight into how he should play “Crippa is a star. He’s one of those big bodied midfielders and I am trying to learn that role,” he told The West Australian. “Seeing how he goes about it was a great way to learn. It was just little bits at training. A lot of it was just me watching how he goes about it. He is very professional and serious. He leading the way over all three days for us. “Even during the game I was watching Marcus Bontempelli. He’s a big bodied midfielder so I was seeing how he sets up and runs. It was a great learning experience for me. I loved it. “They had a lot of star mids. I’ll take a lot of learnings from it. I didn’t play any ruck. I just played mid so it was a great game to step up in that role. I’ve got a few more weeks now to keep learning it and hit the ground running for round one.” Jackson also played as a forward throughout the game and kicked 2.1 in another reminder of his versatility. WA coach Dean Cox said he’d always been keen to find way to make the most of the Dockers’ star’s unique skills. “One thing we wanted to do was do something a little bit different,” Cox explained. “When you talk about some of the forwards we had ahead of the ball and also the two rucks we picked, he was the option to be able to give a different look. “Their midfield as we knew was stacked with talent so it was the ability to try something different with Bolton, Pickett, obviously Luke as well as Cripps and Coniglio went though there as well. “Luke is an amazing athlete. his ability to have a couple of shots on goal, get clearances and put pressure on the oppo is a great asset for Fremantle.” Sydney star Chad Warner was impressed by the way Jackson played and said he had the potential to transform the way Fremantle move the ball. “He’s so strong and he’s got great footwork for a big man. I think it’ll be great when you’re trying to kick in from full back and you can try and get a bit of a mismatch up the middle,” Warner said. Get a FREE WA AAMI AFL Origin Guernsey worth RRP $130 when you sign up for a 12-month subscription to thewest.com.au Subscribe now from just $6 per week. T&Cs apply, limited time only. https://www.thewest.com.au/footypack