ALTHOUGH he is a few thousand kilometres from home, Portland’s own Daniel Jackson continues to go from strength to strength in his football journey, having been recently crowned as North Cairns Tigers club best and fairest for the 2023 season.

The ex-Portland senior football captain was awarded the Maskell Medal for the Hampden Football League’s best and fairest in 2022, along with winning the club best and fairest for the same season.

Jackson, who is playing for the Tigers in the AFL Cairns senior competition alongside fellow Portlander Ty Deans, said while it’s “always nice to be recognised” on an individual level, he wants to keep a team-oriented focus as much as possible.

“I guess presentation nights are a little bit about rewarding those individual efforts, but I think the big thing I took away from it was our top six or seven was full of really quality players,” Jackson said.

With the emphasis on team success in mind, Jackson will have the opportunity tomorrow to be a part of a historic day for North Cairns, with the club playing in its first finals series in a decade.

“It’s been a great season, and I think seeing how much it meant to people around the club has been a great experience,” Jackson said.

“I can kind of relate that to Portland, and how you see the joy that it brings people to have a winning side after many years of struggling to win games.

“I think it’s why you play footy.”

The Tigers now have a big challenge awaiting them in the form of the Centrals Trinty Beach in their elimination final clash on Saturday.

The finals structure in this competition differs from the way finals in Hampden and South West District leagues work.

In this league, both the elimination and qualifying finals happen on the same day, compared to a Saturday and a Sunday, with the Tigers to take the field at 1pm at Cazalys Stadium.

“(The Bulldogs) are a real challenge for us, they have some really high-quality players rotating through their line-up, and they probably could’ve finished higher on the ladder,” Jackson said.

“Either side is going to have to play some really good footy to get the win.

“The wind at Cazalys Stadium tends to really favour one end, so we need to factor that in as well and plan for it.”

As for the future, Jackson said he’s been thoroughly enjoying his time at the top end, and says he plans to stick around “for the foreseeable future.”

“If you ask (my fiancée) Eloise (Goldby), it would be forever,” he said.

“When its 27 degrees and there’s not too many clouds in the sky and there’s heaps to do and see, it’s a pretty good way to live.

“I’m planning on going back to the NT league, I’ve got a connection with one of the clubs over there, but I’ll probably be a fly-in player and just play 6-8 games, that kind of suits me right now.”