ONE of Portland’s favourite sons is set to make his return to Hanlon Park, with Daniel Jackson signing on the dotted line for the 2025 Hampden Football League season.

Jackson’s history at the club runs deep, as he has played more than 150 games for the club between under-18s and seniors.

He is also one of the club’s most decorated players, as he was honoured with the Maskell Medal for the Hampden FNL’s senior football best and fairest award in 2022, a year where he captained the side to its first finals appearance – and first finals win – ever in the league.

Since 2022, Jackson has since spent a season playing for Nightcliff in the Northern Territory Football League’s Premier Men’s division in 2023, before helping Banks FC to the grand final of the 2024 Premier Reserves division which they lost by six points.

He has also played two seasons of football for North Cairns in the AFL Cairns league, where he has been named to the league’s all-star team both years and won his club’s best and fairest in 2023.

“I’m pretty excited about coming home, (fiancée) Eloise (Goldby) and I weren’t sure whether we were going to come home for a while, but it’s been a couple years away now and it just felt like the right time,” Jackson told the Portland Observer.

“Portland is my home club, and it’s pretty important to me to back playing with them.”

Since Jackson’s departure the Tigers have been a long way off the heights they reached in 2022, winning just one senior game over the past season and a half, but Jackson said he is keen to help it return to better days.

“The goal at the start of every season is of course to win the premiership, but I think coming in to 2025 a very realistic goal for us should be to play finals footy,” he said.

“The turnaround can happen sooner rather than later I believe, if we can bring in some more experienced heads to help out with the younger lads, whether that’s by lifting the training standards or whatever the case may be.

“The talent is there in town to make a really good football team, I’m just hoping in addition to being a key player on the field I can be a leader and mentor for the younger lads, that’s what I believe my role is starting to become.”

In that vein, Jackson has elected to take on a role as assistant player-coach where he will work alongside the likes of senior coach Lochie Huppatz and other experienced veterans such as Jake Wilson, Tom Sharp, Ben Malcolm and more.

“The midfield depth we’re going to have really excites me, between myself, ‘Huppo’ and Toby (Jennings) we had a pretty great midfield back in 2022 and it looks to be shaping up like that for this season,” he said.

“My hope is it will feel like we’ve been playing together all this time, and we’ll gel together nicely through preseason.

‘I’m looking forward to working with ‘Huppo’ and building on the messages he’s sending to the group, we’ve already been bouncing ideas off one another for what we want to do next season.”

Huppatz said securing Jackson’s signature for next season is a huge step forward for the club as it looks towards a brighter future.

“It’s something that’s been in the works for a few months now, and we’re glad to finally be able to announce it,” he said.

“As everyone would know, he loves being a part of the town, and more importantly from our perspective part of this club.

“He’s a good clubman and he brings the group together, and on the field he’s another inside midfielder who I can’t wait to work alongside.

“We know this one recruitment is not all we need but it is a huge step in the right direction, I’m sure ‘Benny’ (Malcolm) and Toby Oakley are looking forward to having him as an option to tap to.”

Huppatz and Jackson both said that Jackson’s experience playing in multiple different systems over the past couple of years should bode well for his ability help bring something new to the table.

“Not everything other coaches or teams are trying to do will work everywhere else, but there are things to take away from what they’re trying to do that we could use in Portland,” Jackson said.

Huppatz added that the club is excited to welcome both Jackson and his fiancée back to the club when they arrive in town in October.

“We’re big on family at the Tigers so we can’t wait to make Portland just as much her club as it is ‘Jacko’s’” he said.