It’s been nine years since Jake Wilson has called Portland home and nothing much has changed for the returning Tiger.
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Wilson has signed a three-year deal as an assistant coach of the Hampden league club, which is searching for a new senior coach after Luke Crane’s decision to head home to Tasmania.
The 26-year-old has slotted back into country life like he had never left the south-west coastal town.
“I’m back working on a sheep farm in Mount Richmond through a guy named David Golby,” Wilson said.
“I’m enjoying being back on the farm and I’m working for the same farmer that I did when I was 16-17. It’s nice to be back where I grew up in.
"I’ve been marking sheep and sheering rams, the sort of stuff I did when I was a kid. It’s a nice change up from (eight years) of plumbing.”
The key defender moved to Melbourne when he was 18 and played seven seasons at VFL clubs Williamstown (two years) and Werribee (five). He then moved to Adelaide where he suited up in the last two seasons of the SANFL with West Adelaide.
Wilson, who will bring a wealth of experience to Hanlon Park, also played five senior games for the Tigers before moving to the state’s capital.
He also played in the 2008 under 18s grand final in the Western Border Football League, after starting his career as a junior at West Portland.
The 194cm key position player is eager to taste success with a Tigers side, which hasn’t featured in finals since its move to the HFNL.
“As an assistant coach I hope I can bring as much experience as I can,” Wilson said.
“We have a very young group and hopefully I can teach the young ones a thing or two. My main goal is to win premierships.
“I haven’t won one in my senior career and I just want to come down and be in a successful side and I think we can do that at Portland.”
Wilson, who has played most of his football career as a defender, flirted with the idea of possibly shifting his role.
“I have played as a key defender in the VFL and SANFL and I have swung forward every now and then,” he said.
“I’m six-foot-four and I can use my size on the field at full-forward and also my marking ability but hopefully at Portland I can swing wherever they want be to be."
Club spokesman Michael Carr said they were ecstatic to have Wilson on board.
“It’s fantastic for us and he brings plenty of experience for us to utilise," he said.
“We have plenty of good young midfielders, so it will be good to have Jake in our spine and build a team around him into the future.
“He is at the right age to come back and we want to hold onto to him for four, five or even six years into the future and continue to build towards success around him.”