THROUGHOUT his junior career Daniel Jackson believed he was going to follow his father Tony's footsteps in the South West District League with Tyrendarra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But it was Portland and the Hampden league that was calling the now Tigers skipper's name back in 2012.
"It was interesting when I was younger I always thought I was going to be playing for Tyrendarra as we were always out there with dad and I had in my mind that I would just be there," the 24-year-old said.
"But as I got older all my mates started to head to Portland's under 18s and I wanted to be playing with them.
"Dad pushed me to play down here so I could get the best out of myself as I was going through (Greater Western Victoria) Rebels pre-season and the best thing was to go to Portland and I haven't looked back."
Now the former North Portland junior is forging a career across half-back for the Tigers in the Hampden league.
Listen to this week's edition of The Standard's football podcast - The Main Break
READ MORE:
The parallel journeys of father and son are almost similar with both Jacksons holding leadership roles throughout their lives or sporting careers.
"He was a captain when he was playing and has been in coaching roles as well," Daniel said of his father.
"He has always had a big influence on me and that's not just with leadership but with my footy career as well.
"He has given me lots of tips over the time, even if I didn't like them. He has rode me pretty hard over the time too but that has probably been good for me as well."
Daniel's drive to be a leader started in his early days at North Portland Primary School, where he was a school captain.
As he progressed up the junior ranks Jackson took every leadership opportunity he could and after seven years in the senior ranks he rose to lead the club's senior side.
The Portland Laser Cutting employee, who has already notched up 100 senior games in the Hampden league, has had plenty of strong leadership figures to learn from.
"Rhys Egan has been really good and taken me under his wing," he said. "He loves to work hard and try to make everyone work hard but still enjoy it.
"His philosophy is if you're not working hard there is no point but he knew to have a good balance of both too.
"I have taken that from him as he is one of the hardest workers and I could tell with the way he was playing that I wanted to jump on board with that and do the same thing.
"When I first started Jaron Quinlivan came up to me in my first game when I was nervous and he took me under his wing in that game and made sure I was alright and ready to go.
"I looked up to him because of that and funnily enough he played across half-back and that's what I am doing now.
"When he was coaching I would always pick his brain with what he was doing as you learn from watching those types of guys."
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.