The Portland captain made history on Sunday becoming the first Tiger to be crowned the Hampden league's best and fairest, 10 years after the club joined the competition in 2013.

He did so with ease, polling 31 votes, 10 more than Cobden captain Paul Pekin (21 votes) who finished runner-up.

"It's absolutely surreal," Jackson said of the honour.

"It's great, the emotion and roar through the club just shows how much it meant to them. It's probably meant more to them than what it meant to me.

"I just want the club to be successful. I just want to play my part. It's pretty surreal when you say that, the first Portland player in history to win it. I'm pretty proud of that."

It's easy to see how Jackson collected the award.

Playing in a side which finished fourth during the regular season he kicked 15 goals and was named in his side's best players 15 times from 18 games.

Coach Jarrod Holt trusted him to play in the midfield permanently, which he credits for his rise.

"That's probably the big thing. I played midfield before and just knowing that Holty was confident I could be the main guy in the midfield, to lead the charge," Jackson said.

"He (Holt) gave me that licence to be a bit more offensively oriented which I haven't had in the past. It probably helps when your side's a little bit better.

"He's probably been the big one the last two years that's backed me in."

As well as increased midfield minutes the star Tiger said taking better care of his body had contributed to his superb form. He said in the past he had over-trained and would start to feel fatigued at the back-end of the season.

"I still tried to do what I can to be better but also looking after myself, recovering," Jackson said. "Trying to make sure I'm right for the next game which I probably haven't done as much in the past."

Sunday's award win was the second time Jackson was a part of history this year for the Tigers. Last month the side played its first Hampden league final, securing a 27-point win over Warrnambool in the elimination final.

The following week the Tigers were eliminated after a heavy defeat to South Warrnambool but their future looks bright.

"I'm just rapt that we got to play finals, that's where I want to be playing my footy," Jackson said.

"I'm just spewing that we couldn't be playing next week."

Instead of resting in the off-season, Jackson is heading to Darwin next week, where he will play for Nightcliff in the upcoming NTFL season.