ST KILDA has secured the signature of out-of-contract forward Jack Higgins for four more years, with the 24-year-old putting pen to paper on a new deal that locks him in at Moorabbin until at least the end of 2027.
Higgins is one of three big-name Saints to ink extensions this week, with reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Jack Sinclair and vice-captain Cal Wilkie both signing three-year deals, 12 months before they were due to come out of contract.
As reported in Inside Trading, Higgins - who was out of contract at the end of this year - had started discussions with the Saints in May.
He has played 52 games since crossing from Richmond at the end of 2020, following 43 appearances across three seasons at Punt Road.
After kicking a career-high 30 goals in 2022, Higgins has risen again in 2023, kicking 27 majors at 67.7 per cent from the first 16 rounds to sit only behind Toby Greene (38 goals), Charlie Cameron (37), Izak Rankine (30), Bayley Fritsch (29) and Luke Breust (28) when it comes to general forwards in the AFL.
When Higgins was selected by the Tigers at pick No. 17 in the 2017 AFL Draft after winning the Morrish Medal, the Oakleigh Chargers product was determined to carve out a long and prosperous career at the top, but it was almost taken away from him in 2019 when he started suffering headaches and blurred vision during and after games.
He endured two rounds of brain surgery that year after an MRI discovered a bleed, spending the best part of two months inside hospital while Richmond went on a run to win the second of three premierships under Damien Hardwick.
The first operation left him unable to look at a screen. The second left him with a 25cm scar on the side of his head that serves as a daily reminder of just how far he has come since his career looked over.
"It really still drives me, to be honest. I'm still really good friends with the doctor that looked after me. I never thought I would play again. No one in the AFL has come back from the surgery I had – others have had brain issues – but to come back when I was told I wouldn't play again, it is pretty crazy and I'm pretty proud of it," Higgins told AFL.com.au on Wednesday.
"To play four more years after that and getting a four-year deal is crazy. It does motivate me and I love seeing the scar on my head; I reckon it looks pretty cool and every time I look at my face I see it. Hopefully the hair never grows over the scar and it always reminds me of how tough I did it."
Higgins made an inspirational return to the game in 2020, at a time when the game was being played behind closed doors. Since then, the 178cm goal sneak has changed clubs and changed as a person. Brain surgery altered his outlook on life. It has moulded him into a more rounded person in the process.
"I was in ICU for ages. I remember being in agony, not wanting to kill myself but I was at that stage where I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was vomiting and just felt like I wanted to die – as bad as that sounds – because I was in that much pain. My mental health wasn't good at the time. I was doing erratic things and just being a dickhead to everyone that was close to me," Higgins said.
"Coming out the other end of me, I realised football is an important part of my life, but there are other people doing it harder than me. It gave me a good perspective. Footy is important, but let's be honest, it's not that important. It really taught me about a lot of things outside of football and how important life is. Health is wealth."
When Higgins secured a trade to RSEA Park in November 2020 it felt like he was coming home. Unlike almost every other player at the club, Higgins grew up a diehard St Kilda supporter. He experienced the stunning rise under Ross Lyon as a supporter and the heartbreak of the Grand Final losses in 2009 and 2010.
"I lived around the corner from Moorabbin as a kid. I went to all the Grand Finals and the open trainings and had a lot of kicks when I was younger at Moorabbin. The place has changed so much," he said. "I still remember when I go out to training me and dad going out there with my mate. I have seen the club transform from literally horrific facilities to awesome ones. I love pulling on the jumper and I'm proud to do it because I come from a big St Kilda family. It is pretty cool playing for them."
Head of development and learning Damian Carroll and player development manager Tony Brown have had a powerful impact on Higgins since he joined the club. But no one has extracted more out of the precocious talent than Lyon.
"When he got to the club I was a bit scared because I thought I'd get the Ross I saw on TV, but he has been great to me. I don't think there has been much better for me for my career," he said.
"I love playing under Ross. I can't say good enough words about him. He gets the best out of me and he gets the best out of all the people. He has got some really high standards that make every player better. I love it because he has them for me and I've got to uphold them every week. He gets the best out of me. It brings me back as a 10-year-old kid."
While Mitch Owens (19 goals) and Anthony Caminiti (15 goals) have shattered the expectations set for them ahead of round one, and Max King (14 goals) has made a decent return from a shoulder reconstruction in the past six weeks, St Kilda's two leading goalkickers in 2023 are small forwards. And both played for Richmond before searching for greater opportunity on Linton Street.
Dan Butler has recaptured the form that earned him selection in the 2020 All-Australian squad and resulted in a runner-up finish in that year's Trevor Barker Award. He is one of the most devastating pressure forwards in the AFL in 2023 and has kicked 24 goals to make it 51 between him and his sidekick, much to the delight of Higgins.
"We are probably different personalities; he'll tell you that, too," he said. "I love playing with him, I've always looked up to him, even at Richmond. He offers so much to the team, offensively and defensively. I think he is the best forward pressure player in the League and he kicks goals; they are hard to find."
Football has been Higgins' focus for the best part of a decade. Playing in the AFL was on his radar well before he was even eligible to be drafted. His decision to not complete Year 12 at Caulfield Grammar created a stir at the time, much to his frustration.
Even now, six years into his career – and with the security of at least more four years in the AFL – the narrative annoys him. With the ink still drying on a lucrative long-term deal, that in some ways continues to vindicate his decision at 17, a candid Higgins said the decision was made in his best interests at the time.
"There was a lot of media around me leaving school, and to be honest, I think the media took it out of context. I was no good at school; you can ask any of my teachers, so to stay around in Year 12 would have been a waste of time," he said.
"I always wanted to make the AFL and maybe I put more eggs in that basket than others, but I really wanted to make it a career. I know if you play your cards right in life and you work hard enough – that goes for study, for being a doctor, for being an AFL footballer or a cricketer – it may not always pay off but it is going to give you the best chance to succeed.
"When I made the decision to leave school it actually wasn't about my footy at all, it was because I was getting hopeless grades and it was a waste of my parents' money and teachers' time. I think the general public took it out of context and thought all I cared about was football. I wanted to get the best out of myself and going to school wasn't for me. I felt like I got ridden into the ground with 'Jack Higgins left school to play AFL football'. It wasn't about that at all. It was about me trying not to waste my own time."
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