THERE is footy obsessed, then there is Jacob Farrow.
Ask him about a player and he knows intricate details of their game. Ask him about a particular match and he knows exactly how it was won. Ask him about a number and he can immediately tell you who wears it. That, in particular, is a party trick.
DRAFT HUB Click here for the latest draft news
"I've been stumped on a few, but I reckon I'd get most correct," Farrow told AFL.com.au.
Farrow's life revolves around footy. It's what has shot him into top-10 calculations ahead of this month's Telstra AFL Draft, with the 189cm defender refining certain aspects of his game that he knows will be important at the next level.
"Basically, when I'm not playing, I'm watching footy," Farrow said.
"Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday morning I'll play but the rest of the afternoon I'll put the footy on, all day Sunday. I reckon I get to six games out of the nine AFL matches every weekend.
"I like to pick out players and just watch what they do. A close game of footy is the best. I don't really get too disappointed who wins or who loses. But I just pick out the players that I like and watch them really closely.
"I really like watching Jordan Dawson play, I love watching Nick Blakey, Finn Callaghan when he's in the middle. He's really explosive and drives his legs. Hayden Young, who can play half-back or midfield. He's a really good user as well."
Farrow's obsession stretches to footy jumpers, as well. He doesn't follow a team – he instead prefers to follow footballers that he can learn from – something that is reflected in his enormous collection of guernseys.
He owns close to 30 all up, belonging to every side. He's got one from each club, has plans to add another when Tasmania enters the competition, and occasionally splashes out for the rarer item like an Indigenous jumper or a one-off kit.
"Freo were my family's team and I'd always go watch them," Farrow said.
"But my first jersey was a Hawthorn one. I've collected all of the 18 club jerseys. I do like collecting them, but when I used to train at junior footy that's when I'd try to pick out a jersey and wear that to training.
"For some of them, I've got home and away. I've got a few Indigenous ones as well, which are pretty cool. I reckon I've got close to 30 jerseys all up. A few clubs, I've got one extra for."
His favourite, though? That would be the Western Bulldogs' 2021-22 Indigenous jumper, one designed by former club great Lindsay Gilbee and renowned Aboriginal artist Nathan Patterson.
"Red, blue and white. They're good colours and the pattern is elite," Farrow said.
Farrow has enjoyed a terrific season. He had a standout national carnival for Western Australia, earning All-Australian selection off the back of a 29-disposal and nine-mark performance across half-back against the Allies.
But he also plied his trade consistently at senior level for West Perth, where he averaged 24.7 disposals and 5.4 marks with the Colts side before making his WAFL debut late in the year and excelling even further.
Guided by former West Coast defender Josh Rotham, who he describes as a mentor of his, Farrow won 22 disposals and nine marks in his second ever WAFL game against East Perth and ultimately finished the year with three appearances to his name.
It was at that level where Farrow was able to demonstrate the attributes that have excited AFL recruiters across the year, in particular his size and his fantastic left-foot kicking abilities coming out of defence.
"My kicking has come naturally," Farrow said.
"But when I was 16 years old, that's when I started realising that it was actually a really good weapon of mine. Since then, I've just put a lot of time into little things before training.
"Kicking off no steps, or changing up the variety in terms of around the corner or outside of the foot. Seeing the game well, it helps me to make good decisions by foot and then I'm able to execute."
Farrow is a bolter of sorts. While his form early in the year put him on the radar, quickly turning him from a draftable player to a first-round prospect, then even into top-10 range late in the campaign, his improvement hasn't always been linear.
He missed out on selection for Western Australia's under-16s squad a couple of years ago, and was then overlooked for the state's under-18s program across last summer. But his love of the game, and his appetite to get better, drove his development.
"I was quick to get some feedback from our talent manager," Farrow said, speaking of a meeting with West Australian talent boss Adam Jones after missing out on selection for the state's initial under-18s squad.
"Running, and in particular speed, was what I needed to work on. I went and got a sprint coach in that off-season and he sent me away with a good program. I'd be doing it once a week over that off-season, pre-season break.
"It's a plyometrics program that I do in the gym. Out on the track, it's zero to 20m stuff and zero to 5m stuff. Those first few steps are what I was working on. Short and sharp stuff. I feel like it's given me confidence to drive my legs and it's one of my strengths now."
That endless thirst to improve – combined with a chip-on-the-shoulder mentality that Farrow has carried since missing the initial Western Australia squads – now has him on the cusp of realising his long-held AFL dream.
"It motivated me more," Farrow said.
"Hearing the news was disappointing at first, but you can only control what you can control. That was what I wanted to do next. For example, in the 16s year, I missed out on the squad and then I played the last four Colts games as a double bottom-ager.
"In the 18s summer squad, I missed out on that but then got the opportunity to train with the League side over the pre-season and went on to play some League footy at the end of this year.
"With my story, missing out on all of those 16s and 18s squads, I've had to really get to work on what I need to. To finally be rewarded and put myself in a really good position, it would mean everything to get drafted now."
