Inarrabri

24 | iNarrabri Magazine

Interview by Jill Jollow

Jake, you’re a Narrabri boy

born and bred. Narrabri West

Public and Narrabri High. What

are your happiest memories of

school?

Probably just being around friends,

I reckon. That and playing sport. I

played a lot of sport. People take

school for granted but, once you

get out of school, you don’t get

to see as much of your friends as

you’d like. Yeah, friends and sport

would be my happiest memories.

Have you always played some

sort of sport?

Since I can remember I’ve always

had a football or a cricket bat in

my hand. Out the back with Dad…

personally I don’t know where the

football came from as none of my

family has played it! Dad saw that

I liked it at a young age and so he

put me in it. I enjoyed it a lot.

You played rugby league in both

junior and senior years for the

Blues. What position did you like

best and what did you think you

brought to the team?

I played a few positions, but I think

my best position was at half back. I

was captain a lot in the juniors and

growing up in the seniors. I like to

think I brought some leadership to

the team - I put my best foot for-

ward and got the team to follow.

I also think I had a good organi-

sational game - I was never the

quickest or the most flamboyant

player, but I was well organised.

I always knew what my strengths

and weaknesses were.

Favourite or most admired

league player - local and inter-

national?

Locally, the rugby league player

has always been Sean Russ. He’s

my definition of a tough league

player - always good in defence,

can put those big hits on, he’s

just a real workhorse. I’ve always

looked up to him. Internationally-

there’s a lot, but Cameron Smith.

I believe the way he plays a game

- he’s got a good mind set. He

doesn’t have a footballer’s body,

he’s more like an accountant, but

he knows how to organise and win

matches.

This year you switched to rugby

union and helped the Blue Boars

to a well deserved premiership.

How did you feel you handled

the change and what are the

major differences in the style of

play you encountered?

I played some junior rugby when

I was growing up and in the 18s,

which I enjoyed, so that was okay.

I thought I handled it pretty well.

The major difference I had to learn

was to stand a little bit deeper

in attack. In league in attack,

you stand on the advantage line

because you’ve got that bigger

space from the defence and you

can afford to be a bit shallower,

but in union the defence is not

as far away, so you have to stand

deeper. It took me a couple of

games to get used to that.

Who do you admire in rugby?

Just watching the World Cup,

David Pocock comes to mind. He’s

a really good workhorse and did a

lot for the Australian side. He goes

unnoticed sometimes, but players

like that do a lot more than what

you think and what spectators see.

I think the ones that do the grind

and do the hard work are the ones

that really make the side.

You are also a cricketer. Who do

you play for and what are your

skills?

I play for the Tatts. I captain the

first grade side. I’ve only played

one game so far because of my

thumb (Jake received an injury

to his thumb playing union this

year-Ed.) I open the batting for

them and I usually bowl spin - but

not at the moment because of my

thumb. They’re my skills in cricket.

How did your role as a Cricket

Development Officer come

about?

In my last year at school, Cathy

Barber, who’s the Development

Manager for the Northern Inland,

came and approached Brad Gra-

ham. She was looking for a Cricket

Promotions Officer and he gave

her my name. It went from there.

I worked pretty much full time for

a year. After I came home from

New Zealand, I’ve been helping

her out off and on. I’m not doing

so much of that now I’m working

for Tim Vaughn. I really enjoyed it.

It’s something I would definitely be

interested in once I get qualified.

You did a stint in New Zealand

playing cricket for Wellington

last summer. How did that come

about?

My Uncle Clint is a tennis coach

in New Zealand and when he was

home last year we did a stint in the

nets. He asked what I was doing

and suggested I move over with

him and play some cricket. I really

enjoyed myself. I had about 13

or 14 months, played with some

very good cricketers and did some

training with the Black Caps. Just

to learn how they approach the

game was a big eye opener for

me. Not just in cricket, but in all

sports. That’s how I approach

sport now - I’ve definitely changed

since I’ve been to New Zealand.

More professional now?

Yeah - just their mind set be-

fore they play a game, how they

prepare themselves. I think the

biggest thing for every sportsman

now is their mental side of the

game.

Now you’re doing Sports Man-

agement. What does that entail?

Well, Cathy actually put me on

to it. I asked her what I had to do

to get a job like hers and she put

me on to Sport and Recreational

Management. She deals with the

management side - dealing with

schools, setting out the year’s

criteria, dealing with staff - all that

sort of stuff. That’s what I’d like to

do. I’m doing the course through

Sydney TAFE.

You are now making a career out

of encouraging others to achieve

and maintain fitness, working at

Tim Vaughn’s gym. What is it you

are aiming for?

It’s going really well - I’ve really

enjoyed it. I wanted to do personal

training, but I didn’t want to go to

a big impersonal gym. The way

Tim runs gym seems a lot more

professional by way of one-on-

one contact with his clients. That

was what I wanted to do. I also

wanted to get a Personal Train-

ing Certificate so I could go on to

other facets of sporting manage-

ment. I do my practical training

through Tim, and do the theory

through the AIS.

Is there anything unexpected

that has surprised you about the

business?

I think the way that Tim runs it is

very detailed. The research and

organisation. In the time he’s spent

working at it, he’s picked up a lot

of tips and ideas that you don’t

learn in books. Learning from him

has been a really good experi-

ence. Just the way you can pick

up techniques from him working

with clients who have an injury is

something I did not expect to be

learning.

Apart from playing sport, what

are your other interests?

I like spending a lot of time with

friends and family. I have a very

big family and I’m very family ori-

entated. I like barbeques. I spend

a lot of time with Nan and Pop. I

always like going over there and

having a chat with them. I think

they have a lot of words of wisdom

for me. Yeah, friends and family,

having fun - enjoying life!

And finally, baked beans or

spaghetti?

Baked beans - all the way!

A talented athlete, Jake is making a name and a future for

himself out of his possion for sport...

photo: john burgess

Feature

jake packer