It’s not all that far from Clarendon Street, South Melbourne to Colonial Stadium. A tram ride and a short walk will see at the gates in no time. But Bomber youngster Danny Jacobs will tell you it is in fact a quantum leap.

Jacobs has come a long way since the days when much of his time was spent “bumming” around the streets of South Melbourne with a few mates. The future was basically whatever lay around the next corner – it just filled in time until the next game of footy. School didn’t matter, football did, but he was never foolish enough to dream that one day Colonial Stadium would be around the next bend.

But it is at Colonial Stadium where you will find Jacobs for much of this season and for seasons to come

“Football had always meant everything to me. I never tried to excel at school and I never tried at anything else in my life – I’ve played football since I was six-years-old. AFL football was always the goal but until recently I never thought it was achievable,” Jacobs said

“I suppose I’ve come a long way when I think about it but I find it very easy to visualise where I was a few years ago – it is how I keep everything in perspective. Four years ago I was bumming around the streets of South Melbourne with a few mates and now I am out training and playing with James Hird, Matthew Lloyd and Mark Mercuri and co.

“A lot of those blokes from South Melbourne have moved on but there are three of them that I have known all my life and I keep in touch with them. They are great supporters of me and they get to the footy when they can – you could ask for better mates.”

So life has taken a big turn for Jacobs in the past two years – he is cruising around the Bombers half-forward line at Colonial Stadium instead of the streets just down the road. Unlike some, Jacobs wasn’t destined to make the big time. He didn’t play football for Scotch College on a scholarship, he didn’t have the finest coaching available, he didn’t have the silky foot skills – he didn’t get the breaks early in life. But Jacobs did have something that Essendon’s coaching and recruiting staff wanted.

“He is street-smart on a football ground and that is something you can’t teach people,” is how Essendon assistant coach Robert Shaw describes Jacobs. “It is something you can’t give people - a football brain. But he also has great vision and is a one grab player.”

“The reason he was at number 36 when we drafted him was because some didn’t like the way he kicked and perhaps some didn’t like his background. But we saw his life experiences as a strength. He was a17-year-old with a 25-year-old head on his shoulders – as a footballer and as a person.

“I think it is fair to say that blokes like Sheeds, Harvs, TD, and myself like these sort of blokes – there is a bit of (Paul) Van Der Haar, (Billy) Duckworth and TD (Terry Daniher) in him and he has the football brain of a Leon Baker.”

Jacobs remembers the 1998 draft vividly. “I was sitting at home with mum and the family and all the rumors in the newspapers said I was going to be taken early in the draft. Mum was starting to get a bit worried that I wasn’t going to get drafted and she was hoping I wouldn’t go interstate,” Jacobs said.

“I was happy to go anywhere but when Essendon called my name out I just could believe it – mum started crying – it was just great. I was all over the shop, I didn’t know what to say, I just sat there stunned. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

Pre-draft Jacobs didn’t expect it would be Windy Hill where he ended up.

“I had spoken mostly to interstate clubs – I spoke to Adelaide four or five times. I spoke to Essendon once and that was with Kevin Sheedy at one of the draft camps. It was just out of the blue when they asked to have a chat to me,” he said.

“There were three or four who called me over and I have never been so nervous – I was talking to the most respected coach in all of football. My hands were sweating … I can’t even remember what he asked me or how I answered. It was all a blur.”

“The day after the draft I met with Sheeds and the first thing he asked was “Who did you barrack for?” I was a mad Melbourne supporter. He then asked me who my footy heroes were and I told him Gary Lyon, Robert Flower and Stephen Tingay.”

Jacobs was drafted to Essendon from the Prahran Dragons. He was playing for South Melbourne Districts when he was first asked to come down to play for Prahran in the under 18 competition. “I must have just had a lucky game when they had some of their scouts there watching someone else – I had a good game and they asked me to come down to training and join my brother,” he said.

“Slug Jordan, my old coach at Prahran Dragons, always told me that if I kept at it I just might get a look in so I suppose that is when I thought it might be possible. He was a very good coach.”

In just his second full season with Essendon, Jacobs is on the verge of establishing himself as a regular senior player. It is a meritorious performance when you consider the strength of the Essendon side over the past two seasons. He has learned quickly from his experiences with the reserves under coach Terry Daniher.

“It helps knowing the sort of team we have got and how they play. You can learn that from watching the senior blokes who come back and play in the reserves – you mould your game on theirs and gives you an idea of what you have to do to get into the seniors. Once you are there you can’t afford a bad game – you have to make the most of every opportunity you get or you are out,” Jacobs said.

“These senior players who come back never drop their heads and they become very good leaders in the reserves. They don’t want to be in the reserves but they know there is only one way to get back and everyone tries to follow that lead.”

Unlike the Gary O’Donnells, Michael Tucks and Chris Langfords of this world, Danny Jacobs didn’t have to play a mountain of reserves football to break into the senior side. His debut came in round 14 of the 1999 season against Fremantle. It was his only game for the season but it gave him the taste for senior football. He returned to the senior side for the Ansett Cup series and was an integral part of its success.

“The fact I haven’t had to spend a lot of time in the reserves is good. From day one all you want to do is play senior football so it is easy to get frustrated. I live with Mark Johnson and he has been really good – he helps you stay positive and he always watches my videos with me and tells me what I can do better,” Jacobs said.

“When you are surrounded by good players they help you quickly come to terms with what you have got to do in the side. Plus, if they have a good day, they certainly make you look good – if you lead they will always put the ball on your chest. It then becomes a matter of making sure you don’t let them down.”

And that was something that has played on the mind of Jacobs during his early games in the senior side. He basically didn’t want to get in people’s way.

“You think to yourself, what will I do if James Hird kicks it to me? I suffered from it a lot in the Ansett Cup – I was really nervous – there was nowhere to hide if I dropped a mark that I really should have taken.”

But it was in the second half of the Ansett Cup match against the Western Bulldogs that Danny Jacobs suddenly began to believe he was good enough to mix it with the big boys. “I took a few marks that night and when the game finished I was walking off and thinking there was no reason I should think of these blokes as being miles better than me. During most of my years in junior football I never for one moment thought I was good enough to play at AFL level. But you need that self-belief and Mark Johnson has helped me a lot in that area. He is so positive – he makes you believe you can beat anyone.”

“My aim for the rest of the year is obviously to stay in the senior side. “When you have people like James Hird in the side you can sometimes be a bit intimidated – you can not really go at a ball that you think they might also get. It is a just a matter of getting used the fact you are in the side and you have to go in and get the ball as well.

“We have a real chance to achieve some success this season and I want to be a part of it. There aren’t many players in the side over the age of 26 so we should have a good side for a few years to come.”

Jacobs has been compared with James Hird but its not something that sits easily with the young man. As he points out there is a big difference between a player with a handful of games under his belt and one who has a premiership, a best and fairest and a Brownlow Medal to his name.

Comparisons however will always be made when you make an early impact at senior level. These comparisons can often be the downfall of young players. Suddenly they can forget the hard work it took to get where they have – the road to the bottom is far quicker than the one to the top. But maintaining a perspective is almost self-regulatory for Danny Jacobs – he is surrounded by people who know him well and help keep a lid on things.

“My brothers are all older than me and they are pretty viscous on me if I start to get big headed. In particular, my closest brother Brett, keeps an eye on me – he says he will lay me out if I start to think I’m better than other people. My whole family has been really good like that.”

“I wouldn’t say I have succeeded until I had been involved in a premiership – from a personal point of view a Crichton Medal would be a sign that perhaps you did achieve something as a player.”

So on football matters Jacobs continues to learn from those around him.

“I haven’t played in the forward line a lot and have got a lot of help from James Hird, Matthew Lloyd and Terry Daniher. Aaron Henneman has also been really good – we both want to play seniors so we compete pretty hard against each other at training and that helps both of us.”

Away from football, household chores bring him back to earth.

“The house is actually in pretty good knick. I only wish Johnno (housemate mark Johnson) would calm down a bit. He has got endless energy – he’s jumping around the house no matter if it’s morning or night – it’s unbelievable. We cook, clean and do the shopping – it’s nice to be independent.”