North Melbourne mid-season draft recruit Jacob Edwards has taken one step closer to fulfilling his dream of playing AFL football, meeting his new teammates at Arden Street for the first time this week.

Currently completing his year 12 studies, Edwards is in the midst of school holidays meaning he can come in and train with the senior side.

After taking the leap from school football to AFL training sessions, Edwards he still has to pinch himself to believe this is how he’s spending his school holidays.

“It was obviously something I couldn’t believe I’d be doing for the first couple of days … it’s something you never expect for a young kid to be doing during school holidays,” Edwards told North Media.

“It’s something I’m really happy about and excited to do … some of these boys you’d never think you’d kick a footy with, now actually doing it is really exciting.

“I was itching to get going at training with all the boys … the standard’s a lot higher than usual so it’s a really good experience to have, and the group … is absolutely awesome.”

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Jacob Edwards interview (June 22, 2021)

Mid-Season Draft number one pick Jacob Edwards catches up with North Media on his first day at Arden Street.

While he’s juggling the commitments of school and football, North is taking a cautious mentality to Edwards’ development to ensure he doesn’t get burnt out and can approach his studies with the respect they deserve.

North GM Football Brady Rawlings says the ability to include Edwards in sessions this early is a great educational exercise for him going forward.

“As you can imagine, your first couple of days in an AFL environment are pretty full on, just understanding the program and the amount of education that goes into the playing group … [but] it was great to see him around the boys,” Rawlings said.

“We’re going to take it really easy with Jacob, he played school football last weekend so from a playing point of view we’re going to give him a weekend off as he adapts to our training schedule while on school holidays.

“We’re treating it as a real educational opportunity through the AFL program. Game plan education and obviously his gym work will be a big part of his program over the coming years.”