Ben Jacobs Biography

Ben Jacobs departs his role as development coach with the Saints to join the Bombers' coaching panel headed by his former Kangaroos coach Brad Scott.

Following a disastrous 2020 campaign where the Kangaroos finished second-last on the ladder, North Melbourne begins a savage cull of its list with eleven players delisted.

Leadership group members Jamie Macmillan and Jasper Pittard are among them, while Majak Daw's incredible comeback from serious injuries sustained two years ago looks over.

Ben Jacobs, Paul Ahern, Mason Wood, Sam Durdin, Marley Williams, Joel Crocker, Lachie Hosie, and Tom Murphy round out the Kangaroos' delistings.

Ben Jacobs has started a modified training schedule as he continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms that kept him sidelined for all of 2019.

"It's a very tough situation for Benny. He's shown a lot of courage," Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw told SEN radio.

"It's a real hard one. You get a bit emotional talking about it because you see the fight he goes through every single day to get himself up.

"He's in a really good spot now, he's starting to do a bit of running, he's joined in some stationary skills with us and he's on a path that may take a little bit longer than people want but for me it's more about his life than footy and he's getting better, so that's the main thing."

Ben Jacobs has abandoned a plan to return to football this season to focus on making a recovery to full health.

Since sustaining what he has termed a "whiplash" injury against Brisbane in round 11 last year, Jacobs has suffered neck pain, headaches, blocked ears and pressure in his head.

"We sat down this week and decided the best way forward was to take the pressure off him for an imminent return and allow him all the time he needs to prepare for the pre-season," Kangaroos football chief Cameron Joyce said.

"While we've seen some improvement, unfortunately it hasn't been to the level where he's been able to train consistently and ultimately get back to playing this season."

Ben Jacobs is struggling to pinpoint why the exact cause of his symptoms resulting from a neck injury sustained in round 11 of 2018.

In a bid to recover, Jacobs has had a nerve in his neck burnt off, surgery for sinusitis and worn a mouthguard to rectify his sleep apnea by realigning his jaw.

"The worst part about it was I didn't know what was going on, and I still don't," Jacobs said.

"I have had a neck injury … I have just had my head knocked on the ground ... whether that has flared up the jaw, the nerves in the head, the neck ... it is the perfect storm type of thing.

"To say it is one thing, we can't be sure. I can't rule anything out."

Ben Jacobs is eyeing 2019 with great optimism after finally getting to the bottom of the health issue that sidelined him for the second half of the 2018 season and finalising a new two-year deal with North Melbourne.

Jacobs has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until the end of 2020.

"It was a perfect storm in the end with a knock I took against Brisbane. I kind of hit my head and had a bit of a neck injury at the time and a nose injury, but in the end I probably put it down to a sinus problem," Jacobs said.

"I had chronic sinusitis, which I got cleared up about six weeks ago. The doctors had to do their due diligence and couldn't really just rule out the concussion-type symptoms, but it was all to do with the nose, so concussion is not the problem at all."

Ben Jacobs is certain he will still be at North Melbourne in 2019 despite protracted contract negotiations with the club.

"I think it's just one of those unique situations that it hasn't been done yet, but obviously through different circumstances that's where it's at," Jacobs said.

"I haven't thought twice about it, I'm shaping up for a pre-season for North Melbourne in 2019 and that's it."

North Melbourne has no concerns about Ben Jacobs' long-term health despite lingering concussion symptoms that will again sideline him this round, with the club still optimistic the run-with midfielder will play again in 2018.

"We've had assurances that he's fine in terms of the medium to long-term. I've said consistently said that he's very close to playing, so that would suggest that we're not concerned about his long-term future," Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said.

Ben Jacobs will be sidelined indefinitely after North Melbourne decided this week to restrict him from training until his concussion symptoms have completely subsided.

"We've gone through this cycle of train and see how he pulls up and then he wasn't quite right and then we'd repeat that, four or five times," North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said.

"We've taken the decision that we're just going to rest him completely until he has zero concussion symptoms before we do some light cardiovascular work.

"Until we get his head and neck right the rest doesn't matter."

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says the club continues to take a conservative approach in Ben Jacobs' recovery from concussion symptoms.

"We've isolated it more to the neck. There was an incident, I think in round 11, so a long time ago … it's just referring into a few headaches and things like that," Scott said.

"Where there's any doubt with those sort of things we've just got to take him out.

"It's frustrating for everyone that we've named him four times and he's played once in the last month, but we've just got to be ultra cautious."

Ben Jacobs is a late withdrawal from North Melbourne's side to take on the Western Bulldogs due to a bout of delayed concussion, with his symptoms presenting after training during the week.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has called on umpires to give superstar midfielder Dustin Martin greater protection from taggers.

Martin had his colours lowered by master tagger Ben Jacobs in last week's hard-fought 10-point win over North Melbourne.

"It's not often we see Dusty getting beaten ... he took that on board and Jacobs did a great job," Hardwick said.

"But we probably thought he could have got a little bit of protection from the umpires at various stages."

Six games in to the 2018 season, Ben Jacobs is rated as the second best tagger in the league according to Champion Data.

"I'm definitely not the scragger or dirty type," Jacobs said.

"I just try to compete as best I can, and I think along the journey I've worked out some ways of maneuvering my body and where to set up at different stages of the game."

Scott Thompson, Jarrad Waite, Ben Jacobs and Declan Mountford re-sign with North Melbourne on one-year deals.

Veteran forward Jarrad Waite and injury-plagued midfielder Ben Jacobs are set to play on at North Melbourne in 2018 after being offered new one-year deals.

Scott Thompson, Jarrad Waite and Ben Jacobs are among seven North Melbourne players whose futures are unlikely to be decided until after this year's trade period.

Thompson (restricted free agent), Waite and Jacobs are set to come out of contract at the end of October, along with Sam Gibson, Aaron Mullett and second-year players Declan Mountford and Corey Wagner.

It's understood North has told some of these players it won't be able to inform them whether they will be offered contract extensions until after the trade period finishes on Thursday, October 19.

Ben Jacobs' 2017 season is most likely over after the midfielder underwent minor surgery for an on-going foot injury.

"Ben returned to the VFL and played a few matches before receiving a knock to his lower leg. This resulted in some referred pain in his foot and some ensuing irritation," North doctor Peter Baquie said.

"Despite allowing the aggravated area some time to settle, it's now appropriate to intervene and also inspect the joint and tidy up some potential scar tissue from his previous surgeries."

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says Ben Jacobs will not be rushed back into the side as he continues to recover from a foot injury.

"We're really confident the initial injury is sound but he's getting some referred pain elsewhere. My instruction to our medical team is just not to rush it," Scott said.

"Obviously we want him back but we want to be conservative with the approach so that when he is back, he gets a clear run at it."

Jacobs comes out of contract at the end of 2017 but remains a required player at the club.

"We've got enough evidence to know what his best is, we've just got to get him healthy. That's our priority at the moment," Scott said.

"Is he a player at his best that's going to stay on our list? Absolutely he is."

Ben Jacobs needs surgery and will miss up to eight weeks after he again broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot.

It is the same injury that limited him to just seven games in 2016.

Ben Jacobs will have surgery to relieve a stress fracture in his foot, which will have him sidelined for up to 10 weeks.

Jacobs experienced soreness in his fifth metatarsal bone following North's win over Essendon in round eight.

"We anticipate he'll be available in 8-10 weeks, which would be close to the round 20 mark, if not before," Kangaroos director of football Geoff Walsh said.

"That would give him a decent block of games before the finals."

Ben Jacobs faces a stint on the sidelines after a lingering foot problem flared up following the Roos' win over Essendon.

It's understood Jacobs has been managing a hot spot on his foot for much of this season, but pulled up sorer than usual after keeping Bombers midfielder David Zaharakis to just 12 possessions.

Although surgery remains an option, North is confident this would not end Jacobs' season.

Ben Jacobs reveals he required a hospital check-up two days before shutting down Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin in the Kangaroos' elimination final.

Jacobs suffered a bad case of gastro in the week leading up to the final that left him unable to train and even prompted a hospital visit.

The 23-year-old lost between three and four kilograms due to the illness but still managed to keep Cotchin to just nine possessions in a performance that was a key factor in the Kangaroos' 17-point win.

Richmond captain Trent Cotchin says he let his teammates down in Sunday's elimination final and didn't do his job after being tagged out of the match by North Melbourne opponent Ben Jacobs.

Cotchin finished with just nine possessions and one clearance in a game where his team was crying out for a contested ball presence.

The nine possessions were the equal-lowest he has ever recorded in his 153-game career.

"It starts at the top and with me. I let the boys down," Cotchin said.

"As captain you want to be there at the coalface winning the ball for your team. That's my job and I didn't perform that today.

"Credit to Jacobs, he was fantastic all day. He didn't give me an inch of space. He also got plenty of help from his teammates.

"One thing I'll take out of the game is I'll be back again next year ready to take it to any opposition we come across."

Ben Jacobs says he finally feels at home in North Melbourne's best team after a breakthrough 2015 season that has now triggered a second one-year contract extension, tying him to Arden Street until the end of 2017.

"I had chopped and changed positions, been in and out of the side, so I was a bit unsure where I was at," Jacobs said.

"I thought if I could get that right then the contract would take care of itself and l've been lucky enough to get there, which is good for peace of mind."

Ben Jacobs has earned a contract extension for 2016 after reinventing himself as a run-with midfielder this season.

Jacobs signed a one-year deal when his initial two-year contract at North expired at the end of last season, but is believed to have recently activated a trigger clause guaranteeing him a spot on the Roos' list for next season.

North senior assistant coach Darren Crocker said that Jacob's new role had come about through necessity.

"We'd lost 'Wellsy' (Daniel Wells), we'd lost 'Dal' (Nick Dal Santo) for that period and we didn't have Andrew Swallow just before that time because of his broken thumb," Crocker said.

"So we thought, 'Well, let's bring him into the midfield but still have him with that narrow focus of really having a strong defensive mindset', and that's why we got him to start doing some run-with roles on what we consider to be the opposition's more dangerous midfielder."

Ben Jacobs' encouraging development as a defender in the second half of 2014 has earned him a new one-year deal that secures his future at the Kangaroos to the end of next season.

"Last year and even throughout the pre-season, Ben was trying to work his way into our midfield and that was always going to be difficult for him because we have a pretty strong midfield," North senior assistant coach Darren Crocker said.

"When that didn't pan out for Ben he basically asked, 'What role is there that's actually going to give me an opportunity to play every week if I perform?'

"At that stage, we were screaming out for a guy who could play across half-back as a shut-down defender on crafty opposition forwards, but also give us a little bit of rebound with his run.

"So Ben identified that there might be an opportunity there and then he just went for that role. He was in and out with it a little bit early, just trying to get used to it.

"But in the end he's played some pretty consistent footy down back and taken some pretty big strides as a player."

After an operation to clean out scar tissue in his ankles, North Melbourne recruit Ben Jacobs can now run and jump again without restriction.

"When I saw the surgeon he was pretty amazed how I could still run and even get through games at all," Jacobs told the Herald Sun.

"There was so much scar tissue which was blocking the tendons from moving freely, so there was no range of motion.

"I was literally running without any flexion in the ankle, which meant I couldn't sprint. After I strung six games together, just even trying to jump was a task."

Drafted by Port Adelaide, Jacobs says his mind was set on joining the Kangaroos at the end of 2012 despite the Power being determined to retain him.

"It was a long process and I got along so well with the people at Port Adelaide that for it to be extended and as long as it was -- it wasn't ideal," Jacobs said.

"I was certain it (my new home) was going to be North, but I think a few clubs tried to play a few mind games and throw off North.

"I got late mail that I was going somewhere else (Essendon). But I think anyone other than North would have been stupid to take me because North was the only club I wanted to come to."

Gold Coast's Taylor Hine and Port Adelaide's Ben Jacobs have nominated for the draft, but contentious Crow Kurt Tippett hasn't as he faces charges that he breached AFL player rules.

Ben Jacobs is set to quit Port Adelaide and nominate for the national draft where it is understood North Melbourne have made a commitment to select him.

"We've spoken to his management a couple of times but until we hear officially of what he wants to do then I guess we're still holding some hope that he will decide to stay," Power football manager Peter Rohde said.

"Now that we're back (from Europe) we'll follow it up but it's fair to say we're not overly confident he will be here next year."

Ken Hinkley says Ben Jacobs will be welcomed back to the club if he decides to stay at Port Adelaide.

"We've got to work through that with Benny and we'd love nothing more for him to come back and be a part of the Port Adelaide Football Club, but his reasons for going home were family-based reasons so I don't think that'll change," Hinkley said.

"He's got to come to terms with that and then understand whether he can make the decision to come back and be a part of Port because we'd welcome him back really easily."

Port Adelaide hopes Ben Jacobs will stay, after the Power failed to agree to a deal with North Melbourne.

"We'll be speaking with Benny in the days to come to try to convince him to stay and if he chooses to nominate for the draft, we'll consider picking him," Power football manager Peter Rohde said.

"Ben is a player we rate very highly and we consistently said that pick 38 and 56 wouldn't get the deal done.

"We wouldn't have used those picks in the draft so we would have effectively been giving Ben away for nothing. We were after something that would have improved our draft position from pick 30."

Port Adelaide says it's time for unsettled defender Ben Jacobs to decide where his future lies.

"We're getting to the stage where we need to know exactly what Ben wants to do," Power football operations manager Peter Rohde said.

"There's been a lot of discussion and speculation about him but the bottom line is that he still hasn't told the club where he wants to play his football next season."

Out-of-contract Power defender Ben Jacobs says he wants to return home to Melbourne.

"He's a Melbourne boy and he's asked us to explore options for him among the Victorian clubs," football manager Peter Rohde said.

"Having said that, we consider him a required player at Port Adelaide and I know that he has enjoyed his time with us and appreciated the opportunities and development we have provided him."

Port Adelaide are in danger of losing prized 2010 first-round draft pick Ben Jacobs with the defender eyeing a move home to Melbourne.

"He's not sure what he wants to do but obviously we are very keen to keep him at our club," Power football operations manager Peter Rohde said.

Ben Jacobs makes his AFL debut for Port Adelaide at the SCG with 14 disposals (12 kicks and 2 handballs), 5 marks and a tackle in a 62-point loss to Sydney.

Power draftee Ben Jacobs could return by round three after recovering from a severe bout of glandular fever.

"On the Monday morning I thought I would train, but I had the worst headache I've ever had in my life and I couldn't. I had blood tests and the next day I found out I had glandular fever," Jacobs said about his illness.

"I got a secondary throat infection and tonsillitis on top of that. I went into hospital for five days and I couldn't eat, drink or talk. Two days after that I was just drinking through a drip. They were ugly times, but after I got out of hospital I was on the mend again."

First round Power draft pick Ben Jacobs is diagnosed with glandular fever ruling him out of the club's NAB Cup opener against Melbourne despite having an outstanding pre-season up till his illness.

"It takes some people a long time (to recover) and others can be up and running again in a couple of weeks," Port football operations manager Peter Rohde said.

"If he only misses a week or so of training he'll probably take off from where he left off but if he misses a month and then he's got to re-train (he could be out for a while), so it's very much up in the air."

Former Power skipper Warren Tredrea was happy to hand over his No. 16 guernsey to new draftee Ben Jacobs.

"It's good that Ben wants it because I don't think there were too many takers there early on," Tredrea said.

"Everyone asks you what you think of giving your guernsey away, but it's not mine to give. It's almost like a rental property. While you're living there it's yours, but once you go it's someone else's turn."