Jack Crisp’s fledgling journey as a Brisbane Lion reached yet another summit last Sunday, with the rising star seizing the Joe Grant Medal for best on ground in the Reserves Northern Conference NEAFL premiership defence against Aspley.

It seems almost laughable now that Crisp – who managed 28 disposals, nine clearances, seven tackles and a pair of goals in the reserves triumph – was overlooked in the 2011 National AFL Draft.

But after being picked up by the Lions in the 2012 Rookie draft the 19-year-old has gone on to play 12 AFL games, achieve successive reserve grade premierships, and was also named in the 2013 NEAFL Northern Conference Team of the Year.

It’s been noted that Crisp’s journey has come to mirror that of 2011 Brisbane Lions best and fairest Tom Rockliff, another player initially overlooked by the Draft.

The comparisons between Crisp and Rockliff are made ever greater considering both players hail from the same junior club, the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC cup in Victoria.

On a sweltering day at Yeronga, the Lions were able to outclass the spirited Aspley Hornets, the same side that gave the reserves a major scare in the semi-final two weeks prior with Crisp at the heart of the reserves win.

Crisp emphasized that the win, not the Joe Grant medal was his ultimate goal.

“The result was obviously the main thing,”

“The main thing coming into the game was talking about teamwork and working together as individuals, which we were really able to do in that second half.’ he said.

Being a standout player in the standout team of the NEAFL, it would be fair to assume that pressure might have played on Crisp’s mind as he entered a grand final in a season where the reserves were only beaten on two occasions. 

“No not really, I didn’t feel too much pressure, we knew it was going to be a great contest from the semi-final which was such a tight game,”

“Leigh (Harding) gave us a mention at half time that they would come out firing, that they would ask the questions of us and they did but we kept it together and we put them away in that third quarter.” he said.

Jack’s new challenge is to cement a spot in the clubs senior team, after an impressive debut season in 2012 where he played 10 games the utility was restricted to just two senior outings in 2013.

With a new coach on the horizon, a starring role in a reserve grade premiership flag is surely an impressive start to his campaign.

But Crisp reckons he just has to keep his head down and work diligently to maintain his AFL dream.

“Well hopefully my form keeps continuing in the pre-season,”

“But I’ll just keep training hard and a few of the coaches will be around so hopefully they’ll keep me in the back of their mind which will give me a boost coming into round one next year, “ he said.

Showcasing impressive humility Crisp was quick to deflect praise on his game to further emphasize the teamwork that had secured the Brisbane Lions back-to-back second-tier premierships.

“I was happy with my game, but obviously there were several other guys who could have got it, but I was lucky to be the one to win it,“ he said.

Crisp will be hoping that his form continues it’s upward climb as the Reserves have one final hurdle to overcome, the Eastern conference premiers the Sydney Swans Reserves.

The Lions will take on the Swans in the NEAFL overall Grand Final at Aspley this Saturday.