When former Tiger Dan Jackson retired from AFL at the end of 2014, his first goal was to “catch up on his youth”.

“I backpacked around Central and South America for eight months, trying to be free,” Jackson told AFC Media.

But for the Crows’ new Leadership Development Manager, it didn’t quite scratch the itch.

After living out of his backpack for more than half a year, Jackson settled in Canada and worked in the corporate world as a consultant.

“When I moved to Canada, I taught myself to skate,” Jackson said.

“I joined an adult hockey school, which is like Auskick for adults… I finally joined a team and was the worst one out there.

“My very first game I was put in the sin bin for charging, but it just reminded me of everything in footy, but on skates.”

Eventually, he moved across the pond to the United Kingdom.

“I did a masters in performance psychology and then started working with youth sport in the Premier League academies system,” he said.

“It involved talking about resilience and managing stress, developing high performance.”

In five years, Jackson had managed to traverse the globe and accrue a unique resume that “came into fruition to get the Crows job” and “bring him home”.

But, just three weeks into his tenure, the competition was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been one of the stranger starts,” Jackson said.

“It’s been hard for the industry, (but) it’s made my job a little bit easier because I’ve had a lot of access to the guys and they have a lot more time on their hands.”

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Jackson was keen for a return to normality, despite the silver-lining of more time with players.

“Everything is predominately running through Zoom at the moment, which initially was a bit awkward.

“Everyone keeps saying this will be great for the future, we can all work from home, but this is one industry where you can’t really do that.

“The sooner we get off tech and back to person-to-person, the better I think.”