Brett Allison was one of few believers a young Kieren Jack had when he arrived at the Sydney Swans in November 2005.

But even the former Swans development coach could never have predicted the glittering career the short, skin-and-bone and ungainly local would go on to enjoy.

As Jack runs out for his 256^th and final AFL match as Sydney meets St Kilda at the SCG on Saturday afternoon, the 32-year-old will bring to close an extraordinary career stamped with a premiership, All Australian selection and a Bob Skilton Medal.

The spirited Swan is also a former co-captain and a member of the greatest NSW team of all time.

But when he was drafted to the Swans as a rookie almost 14 years ago, he stood at just 176 centimetres, weighed in at only 72 kilograms and ‘hooked’ his kicks like the born and bred rugby league prodigy he had been. 

While Allison never doubted Jack would reach the AFL, he says he could only ever see him being a 50-game player.

“I was always confident he would play AFL football, but if you had asked me to put my money on him I would have said 50 games, so for him to have the career he has had is incredible,” Allison said.

“To have everything written down on his resume that he does is amazing. Did I see that coming? Certainly not. I was confident he’d be able to crack the AFL, and as I said earlier, if you had asked me I would have said he might get to 50 games. But I guess he’d go on to defy the odds.”

In an indication of Jack’s stunning rise, the Swans drafted seven players ahead of him in 2005, but the most AFL matches any of them would go on to play was 41.

Jonathan Simpkin would go on to play 41 games, with Simon Phillips managing 14, Kristin Thornton eight, Ryan Brabazon three, Matthew Laidlaw one and James Wall and Paul Currie none.

Jack and Wall lived with Allison and his family for 12 months in their early days in red and white, and Allison said the youngsters spent countless hours kicking the Sherrin in the backyard.

Allison, who first met Jack as coach of the NSW/ACT Rams under-16 side, said he was blessed with the running ability and single-minded determination to become an AFL footballer.

“You could see the athletic attributes; he had good speed and he ran all day,” Allison said.

“He had an awkward kicking style – an around-the-corner, rugby league type of kicking style, which was pretty unreliable.

“But his effort and his want to succeed was really visible. You could see that this kid was a real competitor and loved the contest.

“If you could tidy up the ball use to hurt the opposition, or punish the opposition with the possessions he got, he could be a good player. 

“We started him in the back pocket in the reserves team and he’d still end up with 20-plus possessions a week. You’d play him on the ball, he’d do it, you’d play him forward, he’d do it, you’d play him down back, he’d do it. It didn’t matter where you’d play him on the ground; he just had a real thirst for getting involved in the play. So that just said to me that I reckon we have a player here if we can get his disposal right.”