Career: 2006 - 2008
Debut: Round 22, 2006 vs Sydney, aged 19 years, 152 days
Carlton Player No. 1097
Games: 9
Goals: 3
Last game: Round 1, 2008 v Richmond, aged 20 years, 351 days
Guernsey No. 38 (2006 - 2008)
Height: 183cm
Weight: 84kg
DOB: 4 April, 1987
A utility with good pace, leap and endurance, and a mighty fine kicking boot, Jackson was surprisingly overlooked in the National Draft and was snapped up by the Blues in the 2005 Rookie Draft.
After a string of promising games for the Northern Bullants, Ryan Jackson was promoted in the throes of the end of his debut season in 2006. He made his debut in Round 22 against the Swans and was very impressive - he showed poise and looked comfortable but unfortunately the Blues would go down by 92 points.
Interestingly, the week after he made his senior debut, he found himself playing back in the Reserves of the Northern Bullants alongside Paul Bower, Jesse Smith and Chris Bryan who had all recently played for Carlton Seniors. Ryan would also finish third in the Northern Bullants Reserves Best and Fairest Award for the 2006 season.
His performances were sufficiently strong for Jackson to be offered a Rookie spot for 2007, which he utilised to great effect being re-promoted on Bullants form approaching Round 4 of 2007 in place of the injured Shaun Grigg. In Round 5 he would get his chance, replacing the injured Brad Fisher, but after his first possession he would break his hand and unluckily find himself on the outside again. He earned a recall in Round 17 against St Kilda and picked up 23 disposals while keeping his opponent Robert Harvey to only 19 and was very unfortunate to miss out on that week's Rising Star Nomination and again when he backed up his performance the next week against Collingwood. He kicked his first goal in Round 20 against Essendon when Bryce Gibbs spotted him up with a left foot kick before Ryan went back and snapped truly from a very tight angle at a crucial stage of that match. He backed up the next week with another 2 goals and continued to play very consistent football for the remainder of the season.
Jackson was promoted to the senior list for 2008 as a result of his solid performances. Playing only the single game in 2008, Jackson never got to play in a winning senior team at Carlton.
At the end of season 2008, Jackson was delisted, he then headed west to play with Claremont in the WAFL. Unfortunately for him, his opportunity to prove himself at AFL level coincided with a time where Carlton had a bevy of great midfield prospects.
Jackson was recruited from the Northern Knights, his original junior club was Greensborough.