He’s broken them in the past and now one of his is on the verge of being overtaken in the North Central league.

Jackson has long held the mantle as the NCFL’s all-time leading goalkicker with his tally of 811 for Wedderburn during a senior career that began in 1970 when as a 16-year-old he won a senior premiership in his first season, kicking six goals in a 101-point grand final rout of Charlton coached by Bert Rowe.

However, come Saturday there is the possibility that the list of most senior goals in the NCFL will feature a new name on top – St Arnaud’s Daniel Needs.

Going into Saturday’s game against the undefeated Birchip-Watchem, the Saints’ Needs – a veteran of more than 300 games for St Arnaud – has drawn level with Jackson on 811 senior goals in the NCFL.

“Records are made to be broken… I’ve held a few for a long time and to do that I had to beat someone else’s,” Jackson said this week.

“I know Daniel and his father and good luck to him. He hasn’t been a full-forward for all his career and has played a lot of games.

“I actually didn’t know I held that record until last weekend. My footy career is in the past and I enjoyed what I did.”

While Jackson’s all-time goals record in the NCFL is nearing being surpassed, he will still be the holder of two other league benchmarks.

His tally of 132 goals in 1980 remains the most kicked by any player in a NCFL home and away season. Yet despite his heroics in attack that year, the Redbacks were knocked out in the first week of the finals.

“It wasn’t our best side that year, but I was probably in my prime then,” Jackson said.

The closest any one has come to surpassing Jackson’s 132 goals in a season is Donald’s Paul Morgan, who booted 123 in 1992.

Jackson’s brilliant 1980 season included a big day out in front of the sticks against Watchem-Corack in the final home and away round when he slotted 19 goals – the most kicked by any player in a NCFL senior game.

St Arnaud’s John Goode must have felt hard done by when he learned of Jackson’s 19-goal bag.

A fortnight earlier Goode set what was then a NCFL record of 17 goals, also against Watchem-Corack.

Goode’s record stood for two weeks; Jackson’s is still standing 38 years later.

Throughout his career at Wedderburn, which Jackson estimates was about 260 games, he was the NCFL’s leading goalkicker five times – his record-setting 1980 season, as well as four in a row in 1973 (63), 1974 (71), 1975 (76) and 1976 (89).

A reliable shot at goal with his trusty flat punt kick, Jackson believes his greatest strength was not only his accuracy, but also his strong hands – the two traits of any star forward.

“I designed my kicking around Peter Hudson and used to kick the flat punts,” Jackson said.

“I couldn’t kick a long way, but I was a really straight kick. That day I kicked the 19 goals I had a lot of help from my team-mates and kicked accurately.

“I was a strong lead back in the day and had a good set of hands… the ball stuck one grab and that was one of my best assets.

“I used to like taking pack marks as well, but my forte was a strong pair of hands on the lead.

“I believe a good full-forward in country footy always demands the ball and that’s the way I was.”

As well as his stellar career with the Redbacks, Jackson – nicknamed “Wellsy” for his love as a youngster of the American Western television series Tales of Wells Fargo – also made a name for himself just down the road at Korong Vale in the Loddon Valley league.

A year after his stellar 1980 season, Jackson played in Korong Vale’s 1981 premiership team, slotting five goals in a 20-point victory over Bridgewater coached by David Tuddenham with whom he was an assistant that snapped a 34-year flag drought for the club.

Four times in each of the 1981 and 1982 seasons Jackson kicked at least 10 goals in a game for Korong Vale.

His four double-figure bags in 1982 came in consecutive games between rounds 12 and 15 – 11 against Newbridge, 14 against Yarrawalla, 13 against Inglewood and 11 against Calivil – 49 in total.

Jackson, who labelled Donald defender Chris Guthrie his toughest opponent, had previously had a coaching stint with Korong Vale during the ’70s, while he also coached the Redbacks during his career, which ended in the early ’90s aged 38.

Yet while he is best known for his goalkicking feats, one of the best games Jackson believes he played was down the other end at centre half-back late in his career against Birchip-Watchem’s Tim Barling, who played league footy with Richmond and Sydney.

“In the first two minutes he had kicked two goals on me and I thought, how am I going to beat him?” Jackson said.

“So I played him from in front, got the ball to ground and was able to beat him for pace for the rest of the day and had 40-odd possessions. Other than the 19-goal day, that was probably the most satisfying game I’ve played.”

These days 64-year-old Jackson is a team leader with the Loddon Shire and while proud of all his achievements on the football field and relishes the friendships he has made from the game, there is one regret when he looks back on his career.

“I had a couple of training runs with Richmond, who we were zoned to back then,” Jackson said.

“It was up to me if I wanted to head down and make a bit of a go of it with Richmond, but I didn’t and that’s one of the biggest regrets I’ve ever had. Like a lot of country guys, I just didn’t like Melbourne life at the time, but looking back, I should have gone down.”