Daniel Jackson has made the most of his AFL profile to promote causes off the field.
JUST how do you quantify a player's power for a neat and tidy list of 10?
Their ability to shift vast quantities of AFL merchandise from supermarket shelves?
The price they can demand to appear on the football shows that saturate the media?
Or the quiet work they do behind the scenes that actually influences policy and shapes opinions in our game?
Because Buddy Franklin is the king of merchandise, Dane Swan the must-have interview and Adam Goodes the indigenous statesman with a political career beckoning.
Yet a self-described battler with a self-depreciating wit has swept into the players' power list with a bullet.
When the player union chose a representative to sit on Channel 7s drugs summit panel it was Richmond's Daniel Jackson answering the hard questions with aplomb.
It was Jackson marching alongside Brock McLean at a recent gay rights rally; it was him accepting the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award at last year's Brownlow Medal.
Jackson shows what an extraordinary platform is avaiable for AFL players prepared to publicly push worthy messages.
Gallery: Count down the 10 most powerful players in the game
But he also underlines the missed opportunity for other players given many are too obsessed with the train-play-recover cycle to put their profile to good use.
Could Chris Judd be a more vocal environmental ambassador given his strong views and immense profile?
Just how effective would Franklin become in the fight against football racism and fan behaviour if he dedicated himself?
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Jackson, a Headspace ambassador, board member for Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and campaigner against community violence, is an example of the power created when someone is prepared to speak up.
"What we have seen with Daniel is someone who is a professional in every sense of the word, but also a broad thinker about the game,'' says AFLPA chief executive Matt Finnis.
''He is passionate about the lot of the AFL player, but he is also one of those guys who you feel that when his time us up in the game he won't be hanging around because he has so much in life he wants to take on and challenge himself with.
"Daniel has that empathy for the community, but also in recent times he's been able to articulate the views of the players in pressure situations.''
Finnis says it is unfair to expect every AFL player to be an ambassador or spokesman on complex issues.
Encouragingly, he responds to a question about Franklin's untapped potential with a recent example of his determination to use that profile.
''At the indigenous camp two weeks ago there was a vacancy on the indigenous players advisory board and Buddy and Paddy Ryder both stepped up. Adam Goodes is a statesman of the game, but it is wonderful to see younger guys like Paddy and Buddy putting their hand up.
"It will be interesting to see who the next crop of players are who have an influence like we have seen with Goodes or Matthew Pavlich or Jon Brown."
Trent Cotchin, Patrick Dangerfield and Andrew Swallow are just three Finnis believes will lead that charge.
Tomorrow: The backroom boys
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