As a kid, Jack Duncan never shied away from a challenge. Or a dare.
During his childhood in Cronulla, Duncan took an interest in skateboarding and would often skate through the streets with his friends.
In retrospect, he would’ve put his inner daredevil aside and simply say no to a $20 dare that would nearly cost him his life.
The challenge?
Skate down a steep and perilous hill that led to a dead-end street.
At 11, Duncan took the test head on.
“I’ve taken off and I knew straight away that my line was wrong,” Duncan recalled.
“I had way too much speed, I hit the curb and flew two or three meters.”
Duncan brushed it off as nothing.
Aside from a few grazes and bruises, he felt fine.
That was, until later that afternoon when Duncan felt noticeably tired and decided to head to bed.
While on his way to the bathroom, Duncan fainted twice which saw him rushed to the hospital.
“Mum and dad took me to hospital, and I had an emergency blood transfusion due to internal bleeding,” he said.
Had he not been hospitalised, the outcome would’ve been dire.
“It turns out if I went to bed and gone to sleep, I would’ve died in my sleep,” he said.
“Probably within a couple of hours.”
He would go on to spend a month in the hospital.
11 of those days being in the intensive care unit.
Today, Duncan is playing his third stint at the Newcastle Jets and has developed his game as a number one at multiple clubs around the world.
After showing his potential at Perth Glory, Duncan signed with Randers FC in the Danish Superliga.
“Randers was a really good experience,” he said.
“I learned a lot, got to travel quite a bit and experienced a different culture.”
During his time in Denmark, he was able to realise the intense and demanding nature of European football.
“The footballing environment in Europe is cut-throat,” he explained.
“You’ve got 25 players all vying for a spot.”
Duncan would go on to spend two seasons in Saudi Arabia with Al Qadsiah FC and play over 50 games for the club.
Taking the leap to head back overseas came with its challenges but Duncan embraced the opportunity.
“I tried to approach it with an open mind,” Duncan said.
“The fears and the doubts that we had going over there were far from the reality that we found.”
After two in Saudi Arabia, Duncan was presented with the chance to come home and represent the Jets once again.
With the COVID-19 pandemic spreading around the world, it was an easy move to make.
“I made the decision to come back, to reset, to reassess,” he said.
“Newcastle is my team; I didn’t want to go and pull on another jersey.”
Duncan has now committed to the club for a further there years and is striving to take the Jets to the top.
