PLAYING ‘Jack in the Pack’ will take on a new meaning this week with almost a quarter of the players in St Kilda’s selected side to take on Gold Coast named ‘Jack’.

The five emerging young guns – all with the popular first name – are set to take to the field at Metricon Stadium in a quirky twist.

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Jack Billings (better known as JB) is the only ‘Jack’ addition from last week’s squad, with Jack Sinclair (who goes by the nickname Pins or Jeff because there are too many Jacks) and Jack Lonie (Lones for short) remaining in the team after their debut in round one. 

Of this group, Jack entered the club first and now goes by the nickname Stuv while Jack Newnes, who was drafted in 2011, was given the default nickname of Jill to differentiate himself from the 2013 best and fairest winner.

Interestingly, the name ‘Jack’ is actually the most common name in football history.

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More than 15,000 names have appeared in AFL/VFL history but ‘Jack’s’ popularity peaked in the 1930s with 134 Jacks lacing up for the game in that decade, according to a recent article from The Age which analysed the top ten most common first names in footy.

The article, written by Tom Cowie, was titled ‘Footballers' names through the years: where are all the Darrens? There's Jack-all left’ and it found there has been 599 Jacks play the game to date.

And that’s not surprising given it has topped the ‘most popular baby name’ list for years.

The name’s popularity in the AFL bottomed out in the 1960s and 1970s with fewer than 20 Jacks playing in those decades, but since the early 2000s AFL players named Jack have been on the rise.

Playing this full house of Jacks on Saturday is no AFL record - last year Melbourne also played five Jacks in its squad against Essendon in round 13.

Given the similarities the Jacks possess as footballers, it is possible they could all combine for a goal against Gold Coast in a crackerjack effort!