REMEMBER when the general consensus was you couldn’t tag Hawthorn ball magnet Tom Mitchell?

That was before North Melbourne tagger Ben Jacobs clamped him on Sunday.

After missing all of 2017, and almost all of 2016 with persistent foot issues that threatened to derail his career, Jacobs has made a devastating start to 2018.

Before he added the Hawks’ Brownlow Medal fancy to his list of scalps on the weekend, Jacobs had already claimed Carlton bull Patrick Cripps, Melbourne young gun Clayton Oliver and St Kilda’s reigning best and fairest winner Seb Ross.

Finals Week 1

Just when some thought the tagger was a dying art, Jacobs has helped revive the dark art.

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott said the Kangaroos have sorely missed the 26-year-old in the past two seasons, who was initially recruited by Port Adelaide at Pick 16 in the 2010 National Draft, before crossing to Arden Street two years later.

“I think the one that is starting to get a bit of attention is Ben Jacobs,” Scott said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch on Monday.

“We missed him enormously over the last two years.

“He is a unique player. As a junior he was a first-round draft pick, he’s not just a guy that goes to try and blanket the opposition.

“He was a very high possession winner as a junior and he can do that AFL level as well.”

Ben Jacobs celebrates a goal earlier in the year. Source: Getty Images

With the words of his former coach Leigh Matthews still ringing in his ears, who he played under in two premierships at Brisbane in the early 2000s, Scott said Jacobs understands the importance of his team oriented role.

“Leigh Matthews used to say that role players have to — more than anything — accept the role that they’re playing,” he said.

“A lot of taggers do that for a while and then they think, now I’ve done that I want to be a ball winner.

“(I talk to him about the importance of the role) all the time, because it’s about valuing the role and how much we value the role.

“There will be times where the balance is better off letting him play as a genuine ball winner, but most teams have pretty good mids.”

After playing just seven games in the past two years, Jacobs has played all five games so far this season. Much to the frustration of the opposition’s best player.