Horne-Francis was known as a rising star since junior football. Growing up, he supported the Fremantle Dockers.[3] He was named the Most Valuable Player for South Australia when he captained the under-16 state team. He was also captain of the South Australian under-19 team,[4] during which he was named in the competition's All-Australian team. He commenced playing senior-level SANFL at the age of 17, and was named best on ground in the 2021 preliminary final.[5]
In late 2021, Horne-Francis was the first South Australian since Bryce Gibbs (2006) to be chosen as the first pick in the national draft[6] and just the third Indigenous player to be drafted with the first selection after Des Headland (1998) and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (2020).[7][8] Upon joining the Kangaroos, Horne-Francis had the choice of numbers 6 and 18 for his jumper, and chose 6 because the number 18 was closely associated with club legend Wayne Carey, and Horne-Francis wanted to carve his own path.[6][9]
Horne-Francis played his first game in the AFL in the opening round of the 2022 season, having 13 disposals and kicking one goal on North Melbourne's narrow defeat to Hawthorn.[10] He was part of his first victory the following week in North's 15 point victory against West Coast.[11] In June of his first season, he was suspended by the league for two weeks for striking an opponent.[12]
In October 2022, Horne-Francis requested a trade to Port Adelaide, the second number one draft pick after Tom Boyd to request a trade after one season.[13] He was traded to Port Adelaide on 10 October,[14] signing a six-year deal keeping him at Port Adelaide until 2028.[15]
Personal life
He dropped out of school in year 11 to work at the Fleurieu Milk Company,[4]
He credits this experience, as well as his stepfather's influence, with maturing him as a person.[16] Born Jason Horne, in 2021 he added the Francis name after his stepfather, former AFL player Fabian Francis.[17][18][4] Horne-Francis' mother is Trish Francis, formerly Gully.
As an adult Horne-Francis learned that he had partial indigenous heritage through his biological father, whom he has no contact with.[19] This connects him to the Wardaman people in the Northern Territory.
^Thomas-Wilson, Simeon; Turner, Matt (22 November 2021). "Hype's right: Moment SA young gun won over Modra". The Advertiser. News Corp. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Along with eye-catching football talent and the Fleurieu Milk link, Modra and Horne-Francis have something else in common — both are products of Christies Beach Saints. One of Horne-Francis's last games for the Southern Football League club, where Nigel Smart, Dean Brogan and Nikki Gore were also juniors, was an under-15 grand final in 2018.