Liam Jurrah

[Ron Burgundy]

This story has got me. One of the player stories of the year in my opinion. I will be watching with anticipation tomorrow night.

From todays Herald Sun

LAST year Liam Jurrah was playing footy barefoot in the dust. Tomorrow he will line up at Etihad Stadium. Mark Stevens reports on a desert fairytale. THERE is nothing Gold Class about the outdoor cinema at Yuendumu.

Tomorrow night, almost 600 people will cram on to a cracked slab of concrete that doubles as the basketball court.

But nothing will detract from the excitement of watching a fantasy unfold on the hastily arranged big screen.

Liam Jurrah, born and bred in the community about 300km north west of Alice Springs, will make his AFL debut for Melbourne.

Only last year, Jurrah was playing in bare feet in the dust just down the road from the basketball rings.

Youth counsellor Brett Badger, who has watched Jurrah blossom in his five years in Yuendumu, said the community had greeted the selection news with stunned silence.

"It's beyond what anybody thought was possible from a small, remote desert community," Badger said.

"Living out in the bush, AFL may as well be people playing footy on the moon."

Badger and Jurrah's family members - mother Corinna, father Leo and grandmother Cecily - will be special guests at Etihad Stadium as Melbourne plays Essendon.

Several Demons staff sitting nearby will be almost as proud.

"Project Jurrah" is complete.

Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab perhaps summed it up best: "This guy's come from further back than Jimmy Stynes - and he came from Ireland".

Jurrah, 20, does not speak fluent English. His native tongue, the Warlpiri language, is spoken by perhaps only 500 people.

Since being selected at No. 1 in the pre-season draft in December, Jurrah has been taking English lessons.

He can comprehend and read English, but until recently has struggled to express himself.

"It's going to be very good . . . I want to play on the big stage," Jurrah said of his impending debut.

Jurrah has taken to driving in Melbourne, but settling in hasn't been easy.

"It's a bit busier than where I came from . . . driving around, seeing the lights, the traffic and the people."

Peak hour is nothing, though, compared with the shock of seeing the bay for the first time.

Jurrah had a brief stint with Collingwood in the VFL last year and after his first game followed teammates to St Kilda beach for rehab.

"I was sitting in the car and Paul Licuria said to me we had to walk in the water . . . I said to him I didn't want to get in. It was freezing," Jurrah said.

Jurrah had seen a beach only once before, when he was seven years old.

A few weeks later, Jurrah was off home to help support a dying friend. But after a couple of games in bare feet on the dust, Jurrah headed to Darwin to play in the NTFL.

Jurrah didn't nominate for the national draft, but received special permission from the league to be allowed in the pre-season and rookie draft pools.

Three days before the pre-season draft, Melbourne recruiting boss Barry Prendergast decided to head to Darwin for a look.

"It poured rain, then the sun came out. It was sweltering. He's kicked five and hit the post," Prendergast said.

Prendergast had seen enough of the freakish 188cm forward, who can soar for marks one moment then crumb like a rover the next.

Once Prendergast realised the community would not only support Jurrah's move, but embrace it as a "mission", it was a done deal.

Jurrah, the man they call "LJ" will do something to make the crowd gasp tomorrow night. Like Nicholas Naitanui, he is that kind of player.

Imagine the cheers from the cracked court up at Yuendumu.

[Dogwatcher]

RB - I read the yearn this morning too. What a great story!

[Gingernuts]

These are the sort of stories that pretty much sum up why I love footy so much. Definitely gonna have to check out the game on the weekend!

[rogernumber10]

Martin Flanagan in The Age has done a couple of pieces on him, including another one today, which is worth a read.


Big business is taking place at the MCG tomorrow night, and it's about much more than footy.

THE news that Liam Jurrah had been selected to play his first AFL game reached Yuendumu in the central Australian desert on Wednesday night.

Yuendumu counsellor Brett Japaljarri Badger has known 20-year-old Jurrah since childhood. He says the response to the news on the Warlpiri tribal lands 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs has been largely one of "stunned silence". "In Yuendumu, this is bigger than going to the moon," he says. "Because somebody's already been to the moon."

Liam Jungarrayi Jurrah is an initiated Warlpiri man. He stands in what Aboriginal people call the Law. There is now some discussion at the Melbourne Football Club as to who travelled further in cultural terms to play AFL football — Liam Jurrah or club legend Jim Stynes. Stynes had minimal knowledge of the game when he arrived in Australia from Ireland at the age of 18, but could speak English. Jurrah has played the game all his life but English is his third or fourth language.

No initiated tribal man from central Australia has previously made it into AFL ranks. For years, Badger says he has attended desert footy matches and heard it said of this or that player that he was "good enough to play AFL". But it never happened. "This is historic," says Badger. "This is something that will sit there forever."

The story of how Jurrah made it on to what he now calls "the big stage" is a long one involving many participants. Principal among these are a maverick Collingwood coterie called the Industrial Magpies which took it upon itself to forge a link between the Yuendumu Magpies and the AFL Magpies.

In 2007, Jurrah was one of three Warlpiri men brought to Melbourne by the Industrial Magpies. What had they noticed about Melbourne, I asked. Not as much sky down here, they replied. They pointed to the buildings blocking out the horizon. I showed them the scarred tree at the MCG, the big one on the skyline midway between the stadium and Punt Road.

When they went back to Yuendumu they did an interview in Warlpiri for the community media organisation. A member of the Industrial Magpies sent me a translation. In it, one of them had mentioned the tree. "We saw that old tree in Melbourne … Yapa (Aboriginal people) from all over got dreaming, it is still there. But we still living our dreaming."

Jurrah was nominated for the 2009 pre-season draft by former Collingwood player Rupert Betheras, who had played with him in Alice Springs. When the nomination was declared invalid for lack of a signature, Betheras went bush and procured a signature. Meantime, Melbourne indigenous player Aaron Davey had also seen Jurrah playing for Nightcliff in Darwin. "He had excitement written all over him," says Davey. "Freakish excitement. He's got the pace of a small bloke and the leap of a tall bloke."

Davey put Melbourne on to the case and recruiter Barry Prendergast travelled to Darwin to watch Jurrah play. Like everyone else, Prendergast was impressed by his talent but when he had a conversation with him, through an intermediary, Prendergast also thought "there was a good inner belief there".

Two other factors persuaded Prendergast to recruit Jurrah. One was that he had the support of his community in his bid to play AFL. The other was that the Industrial Magpies, although broken-hearted at the fact that Collingwood had let him go, were going to stay involved. Says Prendergast: "I thought Melbourne footy club had to back itself in to make this work."

Once he arrived at the Demons, Jurrah was immediately taken in by Davey and Austin Wonaeamirri. Davey, in particular, made sure that Jurrah kept to the rigorous timetable that is an AFL footballer's training schedule. The Yuendumu Magpies, as famous as they are in desert football, don't train. He is now 13 kilograms heavier than when he came down to the city last year.

"Basically, it wasn't going to work unless he was happy," says Davey. "The culture at this club was open to him. All the boys have been excellent. They joke around with him, he jokes back. He plays pranks on them now." Davey says his only surprise is that it's taken Jurrah this long to make his AFL debut.

Ian Flack, Melbourne's player development manager, describes Jurrah as a man with a mission. It's understood by all that Jurrah isn't merely playing for himself or even the Melbourne Football Club. He is, to quote Badger, in Melbourne on Warlpiri business.

As for the man himself, this is the third time I've interviewed him and the first time we've had a conversation. "I'm just out to show what I got," he says. The biggest difference between desert footy and AFL, he says, is that "in this footy, you've always got your opponent on your back". He's full of praise for his new club. "The boys are looking after me really well. I just want to make them feel proud of me."

And so tomorrow night Jurrah will play for the Melbourne Football Club. The timing, according to Davey, couldn't be better. It's one of the few times this year the Dees have been the subject of a national telecast on free-to-air TV. Out in the desert, they'll be watching.

Martin Flanagan is embedded with the Demons for season '09.

[Pup]

Played against him in the NTFL and he is certainly a talent. Will be watching to see just how he goes. He definately has the ability, I just wonder whether he will be able to adjust to the city life to make a decent career out of it but thats for another day.

All the best to him, terrific bloke and a very very good footballer with some amazing potential.

[Dogwatcher]

I haven't been this excited about a debut for a long time.
This is the purest form of football recruit. This is the sort of story we used to see when players would rock up in the 'big smoke' with a reputation that only time would prove correct.
Footballers whispered about as natural talents, coming from totally unpredictable backgrounds and not through the heavily managed factory like junior systems knowing they are destined to play in the big league. Sure there is the possibility of it not working out but boy are we going to have an exciting and emotional ride. A breath of fresh air. An opportunity that may not have been.
It is a story that tells us, don't give up. Anyone can play this game. Anyone can get a chance.
Good luck Liam. I hope your business goes well.

[Sorry Dude]

Played against him in the NTFL and he is certainly a talent. Will be watching to see just how he goes. He definately has the ability, I just wonder whether he will be able to adjust to the city life to make a decent career out of it but thats for another day.

All the best to him, terrific bloke and a very very good footballer with some amazing potential.

i saw him play in a community cup grand final when i was in alice springs a couple years back. that is an amazing feat considering when i was watching half the players were running around in bare feet. some unbeleivable talent on the field also.

[NFC]

Didn't catch the game, how'd he go?

[JK]

Didn't catch the game, how'd he go?

Showed glimpses and certainly did enough to suggest he could have a promising future, has some natural ability thats for sure.

[unknown source]

did okay in patches.. can tell he can play though.. how old is he by the way??

[Pup]

did okay in patches.. can tell he can play though.. how old is he by the way??

20