Warlpiri man settling into life as an AFL footballerTHERE'S a new 'Wizard' at Melbourne Football Club: the 'Warlpiri Wizard', the moniker Liam Jungarrayi Jurrah favours after the Yuendumu man's impressive start to his AFL career culminating in a Rising Star nomination this week.
Jurrah's team-mate Aaron Davey said after coming up with several nicknames for the newcomer -- as team-mates often do for new arrivals -- which included the 'Jurrahcane', 'The Cougar' and 'LL Cool J', they had settled on the 'Warlpiri Wizard'.
"We've named him that -- the 'Cougar' (was) more of an overseas name, so this is the 'Warlpiri Wizard'," Davey said on Tuesday, nodding to Jurrah by his side. Jurrah (pictured) seemed OK with that. "I'm the Warlpiri man from Yuendumu community and it's the Warlpiri tribe, so I prefer to call myself the 'Warlpiri Wizard'," he said.
Jurrah, for which English is a third language, said he was happy to have received the nomination and was beginning to warm to the idea of an AFL career, which began after the Demons selected the 20-year-old with the first pick (overall) in last year's pre-season draft.
Jurrah was Melbourne's go-to man in the Dees' 11-point over Port Adelaide at the MCG on Sunday. The agile forward snared four first-half goals and raked in several high-flying marks, one of which was nominated for mark of the year (see below).
For Jurrah, it's all about finding his feet in a city a world away from his origins, a tiny speck some 300kms north-west of Alice Springs, called Yuendumu.
"It's pretty amazing and I feel happy that I got the Rising Star nominee," Jurrah said. "(I'm) just getting used to it (the attention) now."
Jurrah said Davey was helping him out with football, and life in general, a role Davey is relishing.
"When I first came here, there was only Matty Whelan and myself, so we've now six (Indigenous players) at the moment and hopefully there's more to come," Davey said. (The six are Davey, Whelan, Jurrah, Austin Wonaeamirri, Jamie Bennell and Neville Jetta.)
"Liam and Austin have come from really small communities and it's really hard to get out of that environment and that lifestyle and adjust to the big smoke in Melbourne. What these two have done, not only for themselves -- they've made themselves proud -- but everyone back home and all of their family and people."
Jurrah was a star for his original club Yuendumu Magpies, one of the power clubs of the old Country Cup competition that involved Central Australian community teams surrounding Alice Springs. The Magpies are currently one of 10 teams in the Central Australian Football League, now in its second year.
How Jurrah got to MelbourneLIAM JURRAH's journey to Melbourne came via a circuitous route that involved four clubs.
He joined Collingwood's VFL team last year at the invitation of former 'Pie Rupert Butheras. But Jurrah had to return home after a handful of games. He rejoined his countrymen at the Yuendumu Magpies. Later, aware several AFL clubs had shown interest in him, Central Australia football legends Shaun Cusack and Darren Talbot, Jurrah's uncle, organised Jurrah to join Nightcliff in the Northern Territory Football League. It was from there the Demons swooped at last December's pre-season draft.
The manicured ovals that host AFL football are a far cry from the red dirt of the Yuendumu sports ground where Jurrah learnt to play. The pride his community has of his transition to the big time is enormous.
"Yuendumu, and most especially his family, such as Corinna, Leo and Cecily, are incredibly proud of Liam's achievements as a footballer," says Talbot. "But we're even prouder of him as a member of the Yuendumu community and as a Warlpiri man."
Talbot said his nephew had shown something even as a junior.
"Liam has been a young star of Yuendumu football for as long as anyone can remember, even in his Auskick and under-17 days, he was always following in the superstar steps of his father, Leo," he said. "Liam didn't spend any real time in development teams or elite training squads. He is the proud product of the red dirt oval of Yuendumu and local football mentors such as Lindsay Williams, Adrian Nelson, Ned Hargraves, myself and Kasman Spencer."
Jurrah's talents saw him graduate to the senior Yuendumu team at a young age throughout the glory years of the Magpies' Ngurratjuta Cup (pre-season) triumphs in Alice Springs in 2003, '04, '05 and '07. Last year, Jurrah led Yuendumu to win the expanded CAFL's first flag when the Magpies defeated Pioneer with a best-on-ground performance. But it's more than just the football that makes his people proud.
"It is the young man that Liam is that Yuendumu and his family are most proud of," said Talbot. "Liam is a sensitive, caring and strong young man. He has been a member of the Mt Theo Program's Jaru Pirrjirdi (Strong Voices) youth development and leadership project since he was 16. In this capacity, Liam regularly acted as a casual youth worker running, and umpiring, hundreds of hours sporting activities such as football, basketball and indoor soccer for the youth of Yuendumu. His healthy and hardworking sporting achievements also served as an inspiration to Warlpiri youth."
A positive outcome of his work with youth was his role alongside Mt Theo Program senior counsellor, Brett Badger in 2007 as a youth mentor working with at risk young men. This regularly involved prevention, early intervention and peer mentoring work with at risk Warlpiri youth facing serious life issues.
Indigenous 2009 AFL Rising Star nominees
Round 15Liam Jurrah (Melbourne)
Round 11Brad Dick (Collingwood)
Round 6Stephen Hill (Fremantle)
2009 Mark of the Year nominees
Round 15
Liam Jurrah (Melbourne)
Gigantic leap and mark
Round 13
Josh Hill (Western Bulldogs)
Superb leap on the goal line
Andrew Lovett (Essendon)
Spectacular leap and mark over opponent
Round 9
Nathan Lovett-Murray (Essendon)
Climbed high taking a spectacular pack mark
Patrick Ryder (Essendon)
Yet another big leap and great mark
Round 2
Daniel Motlop (Port Adelaide)
Spectacular leap over two opponents
2009 AFL Goal of the Year nominations
Round 15
Adam Goodes (Sydney)
Kicked from beyond 50 metres at full pace
Round 12
Liam Jurrah (Melbourne)
Spilt mark, then kicked the goal while on the ground
Stephen Hill (Fremantle)
Blistering speed kicking truly from 50 metres
Round 11
Lance Franklin (Hawthorn)
Clever snap while under intense pressure
Round 10
Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn)
Clever snap along the ground
Round 6
Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide)
Followed-up and kicked a brilliant snap
Lance Franklin (Hawthorn)
Prodigious goal from 55 metres late in the game
Round 4
Andrew Lovett (Essendon)
Kicked truly on the run from centre bounce
Round 3
Daniel Motlop (Port Adelaide)
Baulked two opponents then goaled
Round 2
Daniel Motlop (Port Adelaide)
Evaded 3 opposition players before snapping a goal
DARREN MONCRIEFF
Darren@AboriginalFootball.com.au
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Last Modified on 16/07/2009 00:23