by Whispering Jack

Liam Jurrah has been training with Melbourne for less than a month but he has already been selected in his first AFL representative squad - the initial Aboriginal All Star list to take on Adelaide at Marara Oval, Darwin next Saturday night. The only other Demon selected in the squad of 33, which will be whittled down to thirty on Wednesday, is Aaron Davey.

Despite the fact that Jurrah is no certainty to make the final cut for the game - observers at recent Melbourne training sessions suggest he's been struggling with his fitness and with the State’s heat wave - his selection marks a significant early milestone for the young Indigenous player from the Central Australian settlement of Yuendumu in the red centre of our vast continent.

Jurrah's home, nearly 300km north west of Alice Springs, is vastly distant not only in terms of kilometres from the sprawling metropolis of Melbourne but also in time as well. The extent of that distance and the challenges facing him were brought home to me when I watched the fascinating film ABORIGINAL RULES which I purchased recently as a DVD through Warlpiri Media. Unlike fellow Melbourne Indigenous recruits Jamie Bennell and Neville Jetta who hail from the large WA town of Bunbury and who spent a deal of time in Perth last year, Jurrah comes from an isolated community in the middle of a desert and faces challenges vastly different to those faced by other Aboriginal footballers. Even his first language is not English but rather the ancient tongue of his people.

The film is about Liam Jurrah's community of Yuendumu and he is also featured in a few of its scenes. It tells of the lives of the people of the community, of rituals and superstitions, tribal rivalries, of the menfolk who were proud Warlpiri warriors, and of how the people are adapting to the times. These days, the various tribes in the region settle things by means of playing football and the film follows the Yuendumu Magpies through the 2006 football season. Unfortunately, they missed the finals that year but won the Ngurratjuta Cup in 2003, 2004, 2005 and again in 2007 before going on to bigger and better things.

The Warlpiri people's ancient civilization goes back 40,000 years but today football is more than a game to them; it represents the new Dreaming.

Here are some excerpts from the film provided on bigfooty by poster japaljarri -

ABORIGINAL RULES OPENING TITLES, ABORIGINAL RULES TRAINING TIPS, ABORIGINAL RULES JAPU JAPU, ABORIGINAL RULES PAPUNYA SPORTS, ABORIGINAL RULES PUKATJA, ABORIGINAL RULES -THE RULES OF FOOTBALL, ABORIGINAL RULES - YUENDUMU MAGPIES FOOTBALL TEAM, ABORIGINAL RULES - MT THEO.

(See if you can spot a young Liam Jurrah in the above excerpts and please do buy the DVD - it's real value and an eye opening documentary about a part of our country with which most of us are not familiar!)

The Yuendumu Magpies are good at the game they play on the red, dusty fields of the outback. In 2008, they won the premiership in the new AFLCA competition ahead of the more traditional sides from Alice Springs. The hero was a young man who spent a month earlier this year with Collingwood's VFL team before returning home to comfort a dying friend. Liam Jurrah booted six goals in the grand final.

Aboriginal Rules brings home the great challenge of adaptation that Jurrah is facing. Like all Demon fans, I look forward to seeing him in action (whether or not it's as early as next Saturday night with the Aboriginal All Stars) and more importantly, to seeing him successfully achieve the dream of becoming an AFL footballer and in doing that, a fine role model for the kids of Yuendumu.

More on Liam Jurrah from The Oracle in CHANGES 2008: PART THREE

2009 QANTAS INDIGENOUS ALL-STARS SQUAD

Adelaide: Jonathon Griffin, Graham Johncock, Andrew McLeod, Jarrhan Jacky, Jared Petrenko;

Brisbane: Ashley McGrath, Albert Proud;

Carlton: Chris Yarran;

Essendon: Andrew Lovett, Nathan Lovett-Murray;

Geelong: Nathan Djerrkura, Mathew Stokes, Travis Varcoe;

Hawthorn: Cyril Rioli, Cameron Stokes;

Melbourne: Aaron Davey, Liam Jurrah;

North Melbourne: Matt Campbell, Lindsay Thomas, Cruzie Garlett;

Port Adelaide: Shaun Burgoyne, Daniel Motlop, Marlon Motlop, Danyle Pearce;

St Kilda: Raphael Clarke;

West Coast: David Wirrpanda, Liam Bedford, Adam Cockie;

Western Bulldogs: Jarrod Harbrow, Joshua Hill, Malcolm Lynch, Brennan Stack.

The squad has been selected by three-time premiership player Darryl White, AFL Players' Association Indigenous programs manager Cory McGrath, AFL Indigenous programs manager Jason Mifsud and Johnson.

The final team of 30 players will be selected on Wednesday, February 4, following training.

Really good read Jack, keep up the good work.