INDIGINE - THE POSTSCRIPT

INDIGINE - THE POSTSCRIPT by Whispering Jack

The recruitment of young indigenous footballer Dominic Barry as part of the deal that brought seventeen year old future star Jesse Hogan to the Melbourne Football Club might appear to some as a mere postscript to a piece of complex trading but, to me, it comes as a revelation.

In many ways, Barry's story echoes that of Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli who left his native Northern Territory as a fourteen year old and came to Victoria to study and to play sport. Barry ended up at St. Pats College Ballarat and developed a reputation as an exciting footballer possessing pace and smooth skills despite his light frame. He represented the Territory in this year's National Under 18s and was also a member of the North Ballarat Rebels who were TAC Cup minor premiers but fell out of the premiership race in the preliminary final. More recently, his stocks soared after some stunning results in the AFL Draft Combine. He speaks well and looks to have a strong, intelligent mind.

Dominic Barry's transition from a young Alice Springs teenager to playing member of the country's oldest football club has already been one to marvel about given the circumstances and the age at which he embarked upon his personal journey. The next stage will be even more daunting as he faces a long, hard development period during which he will be prepared to become a senior AFL footballer.

Barry will be doing all of this under a shadow that now hangs over the brotherhood of the indigenous players within the environment of the game at the elite level.

I recently came across this article in the Northern Territory News - Why NT players don't last in AFL. It discusses the difficulties that many indigenous Territorians have in adapting to life in the big smoke. It also evokes thoughts of the controversies that saw Matt Rendell's sacking from his recruiting job at Adelaide and the unseemly false slurs of racism directed at Melbourne coach Mark Neeld earlier in the year.

To be sure, there have been many success stories like Maurice Rioli and his nephew Cyril, Michael Long, Andrew McLeod, our own Matthew Whelan and Aaron Davey but the stories of those who did not succeed got me wondering. This is due to the sad fact that one of the list of "failures" is someone who I always believed had the strength to reach the greatest of heights in our game.

So what is it that can explain why the bookmark in my copy of Bruce Hearn Mackinnon's book The Liam Jurrah Story: From Yuendumu to the MCG lies unmoved since early September when the news headline read Jurrah quits Demons? Where did it all go wrong?

After all, this was a story that had provided so much inspiration before the book was even conceived. In 2009, l heard it direct from the author's mouth at a small gathering of Demon fans at the Richmond Hotel that was once owned by Demon great Ron Barassi.

Liam was already an elder among his people in his early twenties and was set to act as an example to the desert inhabitants from the centre of Australia who suffered poverty and whose youth were exposed to alcohol, drugs, petrol sniffing and rampant crime. The Warlpiri Wizard's journey to Melbourne and his role as an athlete was already creating excitement in AFL circles. The story of that journey from Yuendumu to the MCG was meant to establish a new pathway out of hell for some of these kids but none of us could have predicted the intensity of the raging storm about to envelope the remote desert community of Yuendumu.

The feud within Liam's community is well documented hereand here. It lingered and festered and ultimately led to the events at an Alice Springs encampment which resulted in criminal charges being laid against Jurrah and others within his family. The repercussions appear to have rendered shut many of the doors to the pathway out of hell.

Even in the likely event (based on what I have read in the media of the evidence from the committal hearing) that Liam is exonerated in the eyes of white man's law at the trial set to take place next March in Darwin, those doors will not reopen without the intervention of a great deal of tribal wisdom that is beyond our reach and understanding. We can only pray that peace return to their homes.

Meanwhile, these events were taking place many light years away from the Melbourne Football Club which had its own problems throughout the year in other areas. The reality in the case of Liam Jurrah was that despite the support of the club and its members and fans, it was becoming impossible for him to remain a part of that other world with its own heavy commitments and workload while he and his community occupied such a dark space.

There are some who feel animosity because Jurrah left the club and headed towards the sanctuary of his family without a word of thanks or without seeking a way out that would have left his club with compensation for an exciting young player whose career had stalled. Others blame it all on his heritage. Those views are uncharitable and selfish. He gave us enjoyment and he provided us with thrills every time he took the field in his short career. He has fulfilled his obligations to us as ours have been satisfied with him but it’s over now,

If we must talk in terms of compensation, then I am grateful with the realisation that the Melbourne Football Club has not shunned the Aboriginal footballer as a result of this year's experiences with Liam Jurrah and to a lesser extent with Kelvin Lawrence and with Austin Wonaeamirri before him. That is our compensation - the fact that we continue to openly embrace the talents of our indigenous players after such a difficult year enriches us as a football club.

It is what elevates Dominic Barry's arrival this week from a mere footnote to a revelation.