Aliir Aliir making headlines

Eighteen months ago, Aliir Aliir went to draft camp in Melbourne but was overlooked on Draft Day – a moment he said almost finished his career.

“To be honest I didn’t really want to play footy. I just wanted to be with my family, go back to studying, if not, work,” he said. “I was pretty disappointed, but luckily my brother was there to talk me into giving it another go.”

Twelve months later, his named was called out by the Sydney Swans, at pick 44.

Despite the significance of the moment, he almost missed it.

“I didn’t actually see my name get called out. I was on the phone and my brother saw it and jumped on me, and said you’re going to the Swans, you got drafted. I just froze, I couldn’t really believe it,” he said.

Aliir was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after his Sudanese mother fled the war-torn country.

His father passed away when he was just a child, and at age eight, the rest of the family moved to Australia.

Aliir has little memory of life before Australia.

“I need to kind of sit down and talk to Mum about what it was like back home, because I haven’t been back since I came to Australia, and I’m looking forward to going back one day and helping out where I can,” he said.

Playing with the world team at the 2010 under-16 championships, he found a cousin he never knew he had, Rueben, whose family lived in Perth.

That prompted Aliir’s family to move to Western Australia, where his life – and game – flourished.

Now in Sydney, the Swans see him as a key defender for years to come.

Aliir’s under-16s coach said the young player was an great example of success.

“For someone that’s come from a really hard time, a really hard background in Sudan and moved over to Australia-  he’s a great story.”

Sydney Swans assistant coach John Blakey agreed.

“You can’t help but like the kid,” he said.

“he’s always got a smile, he’s always energetic.”