What a great story!

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Swans4ever
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What a great story!

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Cheer Cheer Aliir Aliir
AFL.com.au - Ben Guthrie
November 22, 2013 10:24 AM


The Sydney Swans did not select Aliir Aliir with pick 44 in Thursday night's NAB AFL Draft because he has a good story - that's just part of his charm.

Boasting a unique upbringing, Aliir became the first player of Sudanese heritage to be selected at a National Draft.

To understand where he has come from, you need to go back to the very start.

Aliir lived in a Kenyan refugee camp from age three, before making the move to Australia with his family at the age of eight.

With his family settled in Queensland, Aliir only began playing football in 2009 after giving up on a promising junior basketball career.

He represented Queensland in the 2012 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, where he plied his trade as a raw, but supremely athletic, ruckman.

However, Aliir moved to Western Australia at the start of this season to reunite with his mother and siblings - who had moved over to Perth the previous year - to live near long-lost relations.

He proved his football talent by earning a place on the West Australian Under-18 squad, where he developed his niche as a key defender.

And he confirmed to the Swans during the 2013 National Championships that his improbable upbringing does not necessarily define his football ability.

"It's a great story, but it's really important for us to stress - we didn't take him because he's a good story," Swans list manager Kinnear Beatson told AFL.com.au

"We took him because we think he's got the potential to turn in to a key defender for us and we need that dramatically on our list."

Even though he is still prone to the odd mistake on the field, his positive attitude and work ethic endears him to teammates.

"Aliir Aliir would be someone that would always want to improve himself in all sorts of areas. If he knows he's deficient in one area, he'll work hard to improve it," says Chris Johnson, Aliir's coach in the Under-16 World XVII team.

"If it takes him all night, it takes him all night. He just keeps working at it and chipping away."

It is clear that Aliir still has a lot of work to do. But Beatson is confident that, with time and development, Aliir will prove that he's more than just a feel-good story.

"I think when you're looking for players you're looking at their attributes and their scope to improve and whether they've got the character and the work ethic to do that," he said.

"And we think Aliir has got those things."

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Re: What a great story!

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Heard that on the draft coverage. Great stuff!
DON'T MAKE ANY BETS WITH ELIAGH!! HE WELCHES WHEN HE LOSES!!
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Re: What a great story!

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** Yawns **
RL SOO II 4.194 Million veiwers
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Sookerwhos V Japan 238K :lol:
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Re: What a great story!

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Of course.
DON'T MAKE ANY BETS WITH ELIAGH!! HE WELCHES WHEN HE LOSES!!
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Re: What a great story!

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How did Shoddy miss this one .
Must have forgotton his own advice,about waiting at the Immigration Dept.
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Re: What a great story!

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AFLcrap1 wrote:
How did Shoddy miss this one .
Must have forgotton his own advice,about waiting at the Immigration Dept.
Obviously you are incapable of acknowledging a great story, can only poke fun, very sad really!
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Re: What a great story!

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AFLcrap1 wrote:
How did Shoddy miss this one .
Must have forgotton his own advice,about waiting at the Immigration Dept.
Sheedy isn't coach of the Giants anymore
King-Eliagh: ...I believe [RL] is popular in all the other states and territories, bar tasmania.
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Xman wrote:
AFLcrap1 wrote:
How did Shoddy miss this one .
Must have forgotton his own advice,about waiting at the Immigration Dept.
Sheedy isn't coach of the Giants anymore
Still seems to be their mouthpiece.
That works well ,the geriatric twit alienates as many people in WS as he can ..
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Re: What a great story!

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AFLcrap1 wrote:
Xman wrote:
AFLcrap1 wrote:
How did Shoddy miss this one .
Must have forgotton his own advice,about waiting at the Immigration Dept.
Sheedy isn't coach of the Giants anymore
Still seems to be their mouthpiece.
That works well ,the geriatric twit alienates as many people in WS as he can ..
He always has polarised people
King-Eliagh: ...I believe [RL] is popular in all the other states and territories, bar tasmania.
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In Victardia he is tolerated as just sheeds.
In NSW he setd bak AFL in WS whenever he opens his mouth,
What works for the fans in Vic,isnt going to work on people you are trying to win over,especially the large ethnic population.
I hope he stays in WS .His mouth will make sure the midgets never get anywhere.
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Re: What a great story!

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AFLcrap1 wrote:
In Victardia he is tolerated as just sheeds.
In NSW he setd bak AFL in WS whenever he opens his mouth,
What works for the fans in Vic,isnt going to work on people you are trying to win over,especially the large ethnic population.
I hope he stays in WS .His mouth will make sure the midgets never get anywhere.
Nothing will work on people who don't want to follow another sport, especially if that sport originates from a competitor state.

Sheedy's value isn't his PR work, it's his lateral thinking, his total commitment to a cause, and his reputation as a legendary coach. They add weight to the investment the AFL placed in the giants, and will have influenced the people open to another form of entertainment who may have been considering the Giants.

As an essendon fan I will never say a bad word about Sheeds.
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Re: What a great story!

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Why are you talking to vacant space, Xman?
DON'T MAKE ANY BETS WITH ELIAGH!! HE WELCHES WHEN HE LOSES!!
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Re: What a great story!

Post by Swans4ever »

Xman wrote:
AFLcrap1 wrote:
In Victardia he is tolerated as just sheeds.
In NSW he setd bak AFL in WS whenever he opens his mouth,
What works for the fans in Vic,isnt going to work on people you are trying to win over,especially the large ethnic population.
I hope he stays in WS .His mouth will make sure the midgets never get anywhere.
Nothing will work on people who don't want to follow another sport, especially if that sport originates from a competitor state.

Sheedy's value isn't his PR work, it's his lateral thinking, his total commitment to a cause, and his reputation as a legendary coach. They add weight to the investment the AFL placed in the giants, and will have influenced the people open to another form of entertainment who may have been considering the Giants.

As an essendon fan I will never say a bad word about Sheeds.
Love him or hate him he got them talking about him and the Giants - Cameron hopefully will have a good year and the chance to show what great talent they have!
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Re: What a great story!

Post by Fred »

This Sudanese lad I see learnt his AFL in Queensland. Sitting here on the sunshine reading the paper after a surf at happy valley ... The article .. Half page, was about how he settled in qld and started playing another sport but was drawn to the "local game". I'm wondering how many more Sudanese will be playing AFL in 20 years ? Are there any coming through in rl? I'm sure there are some playing juniors , or does the athletic muscular frame (seen daw's body) not suit the more bulkier nrl frame?
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Re: What a great story!

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=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>
DON'T MAKE ANY BETS WITH ELIAGH!! HE WELCHES WHEN HE LOSES!!
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CHEWBACCA IS A GOOSE! A GOOSE I TELL YOU! A GOOSE!
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