New Demons livewire forward Liam Jurrah is exactly what the struggling Melbourne Footy Club needs right now, not because he’s a superstar, but because he’s simply great to watch.
The indigenous 20-year-old, who hails from the remote Central Australian community Yuendumu, excited the small 15,888 MCG crowd on Sunday with four goals and a number of attempts at mark of the century as the Demons produced a surprising 11-point victory over Port Adelaide to move off bottom spot on the ladder.
And while the Dees supporters celebrated the rare occurrence of two wins on the trot, it was Jurrah’s performance which made the afternoon all the more enjoyable.
Jurrah’s teammate Cameron Bruce said on Monday, “Every time he goes near the ball they (the fans) get excited, I liken it to the way the crowd are with ‘Buddy’ and every time he went near the ball. It’s something you don’t experience too often.”
Indeed the Melbourne Footy Club haven’t experienced a phenomenon (if we can label him that already) like Jurrah for a long time.
And his presence alone, will generate plenty of much-needed interest and excitement about the club.
The Demons have come out this season and revealed they’ve managed to secure record membership numbers of just over 31,000 which is fantastic.
Yet despite that figure, the Dees managed to post the worst AFL crowd in Melbourne this season in Round 5 when just 14,129 fans turned up to watch the Dees lose to Adelaide by 17 points. Incredibly that was the week after Melbourne’s first win of the season.
Sunday’s figure of 15,888 wasn’t much better, so one wonders where are those 16-odd thousand Melbourne members who aren’t turning up? And more importantly, why aren’t they turning up?
Of course, success is one thing and having not made the finals since 2006 the Dees’ fans have been recently starved of it.
In fact since 2006, Melbourne have been really struggling finishing 2007 in 14th (5 wins, 17 losses), 2008 in 16th (3 wins, 19 losses) and this season they currently occupy second-last with 3 wins and 12 losses.
Clearly, the last few years have been grim for the Demons on the field and it’s no coincidence when you compare the average home crowds in their last finals year of 2006 to now, there is a discrepancy of roughly 5,000.
But the arrival of Jurrah will go some way to helping narrow that discrepancy.
People often say they go to footy matches to watch players alone, like Bruce suggested with Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, or Chris Judd, Stevie Johnson, Brendon Fevola, Gary Ablett Jnr or Alan Didak.
These guys are not only brilliant footballers, but they’ve got trademark flair which makes them the on-field characters we pay our admission fees to watch.
Jurrah may not yet be in the same ilk as these names in terms of footballing brilliance but he’s certainly got the flair. And his story, from remote Northern Territory to big-time AFL footy, adds to the character.
Having only first encountered the big smoke of Melbourne in 2007, the Demons number 48, whose first language is not English, is still just familiarizing himself with his new surroundings.
Yet when he enters onto that footy field, he seems most at home and plays like he’s back in Yuendumu going for specky after specky and that excites the crowds. Jurrah is something original, something not seen before.
And while his team’s battle to avoid the wooden spoon may not be stimulating the members’ attention, surely his flair and excitement will get the turnstiles ticking over.
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