From Halls Creek to Gold Coast, Jy Farrar’s AFL dream has finally become a reality
From a remote town in the Eastern Kimblerley region of Western Australia to an Adelaide amateur football club, and now drafted to Gold Coast. The new Suns player has had an amazing journey.
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New Gold Coast recruit Jy Farrar says he can’t believe he is on an AFL list after winning his club’s best and fairest this season.
But that B&F was playing amateur football for the eighth-ranked division two side Scotch Old Collegians in the Adelaide Footy League.
Farrar’s selection at number 61 was even more amazing considering he played just two games as a top-up player for Adelaide’s SANFL side and was an emergency for each of the team’s finals’ matches this year.
Farrar, who turns 23 on December 7, said he could not believe his fortunes.
“I am just stoked,” Farrar said.
“I can’t believe this has happened.
“I had a dream and knew I had played some good games, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
“I had a bit of contact from recruiters but nothing definite. You never know what they are thinking.
“But then Stuey (Dew, Suns coach) contacted me and a number of other big names. It was great.
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Surrounded by family & friends, here’s the moment Jy Farrar was drafted â¤ï¸ðŸ’› pic.twitter.com/ELUKkuGprb
— Gold Coast Suns (@GoldCoastSUNS) November 28, 2019
“When you think that I had only two league games and played with Scotch for most of the time it is just crazy.
“I am so grateful to all of those who helped me, Kym (coach Kym Cobb), my family, Shane (Radbone), the Crows, my teammates, everyone, my boss Tony (Giles). I can’t believe what has happened.”
Farrar’s football journey started in the unlikely area of Halls Creek, in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia in a remote area on the Great Northern Highway.
It is the only sizeable town for 600km on the Highway (or 500km inland from Broome).
Incredibly, the town boasts seven AFL-listed players, or a one in about 150 chance of being drafted.
Including Farrar, the others are Shane McAdam (Adelaide), Sam Petrevski-Seton (Carlton), Cedric Cox (Brisbane), Irving Mosquito (Essendon), Francis Watson (West Coast) and Toby Bedford (Melbourne).
Scotch coach Kym Cobb said Farrar, who joined the club on the back of the club recruiting AFL/SANFL listed Shane McAdam and Ashley Johnson, was a just reward for the new AFL recruit.
“It just shows if you have the desire and goal and work hard, anything is possible,” Cobb said.
“We are so thrilled for Jy. He came to us two years ago and right from the start he knew what he wanted.
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“Jy rocked up on the back Shane and Ashley. He has a few tricks in his bag. He was so reliable and his work ethic was amazing.
“This couldn’t have happened to a better kid.’’
Farrar also paid tribute to former Port Adelaide Magpies player Tony Giles for employing him at Adelaide Warehouse and Distribution Services at Netley, saying the Port premiership player and his boss of two years, and father of Scotch premiership captain Lachlan Giles, had been a great mentor.
The Gold Coast will be new ground for Farrar.
He has been to Brisbane just once when he lined up in the Adelaide Footy League’s state team, which played a Queensland state amateur side this season.
Business development executive Shane Radbone, a former Essendon and Sturt player and player agent, housed and looked after Farrar and several other indigenous players over the
journey.
He played a key part in getting him to Scotch to improve his football.
“My wife and I have had about 10 of the indigenous lads stay with us over the time,” Radbone said.
“It’s a good story. Jy came to Scotch in 2018 and would have come under notice earlier, but he dislocated an ankle midway through 2018 so he wasn’t under much notice then.
“We are over the moon. It went to script.
“But I have to say I think there will be a couple more AFL recruits coming out of Halls Creek very soon.”