Mum’s pride as Lions’ Callum Ah Chee pushes to be first Australian-Chinese to win AFL flag
Lions half-forward Callum Ah Chee will have a massive multicultural Brisbane contingent cheering for him in the MCG grandstands at Saturday’s AFL grand final against Collingwood.
Redlands Coast
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Lions half-forward Callum Ah Chee will have a massive Brisbane contingent cheering for him in the MCG grandstands at Saturday’s AFL grand final against Collingwood.
The often underrated 25-year-old is one win away from becoming the first Australian man with Chinese heritage to play in an AFL premiership.
His mother, Valerie, took time out from her job as a researcher at Mater Hospital to drive to Melbourne for the history-making match.
Mrs Chee, who has six children, said all Callum’s brothers would fly to Melbourne for the game and there would be a huge family presence at the MCG.
Even big brother Brendon, also a professional Aussie Rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles and Port Adelaide Power, will be in the grand stand to hopefully see history in the making.
Ah Chee was playing with the Gold Coast Suns when he was traded to Brisbane at the end of the 2019 AFL season.
However, after a difficult year, he has become one of the Lions’ best performers in the finals.
Mrs Ah Chee said she was “really proud” of Callum and before leaving on the 20-hour drive to Victoria, she told her favourite half-forward “just don’t overthink it”.
“I told him ‘play your instinctive footy that we know that you can and just really go for it’,” she said.
“He’s worked extremely hard to get where he is and he’s shown a lot of resilience and hard work.
“Watching Callum win the preliminary-grand finals one week ago was nerve-racking.
“I don’t do good with close games. I can’t handle the stress and I can’t sit down.
“Being right there in the stands watching him will be even more nerve-racking.”
The Chinese and Indigenous crowd will be fully backing Callum, whose great-great-grandfather Owen was a Cantonese immigrant and became a respected founder of the town of Derby in Western Australia.
“All of Callum’s brothers are flying into Melbourne on Friday night and his grandparents, so that’ll be lovely,” Mrs Ah Chee said.
“We know the biggest mob will be watching on. My family is huge. My mum and dad had five kids, 26 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren and I know that they will all be supporting Callum.
“My brother, up in Port Hedland, is part of the biggest mob that will be tuning in supporting him and that’s just one side of the family,” she said.
Originally from Western Australia, Mrs Ah Chee immediately set the record straight with colleagues at the hospital that she would be barracking for The Lions as soon as she started working there in June.
She said it was now “no secret” at the hospital that her son Callum played in the state’s top AFL team.
“I know that some of my colleagues were watching the preliminary grand final because when I rocked up to work on Monday a lot of them said ‘Oh, congratulations. That’s really good Brisbane got through’,” she said.
“It wasn’t a secret that Callum is my son and that he plays for The Lions because you talk around the kitchen on your break and ask about the AFL teams.
“I think somebody thought it was a bit weird I went for Brisbane when I’ve come from WA, so we sort of got to talking about it.
“My colleagues have been really supportive and excited too, which I think is really nice.”
Mrs Ah Chee started working at the Mater Research team after her husband, Brendon Snr, was transferred to Brisbane for work this year.
■ WHAT TIME DOES THE AFL GRAND FINAL PARADE START?
The 2023 AFL Grand Final Parade will commence at 10.30am (AEST) on Friday, September 29.
You can watch the 2023 AFL Grand Final Parade exclusively on Fox Footy — via Foxtel and Kayo Sports — from 10.30am (AEST).
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