Kysaiah Pickett’s uncle Roy George to train with Melbourne during pre-season

Kysaiah Pickett’s uncle is poised to train with Melbourne, with the club open-minded about adding him to the senior list in 2025 if a spot becomes available.

Roy George kicks a goal for Casey Demons

Kysaiah Pickett’s uncle Roy George will train with Melbourne over summer as he tries to harness his spectacular talent and push for a left-field list spot in 2025.

The Darwin local played at a handful of clubs this season, including Tyntynder in the Central Murray league in northern Victoria and Melbourne’s VFL affiliate Casey Demons.

Unlike fellow indigenous talent and Demons newcomer Ricky Mentha, he is not eligible to join Melbourne as a Category B rookie.

The Demons do not have a vacancy on their list so officially they are not auditioning him as summer rookie despite his obvious ability.

Rival talent scouts are aware of Melbourne’s interest in George and it would take only a long-term injury over summer for the Demons to have the capacity to elevate him to their list.

He will train with the Dees as the AFL does all in its power to try to boost the number of indigenous players in the game after it fell to just over 60 after 11 were delisted or retired this season.

The Bunbury product is a year younger than 23-year-old Kysaiah but is officially his uncle, just as Maurice Rioli is the uncle of Daniel Rioli.

Roy George and Warwick Williams in the Southern Districts vs PINT 2023-24 NTFL men's elimination final. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

George made his debut for Casey this year against Williamstown, kicking three goals in a sparkling performance.

He won the ball with ease and showed poise to hit up difficult targets inside 50 with sharp foot skills.

George had to sit out the next few rounds amid some off-field concerns. But those issues were resolved to the AFL’s satisfaction and he returned to play four late-season VFL games.

He also had a dozen matches with country club Tyntynder.

“He can play, the lad. He’s a special player,’’ Tyntynder president Peter Hawkins said of George.

Roy George will spend the pre-season at Melbourne.

“He’s very quick, he’s very good by foot and he can turn on a twenty-cent piece, turns people inside out.

“We’d be pretty happy to see him get a go. We had some (AFL recruiters) ring up about him.’’

George, a WA Under 16 representative was at Peel Thunder for a few seasons before heading to Victoria last year.

Last month he had a three-match stint with Southern Districts in the NTFL.

Meanwhile, Pickett has returned to training and is happy and content despite being linked to rival clubs across the trade period as he holidayed in Darwin.

He is suspended for the early rounds of the season but is in excellent shape and ready for a big 2025 season.

Melbourne star Christian Petracca is understood to have cleared the air again with teammates at the club’s camp in regional Victoria after his unsettled 2024 season.

Petracca wanted to be traded to a power club like Carlton or Collingwood but the Demons made clear he was staying.

Petracca’s frankness about his situation with teammates at that camp has put him in a good spot to tear up the track across summer without any residual fallout from the trade request.

Originally published as Kysaiah Pickett’s uncle Roy George to train with Melbourne during pre-season