Andrew Rule: Majak Daw’s return to football inspires all who saw it

The stats officially said 21 minutes, one mark and four disposals. But the best things in sport can’t be measured. No one could deny the impact of Majak Daw’s mere presence in a return to Arden St, writes Andrew Rule.

Majak Daw thanks the crowd at Arden St. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

The best things in sport can’t be measured.

It wasn’t that Majak Daw’s one mark, four touches and a “don’t argue” won the game for North Melbourne’s VFL side yesterday.

But no one could deny his presence lifted the Kangaroos to trounce Sandringham in a return to Arden St that oozed with “Shinboner spirit”.

Just running on to the sunlit ground was a triumph for Daw, returning to the game that has made him famous after his astounding recovery from injuries that could have made him a fatality. Or left him in a wheelchair.

His fall from the Bolte Bridge seven months ago rocked the football world.

The story of how this natural athlete rose from a fractured childhood in Sudanese refugee camps to play AFL football is one of the best in sport. That meteoric rise against the odds meant his fall, in both senses, was all the more shocking.

Majak Daw pumps the arm as he runs onto the field at Arden St. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

And so his return to the game — and to Arden St after its long lay-off for refurbishment — was doubly sweet for Kangaroos supporters. Not to mention the rest of us, touched by the magic of the Majak story.

Aileen, a Shinboner for 40 years and a receptionist at the club for four, had a fold-up chair beside the gate with other stalwarts who have followed the Kangaroos since Lou Richards first called Mick Nolan the “Galloping Gasometer”.

Like many there on Sunday, Aileen has cheered North through good times and bad.

She says the spirit inspired by Daw’s return reminds her of the modern game’s most poignant moment: when Jason McCartney made his symbolic comeback in 2003, eight months after almost dying in the Bali bombing.

McCartney, scarred but not scared, was on a bigger stage when he inspired a three-point win over Richmond that night.

“You didn’t want to be Richmond that day and you don’t want to be Sandringham today,” Aileen said. The scoreboard backed her up: North took the lead early and widened the gap with every quarter.

Majak Daw played 21 minutes in his comeback match. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

Even the weather was kind, at least when the teams ran out in flawless sunlight. The crowd swarmed around the unfenced oval long before the first bounce; it was about double the normal size, with close to 1000 spectators.

That was the scene until halftime when the sky clouded over, the temperature dropped and people began to leave as it became clear Daw had finished his comeback cameo.

One boy waved a sign that read “Welcome back Majak”.

Two girls had handmade placards with similar simple messages.

The sense of occasion made people smile. It made people clap. And it made them cheer when he touched the ball, which he did in the first couple of minutes of the match.

They applauded him each of the three times he came off in that busy first quarter, playing a total of 21 minutes in three bursts.

It might not sound like much but it left club officials mightily content.

Not only had the big man played the two eight-minute blocks that fitness experts had prescribed as a suitable test, but he was able to grab an extra five minutes.

Majak Daw thanks a young fan. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

It meant running. It meant tackling. More importantly, it meant being tackled, feeling the crunch of bone and muscle, a test for any player after a lay-off, let alone one recovering from a broken pelvis and hips that threatened his ability to walk.

And while he was breaking no speed records, he tested himself with a controlled sprint here and there, a reminder that at his best he is fast as well as spring-heeled and strong.

A trainer whose head is level with Daw’s chest patted him on the shoulder as he sat on “the pine” in the new player bench. A teammate coming off said, “Good start, Maj,” and the big man flashed a smile that a toothpaste maker should sponsor.

A spectator who has barracked for North since he ­migrated from Egypt 45 years ago (a factory workmate brought him to Arden St in 1973) reached over to shake Daw’s hand.

“He’s a good boy,” he said.

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Nearby, a club photographer greeted a mate with a motorbike helmet. “It’s good to see him out there, hey?” the motorcyclist said.

After the first two runs on field, Daw brushed the mud from the soles of his white boots. The third time, he took the boots off and put on runners. The Majak show was over bar the press conference.

In the cafe beside the jam-packed souvenir shop, the queue was so long that people waited half an hour for coffee. They didn’t mind. They’d seen what they came for.

They can’t wait for next week. And maybe next season.

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