AFL Grand Final debutant Marlion Pickett opens up on prison

Before the AFL Grand Final last year, Marlion Pickett was a virtual unknown, but his star turn is just one chapter in an incredible story.

The 2019 AFL Grand Final was one for the books, especially for Richmond Tigers fans.

While it was the first time for the GWS Giants at the big dance, that was quickly forgotten as the Tigers romped to a crushing win.

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But while it was a huge story, it was nothing compared to the story of Marlion Pickett.

After an injury to Jack Graham, who suffered a shoulder dislocation in the preliminary final, the door opened for Pickett, who became an instant cult star, becoming the first player in 67 years to debut in a Grand Final.

And he handled the incredible pressure of playing in front of 100,000 people on the game’s biggest stage.

In a 89-point thrashing of the Giants, Pickett was third in voting for the Norm Smith Medal, which went to Dustin Martin.

But while it seemed like an overnight success story, it was far from it as Pickett spent two and a half years in prison as a youngster before he focused on making the big leagues.

And despite having the talent, AFL clubs can overlook older players, with the general drafting age around 18 or 19 years old.

In the ABC’s Australian Story, father-of-four Pickett said growing up in Perth was tough when he was younger.

Marlion Pickett with partner Jessica and their four children Levi, Latrell, Marlion and Shaniquae.

“A lot of people go out looking for trouble,” he said. “I can remember when I was 15, I thought I was big enough to head out with the older brothers. We got in trouble. The brothers got in trouble, got into fighting on the street and that.”

He was sent to juvenile detention for grievous bodily harm.

But when he was released, he met his partner Jess Nannup.

The pair had an instant connection and after running away from home to be with him, she was pregnant with the pair’s first child by the time she was 17.

When Pickett’s family moved 90km east of Perth to York, the pair gave his family an ultimatum — “either Jess comes with us or me and Jess are heading our own way.”

She was pregnant at 17, when she was pregnant for the first time and Pickett said he felt he had to look after his young family.

It was at this point he turned to crime.

“I tried to look for work but work didn’t end up finding me so I had to find another way to support them,” Pickett admitted. “I was 18 at the time so just partying and drinking, a bit of drugs, and ended up getting into crime. At the time I was thinking if I break into a shop it will be safer for the family than selling drugs from home with the kids and that.”

Then one morning the police were at his door to arrest Pickett and in 2010, he was sentenced to two and a half years in jail for robbery related offences.

But after 16 months, he was moved to minimum security and the Wooroloo Prison Farm, which had the opportunity to play with a local football club.

Life is a bit different for Pickett now.

Pickett was an instant star but he struggled with the structure of the minimum security prison. After being denied a transfer, he took matters into his own hands and acquired some marijuana and was sent back to Acacia Prison, which had much stricter rules.

When his sentence was over, he joined South Fremantle Football Club and he refocused on becoming an AFL footballer.

“I met with several different clubs. West Coast, Fremantle, Gold Coast, Essendon, St Kilda, but I got overlooked every year,” he said. “Probably just, I don’t know, made me more angrier that they’re still worried about my past.”

After he claimed to being racially abused on a night out before retaliating, Pickett was again in legal trouble but as fate would have it, the prosecution dropped the charges on the day the trial was set to start.

Despite being overlooked, it wasn’t long before Pickett was signed in the mid-season draft by the Tigers in 2019 despite having a broken finger.

But after working hard, Pickett earned is way into the Tigers VFL Grand Final, winning the Norm Goss Medal.

And the stars aligned to get him into the Grand Final.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick even admits it was just perfect timing.

“In 2016 there’s no way Marlion Pickett gets in the door,” Hardwick told Australian Story.

“An indigenous boy from WA who has experienced what he has done … I would’ve just thought this is all too hard.

“There’s no way this is going to work; there’s no way I’m bringing in a player that’s been incarcerated.”

Pickett was embraced by his teammates immediately.

Hardwick also admitted taking a chance on Sydney Stack, who’s father was “in and out of jail” when he was younger.

“It just clicked in my mind that I didn’t want to live that life,” Stack told Australian Story said.

There was also the retirement of 2017 Tigers Premiership hero Shaun Grigg who opened up a spot in the squad for Pickett to be drafted mid-season.

Even in Grand Final week, Hardwick didn’t think he would hand Pickett his first guernsey in the biggest game of the year.

“Marlion’s having a shot at goal and the murmur that is going around, this is like a fairytale,” Hardwick said. “This couldn’t happen, could it? We couldn’t have a kid that’s been in jail, 27 years of age, playing his first game in front of 100,000, he could not possibly kick a goal. Hard to believe it happened, really.”

While the beginning may have been exceptional, big things are still expected of Pickett as he prepares for the 2020 AFL season.

Originally published as AFL Grand Final debutant Marlion Pickett opens up on prison