Daniel Southern went from AFL to violent Egyptian revolution and now mentors youth in Perth

DANIEL Southern stalked the Western Bulldogs’ defensive 50m for 103 games but nothing could prepare him for Egypt’s violent revolution in 2011.

Daniel Southern

DANIEL Southern guarded the Western Bulldogs defensive 50m for 103 games.

But none of footy’s pressures could prepare him for Egypt’s “Battle of the Camel” — a violent revolution that threw Cairo into a hotbed of anarchy and forced him to guard his family.

It is February 2, 2011 — a day forever burned in Southern’s mind — and his Egyptian wife Reham is in labour with the couple’s son, Zakaria.

It is also one of the most dangerous days of the revolution, with Cairo rife with gunfire, looting, carjacking and kidnappings. Prisoners have been released, tanks roam the streets and seemingly every intersection has a roadblock.

Foreigners have been evacuated, but Southern — a tour leader who has converted to Islam — isn’t thinking about leaving. He’s barricading his apartment with knives.

“My wife was overdue by a week and had to be induced so we went in a family convoy to the hospital,” Southern said.

“The police were non-existent. The streets were set up with checkpoints every 100m-200m and you didn’t know if you were going to find citizens protecting their area or thugs from the regime or the military.

“It was massively intimidating because you were driving and you’d get stopped by 15-20 armed men with every weapon you can imagine asking you questions. It was really scary, but we managed to get there in one piece.”

Former Bulldogs Daniel Southern and his wife Reham.

Zakaria was born with the sound of gunfire popping outside, but with remaining foreigners being targeted, the scariest was still to come.

“We were living in an apartment and about 30,000 prisoners had been released. You wouldn’t believe it, but the prison was on the road we lived on,” Southern said.

“We lived on the outskirts of town next to the pyramids so all the prisoners coming back in were coming through our area. They were just cruising the streets.

“We were trapped and had to ride it out. Every time you went out you were pretty happy you made it back in one piece. You were working about provisions running out because supplies weren’t getting through.

“It was an interesting introduction to parenthood, that’s for sure.”

Southern’s career ended in 2000 like most do — earlier than he wanted and prompted by injury. Without a formal education or anything to fall back on, he struggled.

An animal lover, he found work at Melbourne Zoo, but at 28 “didn’t want to pick up poo for the rest of my life”.

The son of a Tanzanian-born, Ugandan-raised mother, Southern always had a sense of adventure from the time he was taken backpacking around South East Asia as a six-year-old.

Daniel Southern is the director of the Clontarf Academy, at the Clontarf Aboriginal College.

So with the help of the AFL Players’ Association he completed an eco-tourism course and the door to the rest of the world opened.

He was in Egpyt for 12 months before he converted to Islam, choosing Mustafa as his Arabic name.

“That just evolved organically,” Southern said.

“When I did my Shahada, your confession of faith at al-Azhar, which is the oldest authority ... you recite in front of a Sheik and you convert from there. You’re declaring that there is one God, Allah, and Muhammad was his prophet.

“After September 11, Islam in the mass media was portrayed and related to terrorism and obviously the tragic events that took place tarnished the whole religion. It wasn’t the Islam that I knew.”

In Cairo, Southern met his now-wife Reham in a restaurant, figuring “the Aussie charm must have swept her off her feet”.

“Relationships are formed very differently in that part of world. It’s all based on friendship and intimacy doesn’t come until post-marriage,” he said.

“When you start a relationship in Egypt, a lot of it is very secretive. Obviously, if you’ve got a lot of similarities and you think you can spend the rest of your life together you go through the process of being introduced to the family and all that.

Daniel Southern spoils David Neitz.

“It’s a different world. Relationships here are more born on a physical attraction.”

After nine years, and with Cairo “pretty grim” after the revolution, Southern and his family returned to Australia in 2014 where he took up work with the Clontarf Foundation, whose CEO is Southern’s former Claremont teammate Gerard Neesham.

“He sent me out to Tennant Creek in Central Australia, so I mustn’t have impressed him too much,” Southern laughed.

“I spent three months in Tennant Creek and then a year in Alice Springs. It was a big culture shock for the missus, who was born and raised in Cairo, population 22 million, to go to Alice Springs, population of about 25.

“It was a tough transition, but she was rapt to experience the life in Central Australia and the engagement we had with indigenous culture.”

Southern is now the academy director at Perth’s Clontarf Aboriginal College where he manages a program for indigenous youth.

“The goal is to get the boys to school, identify career pathways, graduate them and move them into full-time employment,” he said.

“In a nutshell we’re full-time mentors for these young men ... we drag them out of bed, do home picks-ups and support them during their journey. It’s a great program to be involved in.”

But the greatest thrill for Southern may be not knowing what’s next.

“I’ve been blessed, I’ve travelled to more than 50 countries. It’s been a great life,” he said.

“I’ve just turned 40 so hopefully I’ve got a lot more adventures to come. Who knows what tomorrow holds?”