AFL Draft 2022: The story of Essendon NGA prospect Anthony Munkara

Anthony Munkara likens himself to a taller Charlie Cameron and, after what his junior coach said about him, it’s easy to understand why the teenager might not fall into Essendon’s lap.

Anthony Munkara is a West Adelaide draft prospect. Picture: Mark Brake

Some of Anthony Munkara’s earliest football memories are watching Simon Black clips with his dad and kicking Coke bottles on the Tiwi Islands.

Munkara was born in Darwin, grew up in the bush on Bathurst Island then moved to Adelaide in the middle of last year to better his education and footy.

In eight weeks, the former Tiwi Bomber could become an Essendon one.

Munkara is tied to the Victorian powerhouse via the club’s Next Generation Academy and

shapes as one of 2022’s most exciting draft prospects.

The 188cm forward slotted four majors on debut for West Adelaide’s under-18s in March.

Two months later, he impressed against Collingwood’s VFL side, playing for an AFL Academy team stocked with highly-touted draft hopefuls.

Last year, in a school match for Westminster College, Munkara kicked 9.6.

While Essendon has told the 18-year-old it wants to draft him, NGA rules allow other clubs to take him within the first 39 picks.

But it is difficult to know where in the order he lands because he has not played since July.

Munkara has been back home, out bush on Bathurst Island, for most of the past few months, having returned because a series of family tragedies happened in a short period.

Anthony Munkara impressed playing for the AFL Academy side in May. Picture: Kelly Defina/AFL Photos

Determined to impress scouts and realise his AFL dream, Munkara left the Tiwis and went to Melbourne to attend the draft combine at Marvel Stadium on Friday.

“He’s enormously talented, but he’s had a year you wouldn’t wish upon anyone,” West Adelaide talent manager Paul Streatfield tells News Corp.

“I just hope that a club’s seen enough in him to give him a shot because in the right environment, if he’s got some stability around him, he’s going to be a pretty handy asset.

“If you’re talking about genuine AFL X-factor flair and talent, he’s right up there.

“What he hasn’t been able to do is put in a consistent year in a program where he’s been around training standards and off-field standards, like a lot of other people would’ve had.”

Munkara played just four games for West Adelaide this year – two trials and two in the under-18 competition – along with a handful for Westminster.

His first taste of club football came when he joined NTFL side Wanderers’ under-14s.

Before that, he would have a kick with other children in the communities.

Or by himself growing up in the bush, where he was raised by his grandparents after his dad went to jail.

“We had no footys so we’d have to kick Coke bottles,” he remembers.

“I used a tree as goals and would kick between the trees.

“When I was seven or eight, I went to communities and started playing there, kicking a real footy.

“We’d play in the daytime or the raintime.”

Like his dad, Munkara barracks for Brisbane.

His inspiration to reach the AFL started with Black.

Although he was not born when the Lions great won his Brownlow Medal, Norm Smith or three premierships, Munkara considered him his role model.

Munkara boarded at Westminster College in Adelaide. Picture: Mark Brake

“My dad would show me YouTube clips of him, telling me he was a good player,” says Munkara, whose father is still in prison.

“I still watch his clips all the time, every day.

“He’s good at midfield and the ground ball, and he doesn’t miss (targets).

“When he gets it on his left, he makes sure everything is just perfect.

“No mistakes.”

These days, Munkara models his game on another Lions star.

“I’m kind of like Charlie Cameron but I’m taller,” he says.

After Munkara imitated the small forward’s trademark motorbike revving goal celebration in an NTFL game for Tiwi Bombers’ seniors, his new idol shared a post of it on Instagram.

“That was so good, I was so happy,” Munkara says.

Munkara knows fellow Tiwi Islanders Maurice Rioli Jr, Daniel Rioli, both of Richmond, and retired Essendon goalsneak Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.

The draft prospect has trained with another Rioli – wantaway West Coast goalsneak Junior Rioli – as well as St Kilda’s Ben Long and Carlton’s Jesse Motlop, to keep fit in Darwin while he has been away from competitive football.

“There’s lots and lots of running,” Munkara says of his sessions with the AFL trio.

“Not even kicking a footy, just running.”

Munkara hopes to join them at the top level next season.

He says he will be happy to join any team.

“I love Essendon because my family are Essendon fans and they want me to move to the Bombers, but I’ve told them it could be any team,” he says.

“Essendon told me they want to draft me … but that if I’m (picked) inside 30, they can’t do anything.

“I’ve spoken to Richmond and they sound pretty keen.”

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Munkara, pictured with fellow draft prospect Matthew Jefferson, doesn’t have a preferred foot. Picture: Kelly Defina/AFL Photos

Munkara did not get the chance to impress at the national under-18 championships, injuring his ankle taking a “speccy” in his first game for the Allies.

From there, he only played a few matches for Westminster before experiencing that unimaginable family sorrow.

Streatfield says AFL clubs have not called about Munkara recently, unlike earlier in the year.

“There was a lot of talk about him and it was all ‘what can you tell us’ because there wasn’t a lot of knowledge around who he was,” he says.

West Adelaide was made aware of Munkara because he “tore the school competition apart last year”, according to Streatfield.

“To his credit, he arrived late in our program, didn’t know anyone and fit in really well, and had a lot to offer,” he says.

Munkara also does not seem to know which is his preferred kicking foot.

“I saw him kicking left and right in our trials and was excellent so asked him which it was and he said ‘I don’t have one, I kick with whichever I need,” Streatfield says.

“And he’s 100 per cent right – he’s as good on his left as he is on his right.

“I’ve never seen that before in a young player.”

Streatfield says Munkara’s rawness is exciting.

“It’s going to take a risk for a club on the back of not a lot of footy this year, but if they do, they’ll have a super player on their hands,” he says.

Munkara was in Wanderers’ under-16s when he caught Essendon’s attention.

He trained with the AFL club for a week last year.

Essendon recruiters have asked him if he will be comfortable moving away from home.

Munkara, who has been boarding at Westminster, believes his time in Adelaide will hold him in good stead.

He hopes to make his tight-knit community even prouder.

“I want to be like Tipungwuti and Cyril Rioli.”

Originally published as AFL Draft 2022: The story of Essendon NGA prospect Anthony Munkara