Western Bulldogs v Carlton: Buku Khamis makes AFL debut in stirring comeback win
When Buku Khamis started playing footy he had no idea what the positions were. His exciting Dogs debut came after years of determined struggle. And a little help.
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Buku Khamis considers himself fortunate to have two families.
There’s his biological parents and four brothers who migrated to Australia from South Sudan via a Kenyan refugee camp in 2006 when Khamis was only six years old.
And then there is Melbourne couple Kellie Ryan and Charles Grech, who have not only helped nurture Khamis’s football dream since he was 11, but have loved and cared for the Western Bulldogs defender like a son for the best part of a decade.
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Grech was coach and Kellie the team manager of the under-12s at the St Albans Football Club when they first met Khamis, and began to generously offer the intensely shy yet fiercely-driven youngster a ride to training and games so he could play each week.
Over the years, their relationship blossomed to the point where Khamis moved in to Grech and Ryan’s family home with their three children almost four years ago.
And all of them found it hard holding back the tears watching a young man who has had to jump more hurdles than most make his AFL debut in the Bulldogs’ win over Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
“He was only 11 when he started playing the game and came into our lives, and from there it just really grew,” Ryan said.
“I guess we took the responsibility of probably being his football family and back then you didn’t really think this (AFL debut) could be possible, but inch-by-inch here we are.
“We are so incredibly thrilled for him, and just so proud of him.
“He has been living with us for three-and-a-half years now and I know everything about him. What he likes and what he doesn’t like. He is like my son.
“He might not carry my blood, but he is my son in every aspect.
“And we just thought (growing up in Melbourne’s west) why doesn’t he get given the chance (to realise his sporting dreams?) Why not him?”
Khamis, 21, was beaming after the game, having settled his nerves with a nice mark early, and a big fly on the wing, which showcased his incredible athleticism.
The interceptor, who only picked up the game in his last year of primary school, also has nice skills and plenty of dash on the rebound.
There was a big congratulatory hug from coach Luke Beveridge and a thousand slaps on the back from teammates after the victory.
After all, this was the man, Beveridge said during the week, who he thought was a two-million-to-one chance to make his debut after last year’s COVID-19 break halted his training and hurt his fitness levels.
But the next generation Academy product said he loved every minute of his first AFL match.
“It was unreal,” Khamis said after the game. “The crowd, running out, the win, everything.
“I couldn’t believe how loud it was out there, but I was having lots of fun.
“I’m so grateful for all of it.”
When he first arrived in Australia with his mother and four brothers (his dad arrived a few years later), Khamis had to learn a new way of life, and make new friends in Melbourne’s west.
Even in recent years there were challenges when visa complications denied Khamis the opportunity to travel overseas with an AFL Academy as he made the Vic Metro program and the All-Australian team.
But for every setback on and off the field, he never lost hope.
“It was really challenging at the start adjusting to the Australian culture, and learning English was a big barrier as well,” he said. “I came over when I was six and I don’t remember too much before that.
“But it has been a great road and I’m just glad I’m here now playing footy.”
Grech says he has learned to never underestimate Khamis.
“He is the most hard-working and resilient person I have ever met,” Grech said.
“He has had roadblock after roadblock and he has just smashed through them all and that includes some injuries in the past couple of years.
“In his first few games he didn’t understand the game or even know what the positions were.
“One day I asked him to go to centre half-forward and he said, ‘Where’s that’?
“He just knew he wanted to get a kick, and after only about four or five games he was the best young player I had ever coached.
“So that first year even though he had never played the game before, he finished runner-up in the best-and-fairest. For the whole league, believe it or not.”
So why did Ryan and Grech take such a shine to Khamis, helping educate, provide for him and bring him into their family home, including holidays and trips to the dentist?
“Because we could,” Grech said.
“We aren’t a wealthy family by any means, but it doesn’t hurt to give a kid a hand. It was as simple as that.
“It started out as giving him a lift (to footy), because Buks’ dad wasn’t able to give him a lift — he didn’t have the means — and his father is a fine man himself.
“So we gave him a lift and then it eventuated after footy. We’d say, ‘Let’s go out and get a feed’.
“We would play early in the morning and he would come over for lunch, and then he would spend more time at my house with my kids.
“And it didn’t take us long to fall in love with him.
“He was shy. He would be sitting in our lounge room and you could tell he was enjoying himself, but he wouldn’t say a word because that was just his nature.
“But after a while he would start opening up and over the years we have had plenty of heart-to-hearts and Kellie has played a big role in his life, too.”
Khamis remains close with his biological family, and his father and brothers were on hand in the Bulldogs’ room after the match.
Ryan said it was Khamis’s father’s first game of Aussie rules.
Beveridge said the late-blooming backman had had a significant impact on all levels of the club.
“He is such a beautiful young man, and such a great character,” Beveridge said.
“It is a great emotional and spiritual story, his journey, for all Australians, to be honest.
“A refugee coming to Australia, it was a tumultuous time in his early life and for him to settle here ... Charles and Kellie have just cared for him enormously and looked after him.
“So many people in his life have nurtured him.
“In his first game he found it hard, as any player would, to run out four quarters. But what a great achievement for him, for his football club, and all the people in his life who have helped him.”
Above all, Khamis is thankful he has had a unique family network to support him over the journey.
“My family support has been unreal and also Charles and Kellie, they are my second family really,” Khamis said.
“I met them through local footy. Charles was my first coach and we grew our relationship from there.
“They were the ones driving me around, picking me up, taking me to training, just helping me out, really. They have been amazing.”
There was a joyous vibe in the Khamis family corner of the rooms as Marcus Bontempelli steered the Dogs to a thrilling 16-point win over the Blues on Sunday.
Khamis was first introduced to Australian rules on a school excursion, funnily enough, to a Bulldogs game.
Grech and Ryan are also lifelong Bulldogs supporters. The red, white and blue is most certainly a snug fit for the category B rookie.
But for the athletic defender, the football journey feels like it has only just begun, and the future looks bright.
“I do love this game and this club,” Khamis said.
“There have been a lot of tough moments before I could get to this stage and playing my first senior game.
“But I knew I had to keep working and keep believing in myself and I didn’t have anything to lose, so why not give it (footy) a good crack.
“Now I just want to show that I belong at this level and keep developing my game and be on the Bulldogs’ list for many more years to come.”
BLUES HAVE NO ANSWER TO BONT MASTERCLASS
— Jay Clark and Owen Leonard
Carlton’s midfield group has taken responsibility for the hammering it copped in the centre square as the Blues’ finals hopes took another hit on Sunday.
Frustrated coach David Teague said the Blues would have to go to work on their onball operations this week after the Western Bulldogs trounced the Blues in the centre clearances 23-7 in the 16-point loss.
The fast-finishing Dogs overturned a 27-point deficit against Carlton to maintain their top-two position.
The Bulldogs appeared down for the count late in the third term, but were sparked by inspirational captain Marcus Bontempelli in the last quarter to slam home six goals to one, leaving the Blues stunned.
Bontempelli combined 32 disposals — eight of them, including a goal, coming with the mach on the line in the last-quarter — plus six marks and eight tackles, while Josh Bruce flexed his muscles with 11 marks (three contested) and a five-goal bag.
The defeat leaves the Blues in an early-season hole at 3-5 facing top of the table Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
Teague said patchy performances were costing the club as it strives to break a seven-year finals drought.
“Are we where we want to be? No,” Teague said.
“We want to be a top-four team and give ourselves the best chance and give yourself a second chance going into finals.
“That is where we are going, and I have confidence we will get there, but we are not there now. It is simple as that, we have got to get better.
“We have got to get better in the contest at certain times and we have got to be able to set up a bit better defensively.”
The centre clearance belting will be top of the agenda this week as Carlton prepares to meet the Demons’ star-studded midfield.
Carlton co-captain Patrick Cripps started the third term on the bench and was limited to 15 possessions on Sunday while new recruit Zac Williams was also hobbled, Teague said, and played forward gathering nine touches.
“We got smacked in the centre bounce,” Teague said.
“The guys will got together and assess it and they owned it.
“They (midfield) put their hand up post game and said it wasn’t good enough.
“We will work on it this week. You probably want to look at it over a bigger picture not just react to one week.
“But right now we have got to get better in there.”
Jack Silvagni was emotional on the bench after he was subbed out with concussion.
Silvagni failed the concussion test, continuing his terrible run of injuries and bad luck.
Earlier, Eddie Betts had Blues fans in early raptures with a vintage five-goal display including two in a matter of minutes in the second term as the Blues added five goals to two to take a 12-point lead into the main break.
They took charge early in the third term through the brilliance of Harry McKay.
McKay booted three goals in the opening 10 minutes of the half, powering the Blues to a healthy 25-point lead before Adam Treloar and Betts — kicking his fifth — exchanged majors.
Late in the term, Aaron Naughton finally broke the shackles imposed on him by a superb Jacob Weitering, taking a stirring pack mark at the top of the goalsquare to keep his team in the hunt at three-quarter time.
The Bulldogs then goaled through Lachie Hunter to start the final term, and minutes later, Bontempelli took an assertive pack mark before converting the set shot, dragging the margin back to just three points.
The Bulldogs simply dominated the rest of the term, finding life late to ultimately yield a memorable victory under the Marvel Stadium roof.
BEVO PRAISES HUNTER’S COURAGE
Lachie Hunter played through the second half of the Bulldogs’ come-from-behind win with a suspected broken hand, coach Luke Beveridge has revealed.
It is believed that Hunter, who was sent for scans after the match, broke the fourth metacarpal bone midway through the contest.
Beveridge, whose decision to move Hunter onto the wing in the last term proved a masterstroke, praised the 26-year-old’s courage post-match.
“It was a pretty determined, tough effort to get through the game,” he said.
“There’s a chance that he might need a plate put in that, we’ll go and have that X-rayed now. It’s in the fourth ‘met’, the outside one, which isn’t a significant thing, but they sting, they hurt, and he had a huge last quarter, Lachie.”
Hunter brushed aside pain to run out the contest with two goals, eight score involvements and 11 kicks.
“His voice and his message was, ‘Nah, I’m OK’, and if you’ve had (a broken hand) before they sting a bit, so it was a great effort from him to keep playing,” Beveridge said.
The Bulldogs kept themselves in the hunt despite trailing by 27 points late in the third quarter, which Beveridge said was key to the stunning turnaround in fortunes.
“I didn’t think, at any stage, the boys dropped their bundle,” he said.
“Carlton were pretty good. They were too efficient with their opportunities going inside 50, and we weren’t using the ball at all well going into our front half.
“(For) the boys just to see it through, it’s a very gutsy win under a fair bit of pressure, because Carlton definitely had us against the ropes.”
WHO SAYS YOU CAN’T TEACH AN OLD EDDIE NEW TRICKS?
When Eddie Betts was lurking at the feet of a marking contest early in the first quarter, the murmuring crowd sensed something was going to happen. Of course, they were right. The old magician decided he wouldn’t need his hands after the ball split from a marking contest, instead throwing his boot at it from mid-air to thrill Blues fans with his first major of the day. Betts finished the day with five, his best return since Round 17, 2019 as a Crow.
DOGS GET OFF THE LEASH IN THE LAST
Despite trailing for most of the first three quarters, the Bulldogs finally hit their straps in the last. Carlton simply couldn’t get their hands on the ball late, as the Dogs dominated the quarter, booting six goals to Carlton’s one.
WEITERING’S HUGE PERFORMANCE
Despite the loss, Weitering’s monumental game at full-back was one of the best individual performances of the season. Weitering had 21 kicks, 13 marks (a remarkable seven contested) and had mostly nullified the influence of Aaron Naughton until late in the game.
Naughton finished with two goals and the enthralling one-on-one contests between the pair were a preview of a growing rivalry.
TEAGUE’S SHREWD SHOOTOUT PREDICTION
Carlton coach David Teague predicted this match would be a shootout earlier in the week, and the game lived up to expectation with 29 goals kicked between the two sides. In a momentum swinging affair, Steve Hocking would have watched on in delight as the Dogs won a high-scoring thriller.
DETAILS
BULLDOGS 4.3, 6.6, 10.8, 16.11 (107)
BLUES 3.3, 8.6, 12.10, 13.13 (91)
LEONARD’S BEST
BULLDOGS: Bontempelli, Bruce, Dale, Liberatore, Crozier, Macrae
BLUES: Weitering, McKay, Betts, Docherty, Curnow, Walsh
GOALS
BULLDOGS: Bruce 5, Hunter 2, Naughton 2, Scott 2, Johannisen, Sweet, Treloar, Bontempelli, Lipinski
BLUES: Betts 5, McKay 4, Owies 2, Cunningham, Cripps
INJURIES
BULLDOGS: Nil.
BLUES: Jack Silvagni (concussion)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
OWEN LEONARD’S VOTES:
3. Marcus Bontempelli
2. Jacob Weitering
1. Josh Bruce
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