Irving Mosquito went from remote WA to Essendon’s new cult hero
The term ‘magic’ is routinely used to describe Indigenous footballers but it has a special connection to Essendon’s Irving Mosquito.
The term ‘magic’ is routinely used to describe Indigenous footballers but it has a special connection to Essendon’s Irving Mosquito.
Irving was named after NBA great ‘Magic’ Johnson, whose dazzling ‘Showtime’ plays during the 1980s and 90s were admired by his basketball fan dad, Dean Mosquito.
So when he and wife Rosalie had their first child, they decided to call him Earvin – the five-time Los Angeles Lakers champion’s real name – John Dean Mosquito.
The only problem was the hospital, in Derby, in remote WA, got the spelling wrong.
“I thought I’d just leave it as that,” Dean tells The Australian with a laugh.
Irving turned 20 last Monday. Two days earlier, sporting brilliance on TV again inspired Dean – this time it was Irving booting two goals on debut in the Dreamtime game in Darwin against Richmond.
The second-year small forward’s opening major was with his first kick. His other one, which came after hitting the ball at pace just beyond the 50-metre arc then finishing with his left foot on the run, was nominated for Goal of the Week.
Not wanting to quarantine for a fortnight due to coronavirus restrictions after returning from the NT, Dean and Rosalie watched the match on a big screen at a pub in Kununurra with about 20 family members.
The proud dad spent most of the game struggling to comprehend his son was playing on one of football’s special stages and wiping Rosalie’s tears.
“We were just making a big noise … we were just jumping around and everything,” Dean says. “It was a beauty to see him play the game he played. You can’t get better than that.
“We still can’t believe he kicked two goals in his first game, you know. We were very emotional.”
While the pub rocked, Irving’s hometown of Halls Creek, where Dean, Rosalie and their other sons Bobbie, 17, Frederick, 15, and Dean Jr, 3, still live, also celebrated. Dean estimates there are 10 families of Mosquitos in Halls Creek, which is in the Kimberleys, almost 700km inland from Broome. It has a population of about 1500 and is considered one of the most disadvantaged communities in WA.
The nearby town of Warmun, where Dean is originally from, has another 30 mobs of Mosquitos.
“Everyone’s still shaking my hand on the street in Halls Creek,” Dean says, proudly.
Dean has hardly stopped smiling since Irving called him two days before the Dreamtime game.
“He just said ‘I’m playing dad’ really happily and all the family was in the background (saying) ‘yay’,” Dean says.
“I said ‘this is for all the hard work and this is where you’ve ended up’.”
Their father-son phone calls have not always been as rosy. After Irving moved to Briagolong in eastern Victoria at the age of 12 to study at Gippsland Grammar, he would ring Halls Creek homesick, telling Dean he wanted to return.
“When he first went away he was crying to come back to us but I’d say ‘mate, it’s best for you to stay over there and get a good education’,” Dean recalls.
“It’s an opportunity you can’t get up this way.
“He’d do it hard sometimes … and the things he went through, it was hard for me and my wife.
“I told him about myself – I never got a good education because I lived all my life in the Kimberleys. If we all do the same things, it’s like living in a circle. It worked out in the end.”
Irving left his family behind in Halls Creek but gained a second one in Gippsland.
Former Halls Creek teachers Mick Roberts and Sharne Beesley hosted him, helping ease the transition from outback WA to country Victoria.
“They did an enormous amount for him,” former Gippsland Power talent manager Peter Francis says.
“Footy wasn’t the main thing, it was about a focus on schooling and being happy.”
Gippsland Power soon became aware of a speedy Indigenous talent who had a beaming smile and memorable name.
“We had Irving right from a 14-year-old … and he’s always been that really beautiful smooth mover and goalkicker,” Francis says. “I liken him a little bit to (Essendon great) Michael Long.
“I watched (Irving’s debut) from home and was really nervous before the game, just was hoping he would do really well because he’s such a great kid – a beauty who lights up the room when he walks in with that big smile.
“That second goal (against Richmond) – I’ve seen him do that 20 or 30 times for Gippsland Power.”
Irving rose through Gippsland Power’s ranks, played for Victoria Country and landed in Hawthorn’s Next Generation Academy in 2016.
In his draft year of 2018, it was expected the Hawks would snare him, eyeing a long-term replacement for four-time premiership star Cyril Rioli, who had retired that July.
Instead, Essendon called Irving’s name at pick 38 and Hawthorn did not match the bid.
“The main thing (Irving left home for) was for an education,” Dean says. “It was a bonus that he got picked up.”
The fact the family barracked for the Bombers made it even sweeter.
Moving to the big smoke of Melbourne meant more adjustment and new clubmates.
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, who could speak minimal English when he moved from the Tiwi Islands to Victoria at the age of 16, became something of a bigger brother.
What Irving may not realise is just how much of an influence he is on shaping the futures of the next generation of Mosquitos.
Bobbie, who is in Year 11 and plays A grade for Halls Creek, wants to follow in his footsteps and finish school interstate.
“He’s a bit like Irving but he likes to tackle a bit more,” Dean says of his middle son.
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