Majak Daw to crown great comeback as two star Roos axed

Majak Daw will return to senior action just over 19 months after he suffered life-threatening injuries after falling from a Melbourne bridge.

Majak Daw after being told that he will play this weekend. Picture: North Melbourne Football Club

When Majak Daw clutches his first mark on Saturday in a match against Adelaide on the Gold Coast, it should prompt a true moment of joy in the most sombre of seasons.

His return to football from life-threatening injuries sustained when he fell from the Bolte Bridge in late 2018 sits comfortably among football’s great comeback stories, as North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw acknowledged on Friday.

“I know the boys have taken a bit of it. I’m really pleased with how they have gone about it and how Maj has gone about it,” he said.

“I’ve actually had a chat with a few people … just seeing what he has been through and how difficult a period that was and when he was on the road of getting back to the ultimate of AFL, something has gotten in the way.

“To his credit, and I don’t know if Maj gets enough credit for this, but he is a resilient bugger and he puts that all out there for everyone to see.

“He has shown great courage in talking about his mental health battles and we are really proud of him.”

Majak Daw gets in some high marking practice. Picture: Michael Klein

The 29-year-old has played only 50 games for the Kangaroos but carries a profile far larger than that, with good reason, having also carried out an ambassadorial role for the AFL.

As the first Sudanese Australian to be drafted by an AFL club, Daw is forever a trailblazer. His athleticism has always been astounding but a career that began in 2010 has been marked with inconsistency.

It took Daw a period to harness his natural talents and the Kangaroos a while to figure out where best to play him. By 2018 he had found his mark as a strong defender.

But in a despairing incident that December, Daw was plucked by rescuers from below the Bolte Bridge after dropping 25 metres into water.

Daw shattered his pelvis and hips, while the situation devastated his family and friends and alarmed his club and the competition at large.

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Doctors were amazed he survived the fall but regaining his health was the main priority. Resuming his career, at that stage, seemed a distant prospect.

The powerful North Melbourne star and his club worked determinedly to rehabilitate his body, mind and soul. Remarkably, a return might have been possible earlier had he not suffered a more mundane hamstring injury.

But he will end a drought between senior games stretching more than 700 days against the Crows in a significant boost for the competition in a trying season.

“It is really special what he is doing. We are proud of him and I’m proud of him getting to this point,” Shaw said.

Raw, honest, inspiring.

A must watch for any footy fan, as @majakdaw opens up about his incredible journey back to AFL football. pic.twitter.com/PKxORa2yiC

— North Melbourne (@NMFCOfficial) July 29, 2020

Daw is effectively replacing in full forward Ben Brown, whose star has fallen on the field as he deals with a personal tragedy off it.

The 27-year-old kicked more goals than any other player in the competition between 2017 and 2019, though he was edged in the Coleman Medal race in all three seasons.

Having averaged almost three goals per match through that period, Brown has kicked only eight goals from as many matches in 2020.

Ben Brown has struggled to kick goals. Picture: Michael Klein

The decision by North Melbourne to drop Brown comes just a day after his wife Hester, who is staying in the Gold Coast hub, revealed the couple had lost one of the twins they were expecting next February.

“It’s obviously been a tough period for him off the field, and we all feel for him in that scenario, but it’s also been pretty tough for him on the field,” Shaw said.

“If you keep doing the same thing over and over again and keep getting the same result, then there has got to be a point in time where we do make those decisions which are best for him and best for the team.

“Hopefully it is a circuit breaker and he can find himself again and get going and I know it will be because he just works too hard for it not to change.”

The other selection surprise involved the demotion of Jared Polec, who was recruited from Port Adelaide on significant money at the end of 2018 and had not missed a game since.

Proving statistics are not everything, nor that all coaches possess the same viewpoint, Polec was dropped despite gathering a season-high 25 disposals against Carlton last week.

Both Shaw and Carlton counterpart David Teague voted on the coaches award after the match, with Polec drawing four of a possible ten votes.

It seems clear the Carlton coach viewed the performance of more merit than Shaw, whose side has lost six matches in succession and is desperate to break the streak against the winless Crows.