Gach Nyuon was born in Sudan, but he's living an Australian dream.
"I came from over there, I am Sudanese but I reckon I've developed a bit of Aussie in me as well. I'm picking it up as I go," he said.
Standing at 2 metres tall, his natural athleticism makes him a born ruckman. But it wasn't love at first sight with the AFL.
"I reckon I saw it the night we landed in Australia and just thought it was very rough and didn't really like it," Nyuon said.
Nyuon was seven at the time and had just fled war-torn Sudan with his six brothers and sisters. His mother, Mary Jock, had arranged passage to Kenya where they spent three years awaiting asylum in Australia.
Essendon's rookie draftee Gach Nyuon stands 2m tall. Source: SBS News
"I reckon mum went through a lot and I appreciate the fact she brought us here. She was a single mum with seven kids and was unwell," he said.
Nyuon first picked up a footy in 2012, playing with the Dandenong Stingrays and Vic Country before he attracted the attention of AFL recruiters.
"We don't have a lot of tall ruckmen coming through at the present time," Essendon recruitment manager Adrian Dodoro said. "He was an All-Australian under 18s ruckman this year. He had all the basic tools that you'd want to see in a young player."
In development training, Nyuon was matching AFL records for his vertical jump and also impressing with his speed. Despite having played only 45 football games in his short affiliation with the sport, the Bombers had to have him.
"Unless you can jump in this game as a ruckman you're going to be behind the eightball but he can certainly jump with a natural leap and his ruck technique is pretty good, but he's going to take time to develop his overall game," Dodoro said.
Gach Nyuon was one of three South Sudanese players picked up in the AFL rookie draft. Nyuon said the game may be relatively new to his community but he's hoping to set an example for others to follow.
During development training Gach Nyuon matched AFL records for his vertical jump. Source: Getty Images
"It takes a fair bit of hard work, especially playing against kids who've been playing football since seven years old and we've only started a few years ago," he said.
The Bombers are predicting more South Sudanese AFL stars in the future.
"You'll find we have a lot of Sudanese-born players coming through in the next 15-20 years," Dodoro said. "It's been really enlightening to see some of these boys come through and I've got no doubt they'll be dominating this sport."
