ALIIR ALIIR is passing a milestone in his AFL journey - and picking up a baton as the Port Adelaide defender reaches his 100th national league game this weekend.
Aliir's piece of history - the first Sudanese immigrant to play 100 AFL games - is written in the same week as his role model, Majak Daw, ends his journey in elite Australian football at Melbourne after starting at North Melbourne in 2011.
Such a symbolic changing of the guard - as the new pin-up boy for the AFL to lure African immigrants to the Australian game - is not lost on 27-year-old Aliir.
"Majak was massive - he paved the way for me and the majority of the African and Sudanese kids who are playing now," Aliir said at Alberton on Wednesday. "He was the first - and he made AFL recruiters look at more and more of the African talent that is coming through.
"And look now - we have seven or eight who are playing and they are all playing great football," added Aliir who at the weekend was in an all-African match-up with Mabior Chol from Gold Coast.
"It is sad to see Majak retire, but he should be proud of the way he has paved the way. It does not go unnoticed. We are grateful for what he has done for us."
Aliir now wears the mantle as the African leader for a new generation of AFL players.
"Early days I did not feel much responsibility," Aliir said. "I was just focused on playing football and doing my own thing. But the older you get, the more you realise - and understand - the impact you can have with my Sudanese background.
"The younger guys coming through probably did not see Majak Daw play or realise how important he was for guys like me and Chol. We saw everything he went through.
"For me now, it is watching the young guys following - and giving them the confidence to know they can do it too. Same as Majak gave to us."
Aliir will play his 36th AFL game with Port Adelaide - after 64 in five seasons with Sydney - with a clearly defined role as a key defender against Fremantle at Perth Stadium on Sunday evening.
"Moving to Port Adelaide has brought the best out of me," Aliir said. "I am enjoying being in a new environment. The culture here is unbelievable. To get to 100 is a great privilege.
"I am still grateful for what Sydney was able to do for me. Same with Port Adelaide.
"(The move to Port Adelaide) allowed me to meet my goals (with a clearly defined task as a defender). I feel my best football is as a defender - that intercept defender and lockdown defender. Coming to Port Adelaide, chatting with (senior coach) Ken Hinkley and (football chief) Chris Davies before making the move, was all about playing as a defender - and that has allowed me to play some good footy."
Aliir arrived at Port Adelaide in the 2020 AFL trade period, signing a four-year deal while Sydney gained a 2021 second-round draft pick (that finished up with West Coast that recruited Rhett Bazzo at No. 37).
Aliir's value to the Port Adelaide defence was immediate, in particular with his critical intercept work while the 194-centimetre backman took a career-high 156 marks last season. This was recognised with his first All-Australian selection - and led to the inevitable desire of opposition coaches to take Aliir deeper in defence to limit his influence as a roadblock and rebound defender.
Port Adelaide defence coach Chad Cornes in mid-June noted "in the past month, in particular, teams have had a stronger focus on trying to keep Aliir out of the play".
"And I would do the same if I was an opposition coach," Cornes said, "because of how strong Aliir is in the air and the impact he has on games.
"As a coaching group, in particular myself, we are constantly looking at ways to keep Aliir involved in the game and how to react when teams do bring that tactic to Aliir.
"Aliir has not had the huge impact he had last season, but he still has been important. One of my biggest challenges in recent weeks is working ways to get Aliir more involved, particularly when teams are trying to drag him out of the play.
"Aliir is probably two contested marks down on last year. As a defence, we are three or four intercept marks down on last year's figures. Scoring off intercept marks is easier than scoring from intercept groundballs, so we are working on getting back to last year's levels."
Aliir notes the compliment being paid by opposition teams is now his new challenge.
"It is always challenging (in the AFL)," Aliir said. "It does not matter where you play, you still need to beat your opponent and play to your best to allow your team to win.
"It is different when teams are trying to take you deep. We are trying to find a way to work through that so I can be more involved. But sometimes I will just have to defend (rather than play as the sweeper in defence). I can't carelessly leave my opponent in the goalsquare and run up because they will end up kicking easy goals.
"There is a solution to it, Chad and I and Ken are trying to work that out. If I have to play deep, I don't mind playing deep. I don't have to touch the ball every single time - I can defend my opponent to stop him kicking goals to do my job for the team."
Port Adelaide travels to Perth for the first time this season to play a fourth-placed Fremantle (10-5) team seeking to strengthen its claims to a top-four berth to September's finals. The match offers 12th-ranked Port Adelaide the chance to get in front on the win-loss ledger after finally squaring the count at 7-7 with the two-point win against Gold Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
Aliir accepts Ken Hinkley's challenge is for the Port Adelaide players to show greater consistency rather than get better.
"Our best footy is ahead of us," Aliir said. "A lot of players are starting to play well now – and play some consistent football. If we can all do that, it will make it a lot easier as a team.
"We are confident we can play finals. We know how big every game is for us now.
"We need to keep winning. It is as simple as that. When you are playing (the finals equation) is not on your mind. You want to win every game, but to do that you need to win every contest. We're not running around thinking, 'We need to win, we need to win!' That leads to chaos.
"There are very few tasks that would be tougher than going to Western Australia to play Fremantle. But we are excited by the challenge.
"We feel our best is still to come."
Port Adelaide's defence will lose Riley Bonner (fractured cheek and eye socket), but should regain from the COVID protocols key defender Tom Clurey and deputy vice-captain Darcy Byrne-Jones.
Aliir paid tribute to the courage shown by Bonner to play the second half on Sunday while injured - and to captain Tom Jonas for setting the example of toughness to the Port Adelaide team.
"Tom Jonas is a tough dude; he is our leader - he also copped a big whack on Sunday," Aliir said. "I knew Riley copped a knock. I remember him saying, 'I might have broken my cheekbone'. I had a look at him and didn’t think anything of it because it was not bruised.
"It was not until after the game (that the extent of the injury became obvious). He had surgery (on Tuesday) and he is feeling good. But during the game I did not know he was that bad.
"Riley's tough. That's the thing. When you have a captain like Tom Jonas who is willing to run through a brick wall for you, it is just natural that everyone wants to do the same thing. When it is your turn to go, you go. It just shows how tough Riley is as a player - and he has learned a lot from what Tom Jonas brings to the team and how he leads by example."
In a year when Port Adelaide has had repeated injuries or setbacks (such as the COVID protocols) to key defenders, this week could have Clurey's return force the exit of Trent McKenzie despite his solid work against Gold Coast.
"There are a few who could be unlucky," Aliir said. "I am glad I am not picking the team."
Port Adelaide's ruck puzzle to counter Fremantle lead ruckman Sean Darcy will remain with Jeremy Finlayson by COVID protocols removing novice ruckman Sam Hayes from the selection whiteboard this week.
"Jeremy and Charlie Dixon have been going well for us," Aliir said. "They are under-size, but they are playing well. It is another big challenge against Darcy, but I am sure they are up for it."
The match will begin at 4.50pm ACST / 3:20pm AWST on Sunday.
