Port Adelaide’s newest recruit Aliir Aliir is a trailblazer by almost any definition of the word.

Aliir landed at Sydney with pick 44 in the 2013 National draft becoming the first South Sudanese player to be selected in an AFL draft.

The 26-year-old only took up footy as a teenager after being introduced to the game by school mates in Kedron in Queensland.

He joined the Aspley Hornets and became a very athletic ruckman in the club’s NEAFL side but when he was overlooked in his draft year, he followed his family to Perth and joined East Fremantle where a move into defence caught the eye of the Swans.

But his trailblazing goes back to his early life. Born in a refugee camp in Kenya after his family had escaped a bloody civil war in their native Sudan, he endured significant hardship, losing his father in a car accident when he was just seven years old.

By age eight, Aliir had packed up with his mother and siblings and moved to Newcastle, learning English and picking up various sports.

The family soon moved to Brisbane where Basketball, Rugby League and even Volleyball took his attention.

Not surprisingly, Aliir is a cousin of NBA athlete Thon Maker who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons with the pair growing up shooting hoops together in Newcastle before their families went their separate ways.

Renowned as an athletic, high-leaping and speedy backman, Aliir had cemented himself in Sydney’s backline and had another year remaining on his contract before Port Adelaide came calling.

The 26-year-old impressed Port’s recruiting staff with his versatility and ability to also play in the ruck.

He averages 2.8 intercept marks across his career and is ranked among the competition’s top ten for that statistic (with 2.9 intercept marks on average) alongside Collingwood’s Jeremy Howe and Hawthorn’s James Sicily from 2018-19.

Aliir’s best season came in 2019 when he played all 22 games for Sydney and ranked inside the top 20 in the competition for Intercepts and inside the top 30 for one per-centers.

In 2020 he played 14 games, sharing his time across the backline, in the ruck and even up forward, showing his versatility with three of his five career goals coming in the most recent campaign.

He joins Port Adelaide on a four-year deal and will be a welcome addition to the club’s defensive structure.

Aliir Aliir

DOB: 05/09/94

Height: 195cm

Weight: 97kg

Debuted Round 6, 2016

Recruited with pick 44 in 2013 national draft from East Perth in the WAFL

Junior Club: Aspley Hornets

AFL games: 64 (14 in 2020)

AFL goals: 5 (3 in 2020)