MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says strong VFL form has earned last year's No.1 NAB Pre-Season Draft pick Liam Jurrah his AFL debut against Essendon at Docklands on Friday night.

The indigenous 20-year-old forward has kicked 11 goals for the Casey Scorpions in the past three matches.

"His form at Casey in the last two weeks has been good and he's shown some really good signs at training, so the players are excited for him. And even though he might not say much, hopefully tomorrow we'll see a bit of speed and excitement," Bailey said.

Bailey said assistant coach Josh Mahoney told the quietly-spoken Jurrah, whose first language is not English, the news of his promotion.

"I let Josh Mahoney tell Liam. Josh has worked pretty closely with Liam. I think Liam would've nodded his head and said: 'Oh good'. That would've been it from Liam," he said.

"He's come a long way from where he's come from, but since he's been at Melbourne, his personality is starting to come out a little bit.

"Matty Whelan and certainly 'Flash' Aaron Davey has taken some responsibility for that – they've really looked after Liam.

"There is a good, funny personality underneath it and it only comes out every now and then, but he's showing a bit more. The last two weeks at Casey, he's played some exciting footy, so he gets a chance tomorrow night and I'm sure he'll take hold of it."

Hailing from Yuendumu in central Australia, Bailey suggested Jurrah's responsibilities towards his community back home were also significant.

"He is a training tribal elder and that has certain responsibilities, so the Yuendumu people have given him special compensation or special circumstances, where he can come away from his community responsibilities to represent them in AFL football," he said.

"There is pressure on Liam to perform. He's representing a very proud group of people and indigenous people in the middle of Australia."

Jurrah did not nominate for last year's NAB AFL Draft after playing four matches with Collingwood's VFL team in 2008, but was granted permission from the AFL on compassionate grounds to be included in the draft.

"It all got down to when he was unavailable for the national draft and he came through the pre-season draft through [former Collingwood player] Rupert Betheras," Bailey said.

"And the AFL, fortunately for us, gave him some special consideration for that application accepted and therefore could be drafted.

"[National recruiting manager] Barry Prendergast, as soon as we found out he was eligible to be drafted, went and watched a couple of games Liam played for Nightcliff [in the Northern Territory].

"Barry could see the talent in him, but it was whether, as a club, we were able to provide the right environment for him to grow as a person and be comfortable in Melbourne again, even though he'd been with the Magpies [in the VFL] last year."