WHEN reflecting on Liam Jurrah’s AFL career, it’s easy to be disappointed.

The ‘Warlpiri Wizard’ burst onto the scenes, displaying a natural ability rivalled by few to come before him.

At 23 years of age, he was destined to leave his mark on the game and excite fans long into the future.

But that’s not how this story goes.

Unfortunately, Jurrah’s life away from football was complicated, and a return home to Central Australia was imminent.

While it’s fair to say this was a waste of talent, we should be grateful the talent was ever actually seen.

Because without Barry Prendergast’s spontaneous trip up north, Jurrah’s career may have been over, before it even begun.

“He went and played up in the Darwin league, but he hadn’t nominated for the draft,” Prendergast, the Demons’ head recruiter at the time, told Melbourne Media.

“But then Rupert Betheras was able to convince the AFL to get him into the Pre-Season Draft, which I don’t think had ever happened before, or has ever happened again.

“At that point, it’s fair to say it would’ve been very hard for us to draft him because we hadn’t seen much of him.”

In 2008, Jurrah had spent some time playing footy in Victoria, including a four-game stint with Collingwood’s VFL side which gave the Demons a glimpse of his talent.

But it wasn’t until a familiar face spoke up that this recruitment became a possibility.

“Aaron Davey, who had been up [to Darwin], said that he’s playing and that we probably needed to have another look at this bloke,” Prendergast said.

“It was going to cost me a lot of money to go there, especially in relation to the budget we had, but I thought, ‘If I don’t go up, I might live to regret it.’”

Just one week out from the 2009 Pre-Season Draft, Prendergast jumped on a plane and gave this kid a chance.

That was all Jurrah needed.

“It bucketed down – it was torrential – and it was the most humid day I had ever experienced in my life,” Prendergast said.

“But he played this incredible game and kicked five incredible goals.”

From that very moment, Prendergast knew he had found something special.

“I met Liam the next day and we sat there and had a meeting for about an hour and Liam didn’t say anything really,” Prendergast said.

“I didn’t know how strong his English was at the time, but he was reading the paper.

“I only found out, after Liam had been at the club for a couple of years, that at that time, he thought I was a reporter – he didn’t know I was a recruiter.”

Unaware that his playing future was on the line, Jurrah was unable to truly sell himself; but that didn’t matter.

“It was hard to get a feel for how much he wanted it, other than the fact that his actions said that he did,” Prendergast said.

“He left his home, he left his people and he came down to Melbourne.”

And with the first selection in the draft, Jurrah became a Demon.

“We were taking a punt in some senses, but you’re sort of looking at it thinking, ‘Where do you get that talent?’,” Prendergast said.

“His football ability wasn’t going to be an issue – there was no doubt in my mind.

“I felt at the football club at that time we had a really good group of people that would help Liam succeed.”

And succeed he did.

For four years, Jurrah thrived in the AFL system, quickly becoming one of the most exciting footballers to ever pull on the red and blue guernsey.

But in order to do so, he faced an incredible cultural shift.

Kelly O’Donnell, the club’s development coach that season, witnessed first-hand just how raw this youngster was.

“We used to take the first-year players to a boxing camp down in Warrnambool,” O’Donnell told Melbourne Media.

“He was fantastic down there, he fitted in really well and it was the first time he had been in the ocean.

“The boys were teasing him about sharks, and he saw some seaweed and got out of the water pretty quick.”

Jurrah didn’t have to use his voice to be the centre of attention, or to make his teammates laugh.

And Brad Green testifies to just that.

“He was quiet, but he was one of those cheeky quiet guys – he certainly loved a bit of banter,” the former Dees’ skipper told Melbourne Media.

“It was interesting, Liam had his native language, his Indigenous language, as well as could speak English and we were all fascinated by that.

“When he got on the phone to talk to family, we had no idea what he was saying.”

Fortunately for Jurrah, Melbourne had a strong Indigenous program, with the likes of Davey, Matthew Whelan, Austin Wonaeamirri, Neville Jetta and Jamie Bennell all supporting the Demons’ newest recruit.

“I think Liam fitted into the club really well with knowing that, and it really helped him feel comfortable living in the city, which then helped his football,” Green said.

When the youngster first arrived at the club, he was far from a professional athlete, and like all players, he had some deficiencies.

“You would say his endurance to start with wasn’t that great when you’re looking at the time trial or when he was running laps,” Green said.

“And we basically didn’t hear him in meetings.

“We probably had to look at him a couple of times to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep.

“Let him get out there and do his thing.”

And that’s what they did.

O’Donnell was manned with the challenging task of giving the key forward directions, but he didn’t complicate the process.

“The thing you don’t do with guys like Liam Jurrah is you don’t over coach them,” he said.

“It was very simple instructions, but he understood clearly what he needed to do, and then his talent took over.

“We had this thing called, ‘Chase, tackle, pressure.’

“And because he didn’t say much in the language, whenever we talked to him about it, he’d give you a stare and all he would say is, ‘CTP.’

“You knew the message was getting through when he would repeat that.”

So, with ‘CTP’ under his belt, and a skillset like no other, Jurrah was ready to play.

At 20 years of age, he made his senior debut on the Friday night stage, booting a stunning second quarter goal against the Bombers to show he had what it takes.

But the highlights didn’t end there.

Week after week, Jurrah stunned the Demons faithful with bags of goals, high-flying marks and a variety of skills that were rarely seen throughout the competition.

He slotted 81 majors in 36 games, took Mark of the Year in 2010 and quickly became an impossible match-up for opposition defenders.

And that came as no surprise to those around him.

“He was gifted,” O’Donnell said.

“On pure talent he’s right up there with the most gifted players I’ve seen in 40 years of being involved.

“The really, really talented players just make the game look easy.

“He had as big an impact in the games he played as anyone really. His record was fantastic.”

Jurrah was simply a non-fuss competitor who brought the best out of those around him.

“Like most players, he just enjoyed getting out and playing games,” Green said.

“He was exceptional to play with, especially as a teammate in the forward line.

“The timing of his leads, the way he marked the footy, the way he went back to hit up a target inside 50.

“Liam was the most unbelievably talented player that I had ever seen or played with in my time at Melbourne.”

Praise doesn’t come much stronger.

There was never a doubt around Jurrah’s ability to play at the level, but as we all know, his time at the Dees was cut much too short.

“It was unique circumstances and a lot of it was out of our control and Liam’s control,” O’Donnell said.

“It’s frustrating. It’s a, ‘What might have been,’ moment.”

And for Prendergast, the man behind Jurrah’s short-lived stardom, it’s hard to accept.

“It’s one that’s pretty close to me because I feel like it’s one of the great tragedies of the game that we never got to see that bloke play out a career,” he said.

This is no fairy-tale, it’s a real-life story.

But the chapter that ended in 2012 is one Melbourne was privileged to have been involved with.