EXCITING Melbourne forward Liam Jurrah says it was an honour to play in Matthew Whelan's final AFL match against St Kilda despite the Demons suffering a 47-point loss at the MCG on Sunday.

Whelan, the oldest of six indigenous Melbourne players, has been a key mentor for Jurrah since the No.1 selection in last year’s NAB AFL Pre-Season Draft joined the Demons from Yuendumu in Central Australia.

Jurrah shone with four goals against the Saints – including a gem kicked over his head – and said playing with Whelan continued a family link that stretched back more than a decade.

"The funny thing is my Dad played with Wheels and then I played with Wheels. I stayed back home with my grandmother, when my Dad was playing up in Darwin," Jurrah told melbournefc.com.au.

"Just to play with Wheels in his last game is great. It would've been fantastic to get a win for Wheels, Wheats and Robbo."

"Aaron and Matty Whelan have taken me under their wing and taught me everything and I thank Matty Whelan and Aaron."

Jurrah, whose transition from desert footballer to AFL star has been one of the stories of 2009, is looking forward to returning to the Northern Territory before Melbourne's pre-season begins on October 12.

Coach Dean Bailey said he was excited by the prospect of Jurrah undertaking his first full pre-season. 

"I think Liam is going to improve significantly from what he's done this year, because he's going to be here from mid-October, when we start pre-season. He's going to hopefully draw some more people through the gates I hope," he said.

"We need to explore the opportunities of Liam playing in other positions, because we know he's going to be a guy who is going to get tightly manned up and tagged and pushed around. So he's got an ability to play anywhere.

"With a full pre-season, he's going to be a dangerous player."

And Bailey is adamant the upside in Jurrah is enormous.

"We haven't seen the best of him yet – we just haven't," he said.

"We've got to make sure we manage him as best we can, because he'll come in next year as a first year player who has probably earned a few credits in the bank from an opposition club.

"We've got to still manage him – he's still young in AFL games terms – but what he's done is pretty impressive. I think we'll see a few 48s on a few jumpers in the next 12 months and the years to come."