At first glance, 14-year-old phenomenon Didymus Blanket appears to be on the typical pathway to an AFL career. Talented youngster wins scholarship to Scotch College with hopes of impressing Melbourne’s football scouts and earning a spot in the draft. It happens every year.
But it's how Blanket got to Melbourne that makes his story so remarkable. The Torres Strait island of Badu, with a population of about 1000 and no Australian rules team, is about as far from an AFL breeding ground as you can imagine. But it was from here two years ago that Blanket started his long journey about 3000km south to a school that had almost double the population of his home town.
Learning skills through the AFL schools program and Auskick, Blanket earned selection as captain of the under-12 Cape Crusaders team in 2009. He caught the eye of scouts, captaining the side at the state championships in Brisbane where performance helped secure the first scholarship of this kind offered to a Queenslander. It is the same scholarship the school offered Hawthorn wunderkind Cyril Rioli.
"He has a chance to do something really special," AFL Queensland indigenous programs manager Rick Hanlon said. "He has all the natural ability and all the potential to do anything he wants, he just has to make the most of the opportunity he's got."
That's a sentiment not lost on Blanket. He was back in the Far North this week preparing for the Queensland Country Championships in Rockhampton. Standing over 183cm, he has the physique of a footballer. In Melbourne he is training three days a week and playing for the school side and his club team. While it's too early to start thinking about the draft, Blanket said his goal is to end up in an AFL team.
"I don't care which one," he said. "I want to be a leader for the boys up here.”
Read more at http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2012/04/13/214391_local-sport-news.html
Courtesy of The Cairns Post.
Last Modified on 13/04/2012 10:13