North Melbourne’s Majak Daw has achieved a significant milestone on his journey back to the AFL, the key defender returning to the field at VFL level just over six months after being rescued from under Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge.
The 28-year-old suffered hip and pelvic fractures in December’s incident, with the extent of the injuries meaning he effectively had to learn to walk again.
Daw played limited game time for North Melbourne’s VFL team in Sunday’s clash with Sandringham at the Kangaroos’ Arden Street headquarters and appeared to move freely before his day ended, as planned, at quarter-time.
“It was super exciting having him back … it was a great day for the club and for Maj himself,” coach David Loader told reporters after North registered a 57-point win.
“We’re really pleased to have him back in the fold.
“He certainly looked good out there, didn’t he?”
Daw was all smiles as he was given a hero’s welcome by about 1000 fans as he ran out for the warm-up, giving the crowd a fist pump in appreciation.
Loader said he didn’t notice any extra pre-match nerves from the defender. Daw still has two metal rods inserted in his hips.
“We just kept it as normal as we possibly could,” he said.
“There was no change to what we did … we went about our roles and Maj went about his, which was just preparing to play a game of footy.
“It was really that simple. The rest took care of itself.”
Daw started deep in defence and was in the action early, tackled hard to the ground inside the first minute.
He was meant to spend two eight-minute blocks on the ground in the first quarter before sitting out the rest of the game. But it seems Loader has a sense of theatre, sending him inside attacking 50 in the dying stages of the opening term.
“It was more hopeful than anything else,” the coach said with a smile.
“I thought, ‘Gee, it would be a nice way to write the fairytale if he takes a mark and kicks a goal just on quarter-time’.”
Daw finished with four possessions and a strong intercept mark. The Roos will assess how he recovers before plotting his next step.