Doing the unusual

by PAUL DAFFEY

NIPPY forward Aaron Davey, having left Palmerston, near Darwin, to try his luck at Port Melbourne this year, provided one of the more exotic stories from this month's rookie draft when Melbourne called out his name at three. But his story was almost trumped by a former Palmerston teammate, Salim Hassan, whose circuitous route on to an AFL list began even farther afield than Darwin.

Hassan, who was picked up by Port Adelaide at 29 in the rookie draft, was born in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine. His Lebanese father Mounaf had met his mother Natalia while studying computer science in the former Soviet republic.

In 1990, Mounaf Hassan heeded the invitations of his brother, a resident in Australia for 30 years, to leave Kiev and join him. His brother was living in Hastings on Westernport Bay. On arriving in Australia, Mounaf moved his family there.

In Hastings, the home town of John Coleman, Hassan's son Salim took up the local code of football and showed great promise. At 16 he was playing senior football with Hastings in the Mornington Peninsula league, overcoming his lack of height with slabs of cheek, but by 18 he was restless.

Jason Conlin, Salim's junior coach and the current Hastings president, said the star teenager appeared to lose interest after running with the flight of the ball and colliding with a Frankston YCW opponent. Hassan, thinking that his opponent had broken his neck, sat out the second half and seemed distracted for the rest of the season.

This week, Hassan admitted he was upset by the collision, from which the Frankston YCW player received a broken collarbone and a pinched nerve, but denied that it had prompted his decision to leave Hastings and play in Darwin. He headed north only because Hastings teammate Jamie Rhodes asked him to go and, having finished year 12, there seemed nothing to hold him. Little did he realise the move would herald three years of constant football.

"I just thought it would be a good experience," he said.

In Darwin, the Palmerston coach, former St Kilda defender Russell Jeffrey, was impressed by Hassan's energy and willingness to learn, but it was courage that set him apart. "He puts his head in where others fear to put their feet."

Jeffrey believed the only drawback to a career at the top level was his height, which is 174cm. "But even that doesn't affect him because he's got such a great leap."

Hassan has returned to Palmerston the past three summers, playing in three grand finals for two premierships. Jeffrey described his performance in the 2001-02 grand final against Nightcliff, in which tackled and set up attacks with equal relish, as almost the perfect game.

In between Top End seasons, Hassan has returned to country Victoria, joining Palmerston teammates at Robinvale, where he played in a grand final, and Donald, where he played in a premiership. In one game for Donald, at Boort, he had 35 possessions by half-time. "He was virtually getting the ball and kicking it to himself," said Donald president Kevin Anderson.

Back in the Top End, Hassan's Palmerston connections were pushing him to aim higher. Jock McLeod, the father of Adelaide champion Andrew, rang former Adelaide ruckman Shaun Rehn, by now coaching West Adelaide, and urged him to take a chance on the small midfielder with the big leap.

Hassan's debut season at West Adelaide culminated in a grand final against Central Districts before a crowd of 30,000, which included his family. His mother Natalia was struck by the braveness of the second of her five children. "I was worried about him - he was playing against big guys," she said.

Despite West Adelaide's loss, the game was a worthy finish to a whirlwind three years in which Hassan had played in six grand finals for three flags. To top it all, he achieved his ultimate aim when Port Adelaide added him to its rookie list.

West Adelaide general manager Doug Thomas was glowing in his praise of Hassan's football, but mostly he was taken by his unpredictable streak. "He does the unusual things," Thomas said.

In the Darwin grand final in which Hassan dominated against Nightcliff, I saw him do a most unusual thing when he denied his team a goal. Mark Tyrell, the Palmerston captain, thought his shot was through when Hassan lashed out with his foot in the fashion of a soccer defender and hoiked the ball back into play.

Hassan was indulging in a practice he had worked on at training: booting the ball back just after it had gone over the goal-line. But the goal umpire kept his arms by his side, indicating that Hassan's intervention was premature. Tyrell stood at centre half forward with his hands on his hips, not believing his eyes.

Two months later, amid a torrential downpour at Donald, I saw Hassan gain kick after kick and pay no heed to the horrible conditions.

Both in the Darwin grand final and at Donald, Hassan was easily best on ground. But more than his performances, I was struck by his background, his youthful wanderings and his clear joy at playing football.

Most footballers on rookie lists, having taken more commonplace development paths, have had nothing like Hassan's widespread experience. It would be a kick for us all if he could parlay that experience into an AFL career.

This article first appeared in The Age on 20 December 2003

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