WHEN Majak Daw kicked five goals for the Western Jets in a mid-August match against the Murray Bushrangers, coach Steve Kretiuk was happily prepared to be proved wrong.

The excitement about the competition’s first Sudanese-born player was somewhat tempered when Daw was overlooked in last month’s NAB AFL Draft but was finally broken when North Melbourne added him to its rookie list on Tuesday morning.

Less than 12 months before his breakout performance, Daw had played just two TAC Cup games and, in the Jets’ view, was a long way off being aligned to an AFL club by the end of 2009.

For close friend and teammate Joe Halloran, who Daw credits as his biggest influence, the 18-year-old’s progression was all the more surreal given his early 2006 arrival at a Wyndham Vale pre-season training session with little more than just a cursory interest in the game.

“Back then he was hopeless,” Halloran recalled. “He really struggled to grasp kicking or marking and his game sense was just terrible.

“Since then, he’s literally come along in leaps and bounds. Each year he’s kind of doubled as a player. It’s been so rapid, it’s unbelievable.”

Halloran, who also played school football with Daw at Werribee’s MacKillop College, said his mate’s finish to his year with the Jets was “jaw-dropping”.

Playing predominantly as a back-up ruckman and defender, Daw was then shifted to full-forward for the remaining rounds.

“There was always going to be some sort of development spurt that we probably didn’t expect to the extent he had this year,” Kretiuk said.

“In June or July we just saw a dramatic change in the way he approached the game. He started to understand the game a bit more and use his strengths: his agility, his speed and his leap.

“For someone who’s only been playing footy for four years, he’s a fantastic kick. His development’s obviously gone through the roof in 12 months.”

Kretiuk, a former backman with the Western Bulldogs, had noticed Daw’s growing belief in his own ability; something that was lacking when he was seemingly disheartened by his peers’ failure in the 2008 drafts.

“He was a totally different player, which was great to see,” Kretiuk said. “He’s bloody exciting to watch. We had people rocking up just to watch him.

“He’s such a quiet kid but he does listen. He does work hard at training and he’s got that desire to succeed.

“He’s a pillar of the community now. So many people look up to him, which is great for a kid at that age.”

While the Jets mentored Daw, Kretiuk said the club couldn’t take full credit for him reaching a position that had warranted the interest of AFL recruiters.

“It’s up to these guys to get the best out of their footy,” he said.

“He’s as good [any] kid I've had in the system,” he added of his character. “For him to come this far, not only as a footballer but as a person as well, it's a great testament to him and his family.”

Invited to the Victorian state screening - where his vertical leap figured in the top 10 per cent of results around the country - Daw followed his draft miss with a 10-day stint at the AIS-AFL Academy.

He then returned to Melbourne for two days’ training with the Kangaroos and two with the Bulldogs, where recruiting manager Simon Dalrymple said he dominated the 200m sprints and showed a capacity for further improvement.

For Daw’s parents, the Bulldogs’ semi-final against the Brisbane Lions in September was their first live AFL game since the family’s migration to Melbourne from Egypt in 2003.

“They’re learning a lot about this journey and they’re sharing it with him,” project co-ordinator for the AFL Multicultural Program, Nick Hatzoglou, said.

“Ninety-nine per cent of it is a new experience for them but they can see that AFL presents a wonderful opportunity for their son.”

Now one of nine children, Daw couldn’t speak a word of English when he arrived in Australia, however, the recent completion of his VCE studies highlighted the significance of his personal development.

Hatzoglou has closely monitored Daw since his appearance for Team Africa in the 2008 International Cup and, this year, used him as a community ambassador for the inaugural multicultural camp, which was run for 50 students in years seven and eight.

He said Daw’s recruitment would resonate with Melbourne’s Sudanese, African and broader communities, because of his heritage and how quickly he had embraced Australian football.

“It’s been an amazing five years of re-settling into a country,” Hatzoglou said.

“We’re trying to say to Majak [that] obviously he’s a bit of a pioneer. He’ll come into the system and he’s already had significant publicity, because his is a slightly different journey.

“We’re trying to highlight the good side of it all but also that things in a year’s time could go horribly wrong. We’re trying to provide all that information for him so there are no surprises.

“For someone who’s been in the system for so little time, the upside we just don’t know. He might just continue improving at such a great rate.”