RICKY Mentha jnr was just 16 when he made the brave decision to swap the warm comfort of home in Alice Springs for the shivering unknown of Morwell. Now the AFL's newest Indigenous recruit is hoping to inspire his community back in the Northern Territory.

The Demons signed the 18-year-old as a Category B rookie at the end of November, making the crafty small forward the first player from Alice Springs to join the club via its Next Generation Academy, and the first player out of that region to land in the AFL in more than a decade. 

While new teammate Steven May moved from Darwin to board at Melbourne Grammar at 15 with the clear desire to be drafted, Mentha jnr's path to the AFL happened more organically.

He wasn't even sure he would play footy when he moved. But a chance encounter with Collingwood half-back Tew Jiath at Morwell Recreational Reserve in 2023 was the introduction he needed to join the club. The pair became tight quickly. Now they are training on either side of AAMI Park. 

Mentha jnr originally moved to Country Victoria to live with his dad and pursue basketball, but it didn’t take long for Gippsland Power to enquire after Lowanna Sports Academy coach Allan Chandler crossed paths with the new kid at school. Chandler is an assistant coach with the Coates Talent League club and knows talent when he sees it. Lowanna has a rich recent record of producing AFL players.

Gun Suns Sam Flanders and Bailey Humphrey are former pupils, while recent first-round picks Alix Tauru and Jacob Konstanty also attended the La Trobe Valley school. Mentha jnr flaunted his talent across 22 appearances for the Power in two seasons, as well as for the Allies and the AFL Academy in 2024. 

The decline in Indigenous players entering the AFL has become alarming since the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time since the National Draft was introduced in 1986, not one Indigenous player was selected. West Coast added NGA product Malakai Champion as a category B rookie, meaning only two Indigenous players were added to the AFL system, while 11 retired or were delisted at the end of the 2024 season.

Right now, only 62 Indigenous players have contracts for 2025, which is why Mentha jnr wants to inspire the next generation in central Australia. 

"It was definitely hard, but it was the right decision to move. It's been really good for me. Now, hopefully I can be a role model for others that want to follow their goals," Mentha jnr told AFL.com.au at AAMI Park this week. 

"I know basically everyone in Alice – everyone is really connected – I reckon I can be a good role model for my community and show them that you can make the AFL or make something of yourself. That definitely motivates me and I reckon that motivates all my mates back there as well."

Mentha jnr's signature is important for Alice Springs, where crime and violence have gripped the region in recent years.

Dom Barry was the last player raised in Alice Springs who landed in the AFL. Like Mentha jnr, Barry uprooted his life to move to country Victoria, accepting a tennis scholarship at St Patrick's Ballarat at the age of 14, before being initially recruited by Greater Western Sydney as a zone selection and then on-traded to Melbourne. Barry played five games for the Demons and five more for Port Adelaide.

Matthew Whelan played 150 games for Melbourne in the 2000s and was recognised for his contribution across half-back with life membership. The Northern Territorian returned to the club in 2017 as Indigenous welfare development manager and is widely regarded as one of the best in the business. Whelan knows that Mentha jnr can have an impact on many. 

"I think its hugely significant with him being the club's first [NGA signing out of Alice Springs]," Whelan said.

"We were doing the maths and we think Dom Barry or Curtly Hampton was the last player recruited from Alice Springs and that was around 2013, so it has been a while. The talent is obviously there but it is just getting it out of there and the adaption from Alice Springs life to the big city anywhere in Australia. It is certainly exciting for us to finally get someone out of Alice Springs.

"I moved when I was 18 or 19, so a little bit older, and I was bloody scared. To do it at 16 is impressive. Anytime you move away from family its hard, but they are the little sacrifices you have to make if you want to chase your dreams. Family is always going to be there, but these opportunities won't be. The way I looked at life was I can always go back if I don't make it, but I wanted to chase my dreams and fulfil them. Hopefully Ricky can do the same and inspire a lot of kids in Alice springs to do the same, whether it's footy, rugby, any sport or jobs or anything. If you've got to a dream, chase it."

Kysaiah Pickett has chased the same dream. He was raised in the tiny wheatbelt town, Quairading, two hours east of Perth, where 600 people reside on the land of the Ballardong Noongar people. He left home for Adelaide at 13 and eventually boarded at prestigious school Prince Alfred College before Melbourne selected him at pick No.12 in 2019. 

Mentha jnr trained with Simon Goodwin's squad for two blocks last summer. The first time he lived with May. Then he returned at the start of the year and stayed with Pickett. The 23-year-old has taught him how to prepare for training and how to showcase his weapons to the coaches.

"He has been so good for me. He took me under his wing when I first came here last year. I was just under his wing all week and living with him. This year it's the same. He is looking after me," Mentha jnr said.

"I'm learning so much off him. All us [Indigenous] boys are a bit shy, but he is telling me ways to be professional and be as good as he is, just showing the boys and the people what I can do."

Mentha jnr has spent his first few weeks at the club living with star midfielder Jack Viney, who emulated his famous father Todd by winning his second Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal this year, before resisting the overtures of North Melbourne to re-commit to Melbourne.

"I love him. He has been looking after me real well," Mentha jnr said. "I'm enjoying staying with him and his family, his daughters and his wife Charlotte. They are such a great family and have made me feel really welcome at the club."

Mentha jnr learned his draft fate before almost every other player recruited in November. List manager Tim Lamb, national recruiting boss Jason Taylor and pro scout Todd Patterson sat down over Zoom with him and his manager, Lachie Crnogorac, from Phoenix Management Group, a fortnight out from the Telstra AFL Draft to confirm the Demons were picking him. He kept the news a secret from his mum for a week, before sharing the surprise when she came down for graduation.

Armed with two picks in the first half of the first-round, Melbourne selected Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Harvey Langford at No.6 before picking Mentha jnr's Gippsland Power teammate Xavier Lindsay at No.11, following a season where the star half-back cemented his status in the draft pool by earning All-Australian selection and winning the Morrish Medal.

"I was real happy when I heard his [Lindsay] name read out," he said. "I texted him straight away and said 'Let's go'. It’s been good to see him around training. We've been having good yarns. 

"We've been close since I came to the Power. It's great to have my old skipper as my teammate again. After games we used to catch up with his family; I got real close with his dad and his dad became good mates with my dad."

Mentha jnr grew up watching Cyril Rioli weave his magic for Hawthorn and YouTube clips of dual North Smith Medallist Andrew McLeod gliding out of half-back. He wants to leave his own mark on the game but knows how hard it is to make it.

"I want to show them what I can do," he said. "I hope to play a game next year, show them what I can do and extend my contract. I want to show them why they drafted me and prove them right."

Sitting inside the cafeteria at AAMI Park, Whelan can't put his finger on the reason behind the decline of Indigenous players in the AFL. He knows how important it is for Alice Springs to have representation and also believes the League's decision to reintroduce an Indigenous All-Stars game next year for the first time since 2015 will make a splash.  

"There is still plenty of talent out there," he said. "There has been a big drop off in recent years and that's disappointing. Hopefully this All-Stars match kicks people into gear. If you can see it, you can be it. Hopefully it can inspire the next generation of indigenous young kids coming through.

"I remember going to the very first one in 1993 or 94 after the Nicky Winmar incident and I remember the impact it had on me. I got to play in two of them and to play with all the brothers, rather than playing on them, was bloody nice I tell you what. I used to always play on the brother boys from all the other clubs. To train with them and interact with them outside of footy was great as well to get their thoughts on footy and life away from footy was nice. I always looked forward to the All-Stars games and camps."

If things go to plan, Mentha jnr will feature in future Indigenous All-Star games. And if that happens, don't expect to wait another decade for another prospect to emerge from Alice Springs. As tennis icon and social justice activist Billie Jean King once said 'If you can see it, you can be it'.