Game on for Mella

By Justin Robertson
NEXT month, Narre Warren’s Mella Opiew will be taking on the rest of the world.
Opiew will be playing for the World VXIII in the NAB AFL under 16 Championships in Blacktown, Sydney, and will be taking orders from his coach, former Swans legend Michael O’Loughlin.
The World VXIII will consist of youngsters hailing from Lebanon, Canada, China, South Africa, and Sudan along with local footballers from other multicultural families.
“I’m very happy with being selected and I can’t wait,” said the Narre Warren resident who originally hails from Sudan. “When my PE teacher told me I was selected, I was very excited.”
Having only played Australian Rules for a year, Opiew credits Matt Jones, his PE teacher at St.John’s Regional College for getting him involved with the sport.
“One day he told me I should at least try kicking a football and when I did he said I was good enough,” Opiew said. “After that, I started playing school footy.”
The Sudanese-born footballer grew up playing soccer in the nation’s capital, Khartoum, and also enjoyed shooting his basketball with mates. “I would play mainly soccer after school with my friends at the park, but only for fun – nothing serious,” he said.
To make the World XVIII squad Opiew said he’d had to work hard on his game.
“My endurance is OK and I can mark well, but I needed to work on my kicking,” he said. “So I practiced and made the squad.”
This Friday, Opiew will spend week training in Melbourne with the rest of the World squad then head to Sydney the following week for further skills and development training, before they embark on the tournament on 3 July.
With less than four weeks to go before his first game, the Western Bulldogs supporter is taking a laid-back approach to the tournament: “to have fun and try my best.”
“If someone told me I was good enough to play AFL, I’d certainly give it everything and try and make it as a footballer.”