Nothing To Dread For This Dog
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday September 6, 2008
AS HE joined the other Bulldogs players at an autograph session on the eve of his NRL debut two weeks ago, Jamal Idris considered asking some of his new teammates to sign a jersey for him.
But after his rapid rise since quitting a promising athletics career at the start of the year to play SG Ball for the Bulldogs, it is Idris's signature that has been in greatest demand at Belmore. This week he formalised a new two-year contract with the club.Somehow managing to also fit in HSC studies and trial exams, Idris has this year starred for the Australian Schoolboys after being named player of the tournament at the national championships, been one of the standout performers in the under 20s and will tomorrow play his third NRL match, against Canberra."In one season, that freaked me out," said the 18-year-old with African and Aboriginal heritage who is known as "Marley" due to his dreadlocks.Yet Idris may have never made the big time - at least not as an NRL player. Having represented NSW in volleyball, as well as holding the Australian age discus record and state records in shot put and javelin, a place in the 2012 Olympic team was a genuine possibility.As the youngest recipient of the Australian Sports Medal after being presented with the award in 2000 for his record-breaking feats in shot put and discus between the ages of seven and nine, Idris's athletic talent had long been recognised.Trained by his father, an athletics coach from Nigeria, Idris comes from a strong sporting background. Aside from athletics, his father played football, while his mother played touch football and basketball. After competing at last year's World Youth Athletics Championships in the Czech Republic - ranking fifth for javelin and eighth for discus at under-18 level - he moved from the northern NSW town of Forster to Sydney to enhance his athletics training, but was spotted by the Bulldogs."When I was a kid we never thought nothing of it, it was just playing footy with the boys," said Idris, who scored four tries in the opening 20 minutes of the Australian Schoolboys side's 48-6 defeat of France earlier this year.Not bad for someone who only began playing league to stay close to his mates. Despite his success, Idris still proclaims that winning the under-16 grand final with a Forster-Tuncurry side containing his mates and his cousin, Thomas, as the highlight of his career so far. Idris thinks about the match every day. "That's the memory that sticks out when I think of footy," he said. "That and Australian Schoolboys. They are different feelings - Schoolboys in front of thousands of people singing the national anthem and doing it for your country. At Forster, hundreds of your mates and family, wanting to win for them and the town." Describing himself as a sports addict - "I love it, live it, breath it" - Idris's motto in life is to have fun and treat every moment like it might be your last. The only thing more important to him than sport is his family and he is extremely proud of his Aboriginal heritage, which has been taught to him by his grandfather."You've got to be proud of where you come from," he said. "It's important. Family should always come first."Idris credits Hazem El Masri, Ben Roberts and Daniel Holdsworth for helping him make the adjustment to first grade but admits he still has to pinch himself on the playing arena."I was thinking about asking for autographs ... we were signing shirts at training and I thought I should have brought a shirt for them to sign," he said. "It's pretty freaky, I went from being a little Forster kid wanting players' autographs to signing them."
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald