Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett cannot wait to play in front of friends and family for Indigenous All-Stars clash

Kysaiah Pickett is relishing the chance to play in front of friends and family when he represents the Indigenous All-Stars against Fremantle in February. The Quairading-raised small forward will return to the state he left as a teenager for Optus Stadium’s blockbuster exhibition match next year, and he cannot wait to see some some familiar faces. Pickett moved from the Wheatbelt town to South Australia to pursue his AFL dreams, and has played nine times at Optus Stadium as a teenager — two of which came during Melbourne’s 2021 premiership triumph in Perth. The talismanic Demon told AFL.com.au said he took a great deal of pride in representing the All-Stars team, and getting to do it in one of his home states made it even sweeter. “That’s the main thing I’m excited about,” he said. “I know there will be a lot of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people back home in Western Australia that will want to come to the game. I’m sure we will get big numbers at the game. “I’m just hoping we can see a rise in the next generation coming; I’m hoping they have guys that play in this game down the track.” Pickett said getting to play alongside men he once looked up to was a dream come true. “The main thing for me is just excitement,” Pickett said. “You play against these boys your whole career, so being able to team up with them is pretty special. “A lot of them are superstars. I look up to heaps of the boys that I’m going to be alongside, so it is pretty exciting for me.” The Demons star played his 100th game last season, having been drafted by Melbourne with the 12th pick in the 2019 draft. He was born in South Australia before moving to WA, but moved back and lived with his uncle: dual Premiership-winner Byron Pickett. “My uncle has had such a big impact on me. Obviously I moved from WA to South Australia to live with him and basically he set me up and helped me become independent,” Pickett said. “He taught me a lot of the ways you don’t learn being back at home. He has just been there to guide me and help me improve and teach me to be a man.”