When Bigoa ‘Biggie’ Nyuon woke up the morning after he was drafted to Richmond, he thought it was all a dream.
Then he looked at his phone and saw hundreds of notifications.
“It did take a while for it to sink in,” he said.
Born in Kenya into a South Sudanese family, Nyuon spent the first three years of his life in a refugee camp before his family arrived in Australia in search of a new life.
One of eight siblings, Nyuon has always wanted to make his family proud. He has long been inspired by his mum, Mary, and older sister, Nyadol, a lawyer and human rights advocate, to achieve his dreams.
“Nyadol and my mum played a massive role in how I turned out as a footballer and also as a person outside of football as well,” Nyuon said.
“They always told me to be true to myself, and if you keep doing that you’ll get to great heights.
“I just followed that and here I am at Tigerland.”
After years looking up to Sudanese players in the AFL, Nyuon is passionate about taking on the responsibility of being a role model himself.
“It’s (about) fulfilling that role, now that I’m at the stage and leading the path for the younger years,” he said.
“And giving other Sudanese kids a path and showing them that you can make it if you put your mind to it.
“I want to play that role model and be a figure to all the Sudanese kids and multicultural kids growing up in Australia.
“I’d love to play a massive role in that.”
The 18-year-old, who was Richmond's fifth selection in the national draft at pick 54, played a mix of key positions for the Dandenong Stingrays this year.
His rare athleticism shone at the Victorian Draft Combine where he tested quickest in the 20m sprint, recording 2.85 seconds. His vertical leap and agility were also in the elite bracket.
At 195cm, the versatile tall is more than happy to play anywhere on the football field. He is, however, looking forward to refining his craft as a defender.
“I’d like to further develop my football as a backman and play a lockdown defender role,” Nyuon said.
“While also having the ability to run off and use my pace and speed to create movement from the back and open up the game a bit.”
Having spent time at St Kilda as an Academy player, Nyuon is confident he’ll settle into life as a professional footballer well.
“I think I’ve gotten a little bit of a head start from the rest of the (draftees),” he said.
“I did a fair bit of training with the Saints leading up to the draft and it was an eye opener to get experience with the bigger bodies and being exposed to what it’s like to become a player at that level.
“I think it was great exposure and something I’ll carry on to the Richmond Football Club.”
