Aliir Aliir

Aliir Mayom Aliir (born 5 September 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He formerly played for the Sydney Swans.

Aliir Aliir
Aliir playing for Sydney in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Aliir Mayo Aliir
Date of birth	(1994-09-05) 5 September 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Kakuma, Kenya
Original team(s)	Aspley (NEAFL)/East Fremantle (WAFL)
Draft	No. 44, 2013 national draft
Height	194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	96 kg (212 lb)
Position(s)	Key defender
Club information
Current club	Port Adelaide
Number	21
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2014–2020	Sydney	064 (5)
2021–	Port Adelaide	098 (0)
Total		162 (5)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 6, 2025.
Career highlights
All-Australian team: 2021 Showdown Medal: 2021 (round 21)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life and career

Aliir Aliir was born in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to South Sudanese parents who had fled the Sudanese civil war. His family moved to Australia when he was eight years old, eventually settling in Brisbane.^[1] After learning to kick a football at Kedron State High School, he was invited by a friend to play Australian rules football for the Aspley Hornets as a 14-year-old.^[2] Within a few years, he had made the Queensland side and was invited to play for the world XVIII at the under-16 championships in Sydney.^[3] It was during this trip that Aliir discovered he had a long-lost sister trying to contact him.^[4]

In 2012, Aliir's mother, brothers and sisters moved to Perth to reunite with extended family.^[4] Aliir decided to remain in Brisbane, and that year, he made his debut in the NEAFL for Aspley. Aliir made his mark as a ruckman in 2012 while playing for the Hornets and the Queensland Under-18 Scorpions.^[5]

After being overlooked in the 2012 AFL draft, Aliir made the decision to relocate to Perth to live with his family. There he joined the East Fremantle Football Club and spent the 2013 season playing for the club's Colts team.^[6] With East Fremantle, he was converted from a ruckman to a defender.^[7]

AFL career

Sydney (2014–2020)

Aliir was drafted by the Sydney Swans at pick 44 in the 2013 AFL draft, becoming the first player of Sudanese heritage taken in the National Draft.^[8] Aliir had a promising debut season with the Swans reserves in the NEAFL. He suffered a dislocated shoulder mid-season, and was ruled out for the remainder of the year in round 16, which resulted in him missing the team's 2014 NEAFL finals campaign.^[9]

After a slow start, 2015 was another solid year of development in the NEAFL for Aliir, playing mainly as a key defender. Aliir played 16 games and averaged 16 possessions at more than 80 per cent efficiency and took the most marks (86) for the Swans reserves. Heading into the 2016 AFL season, Aliir was in line to take over from Ted Richards in Sydney's defence.^[10]

Aliir made his long-awaited AFL debut against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in Round 6, 2016.^[11][12] He quickly cemented his place in the team after round 16, as he played in every match between then and the Swans' preliminary final match. However, in the preliminary final, Aliir suffered a low-grade medial strain late in the first quarter of their win over Geelong. The injury consequently ruled him out of the Grand Final.^[13] The Swans went on to lose the Grand Final by 22 points to the Western Bulldogs.

Following the 2020 AFL season, Aliir was traded to Port Adelaide on a four-year deal.^[14]

Port Adelaide (2021–)

In Round 4 of the 2023 AFL season, Aliir saved the game for Port Adelaide against his former team, Sydney, by spoiling a shot after the siren from Oliver Florent that was going in. It ended with Port Adelaide winning by two points.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2023 season^[15]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2016	Sydney	36	13	0	0	103	84	187	56	31	0.0	0.0	7.9	6.5	14.4	4.3	2.4	0
2017	Sydney	36	3	0	0	20	15	35	11	9	0.0	0.0	6.7	5.0	11.7	3.7	3.0	0
2018	Sydney	36	12	1	1	121	74	195	91	13	0.1	0.1	10.1	6.2	16.3	7.6	1.1	3
2019	Sydney	36	22	1	0	222	124	346	104	44	0.1	0.0	10.1	5.6	15.7	4.7	2.0	0
2020[a]	Sydney	36	14	3	1	78	57	135	45	22	0.2	0.1	5.6	4.1	9.6	3.2	1.6	0
2021	Port Adelaide	21	24	0	1	268	100	386	156	37	0.0	0.0	11.2	4.2	15.3	6.5	1.5	7
2022	Port Adelaide	21	18	0	1	172	70	242	85	30	0.0	0.0	9.6	3.9	13.4	4.7	1.7	0
2023	Port Adelaide	21	24	0	0	202	81	283	121	37	0.0	0.0	8.4	3.3	11.7	5.0	1.5	3
Career			106	5	4	984	524	1508	548	186	0.1	0.0	9.3	4.9	14.2	5.2	1.8	13

Notes

1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal

Aliir's younger half-brother, Akech, plays for Melbourne United in the National Basketball League.^[16] He is the cousin of Matur Maker who plays for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League and Thon Maker, who last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA.^[17]