| Idris should be a London Olympian - STATE OF ORIGIN: TIME FOR REVENGE |
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DAVID RICCIO THE ROOKIE The Sunday Telegraph May 23, 2010 THE chipped paint measuring Jamal Idris's height still marks the hallway of his modest western Sydney home. More than a hundred trophies, pennants and medals from junior, school, state and national carnivals clutter the small loungeroom. The running bib of former Olympic champion Carl Lewis, signed and handed to Idris in 1996, is proudly on display. His favourite discus, which Idris hurled a record 44.15m at age 10 in 2000, is there covered in dust. And a letter sent to Jamal Dasuki Idris that same year, from former PM John Howard recognising his "services to athletics'', is nailed above the family sofa. Ask any of his former coaches, his manager, his mother Alana, and even Idris himself and they tell you the Blues' X-factor should be on a plane to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi this year rather than making his State of Origin debut at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday night. "If he had stuck with it he could've been an Olympian by London [2012],'' said Denis Knowles, the coach of world discus champion Dani Samuels. "At that stage he was throwing on natural ability alone, no weights or real solid training program. But he had the arm span of an albatross.'' Alana Idris says she'll never forget the moment. That day, three years ago, when her baby son walked through the front door of their Regents Park home and told her he had a dream -- to play rugby league. "In 2007, he came home and said `I don't want to do athletics any more, I want to play footy','' Alana said. Idris had just returned from the world junior athletics championships in the Czech Republic, where he finished ninth for discus. He'd grown up in the sport, starting at Greystanes Little Athletics, idolising his cousin and former Olympic hurdler Kyle Vander-Kuyp. At age 11, he was a Pacific Games record holder in discus and state champion in shot put. But Idris missed his family and his mum's home-cooked meals. And he missed fishing with his older brother Isaac -- who was also a talented track star -- back in Forster, where he spent two years growing up. "It was his first trip away and he didn't like it,'' Alana said. "I wasn't there and he was stressed out. He missed his mum too much. I think he realised what being so far away from his family meant. "So he came home and he said, `I want to give footy a crack'. I told him he should do whatever he wanted because I knew he could make the most of anything he did.'' Idris remembers his former athletics team-mates laughing in disbelief when he told them he was ditching track and field for football. The seed was planted by former Bulldogs football manager Frank Barrett, who phoned Idris asking him to trial with the SG Ball squad. "I had to remind him this would be no walk in the park,'' Barrett said in reference to Idris's carefree nature. Up until then, the son of a Nigerian father and Aboriginal mother had flown under the radar of rugby league scouts. He was just happy to be playing on weekends with his mates from De La Salle Bankstown. But he killed them playing in the centres on the Bulldogs' trial day and a contract followed, but not before Parramatta, Newcastle and Souths had a crack at signing the teenager. "The day he took a tour of the Eels' gym, Timana Tahu actually spoke to him and told him why he should come to Parramatta,'' Idris's manager Sam Ayoub said. For an untried kid, the Eels were willing to pay plenty. But again, Idris's heart ruled his head and the proximity to his family was the attraction of playing for the Bulldogs. And with SG Ball training just down the road at Regents Park, Idris signed a deal worth "no more than a couple of footy boots''. But athletics still nags away beneath the surface. Just last week, Alana caught her son mimicking a discus thrower in their loungeroom. Would the boy who grew up a Maroons fan, who would eat 14kg of boiled rice a week, boasts of his love for Johnny Cash and needs to be woken in Blues camp by Bulldogs team-mate Brett Kimmorley, ever consider going back to athletics? "I think every now and then what it would be like if I did have a throw,'' Idris said. "It does run through my mind, maybe if I just had a week of training [athletics]. Back then I wasn't doing weights so maybe that would help me now. "Maybe in a while [I will go back to athletics] . . . but I'm just enjoying footy too much at the moment. "Honestly, I'm the kind of bloke who does things to see how far I can get. "That's a good thing because it drives me, it always gives me a target. "I'm going to see how far I can get in footy first.'' IDRIS: A CAREER SO FAR Age: 19 Height: 194cm (6ft 4in) Weight: 112kg Position: Centre NRL games: 32 NRL tries: 13 Rep tries: 1 Country Origin: 1 Awards: Dally M Rookie of the Year (2009) School: Lasalle Catholic College, Bankstown |