Riak Andrew is the brilliant little brother of AFL’s new millionaire, out to make his own mark

“I told him to buy me a car and buy me a house,’’ Riak, 18, says with a laugh.

“He told me get stuffed. That was a bit harsh!’’

The brothers’ banter over big bucks reflects their closeness. Riak says it’s sometimes hard to believe how far Mac has come in his three seasons as a Sun.

Forty-one games into his career, Gold Coast has locked him in until the end of 2030 in what is reportedly one of the most lucrative deals in AFL history.

Riak remembers how often they kicked the football together as teenagers near their home in Cranbourne, in Melbourne’s south east, especially during Covid. Now he watches him take his kicks in the AFL.

“I see most of his games on TV and it’s sort of surreal, like, ‘That’s my brother’,’’ he says. “It’s so good.’’

The whole family – Riak’s parents Lual and Mary and siblings Makeui, Deng, Grace, Ajak and Anyeir – is thrilled at big Mac’s ascension since being taken at No. 5 in the 2021 AFL national draft. The South Sudanese community is too, Riak says.

“Everyone looks up to him now like an idol, basically, because of what he’s done. Little kids will probably be want to be like him and play AFL footy.’’

Hopefully for Riak, he will follow Mac’s path in football: from the Berwick juniors, to the Dandenong Stingrays and the Melbourne Next Generation Academy, and on to the AFL.

The 193cm key defender played as an over-ager with the Stingrays this year and has been invited to the AFL state combine. In between a full-time job with former Berwick coach Clint Evans, he’s putting in three sessions per week to prepare for the testing.

The ’Rays saw Mac come out of Covid and emerge quickly in 2021 as a tall who could play in almost any position. Two years ago, they got thinking Riak was similarly talented.

Whenever Stingrays talent manager Toby Jedwab relates the rise of Riak, he starts at a practice match at Trevor Barker Beach Oval in 2022. It was an Under 16s game between the Stingrays and the Sandringham Dragons, with Riak, as a developing tall, playing as a 17-year-old.

“It stands out in my mind, this day,’’ Jedwab says.

“He takes these four bounces down the wing and kicks the goal. On the Beach Rd side of the ground. We got smashed, but that was the highlight. Everyone was sort of, ‘Wow, that was something, that was pretty special’. And then he played for Berwick a few weeks later and did his medial ligament and missed the year. So he’s been playing a bit of catch-up.’’

The Stingrays think he’s caught up.

Last season he played in a few positions, even in the ruck, but this year he came on as a key defender. Riak was pleased with his season, believing he developed his defensive skills and found a balance between locking down and running free.

“I thought I played with more confidence. I backed myself aerially more often than last year, whether to try and mark it or spoil and kill the contest,’’ he says. “As the year went on I got better at that. Same with my one-on-one stuff.’’

Riak played one game for Vic Country at the national Under 18 championships, against the Allies, and also in Two Young Guns matches. His only disappointment was head knocks that kept him out with mild concussion, the first in a practice match, the second against the Brisbane Academy in Round 8.

“Once I got going, my last six to eight weeks were fairly solid,’’ he says.

“Same as the team. I think we won the last 10 out of 11. We had a real chemistry in the backline. We’re all good mates. Some of us went to school together, some of us played local footy together. Having that chemistry helped me as well.’’

An AFL recruiter saw a “nice little improvement arc’’ in Riak’s season, enough to tempt to Melbourne to take him as an NGA selection. He’s done fortnightly sessions with the Dees, working with AFLW star Tyla Hanks.

Jedwab says most references to Riak note that he’s the brother of Mac. He believes he’s making his own name.

“He’s got a lot of good traits. He’s athletic, runs well, marks it well,’’ Jedwab says. “I definitely think there’s enough there for the next level to take a punt on him. He has a lot of upside. You see how well Mac’s going, if he can become something like that, he’ll be OK player, you’d imagine. But he’s good enough in his own right.’’

As for that bounce-filled goal at Sandringham, Riak remembers it well.

“Every kid wants to take four or five bounces and kick a running goal and when you do it, it sorts of sticks with you. Playing with a few Berwick boys, that creates a good memory as well. It’s something you might tell your kids about, you know, ‘Oh, I did this back in my day’.’’

More Andrews will come through at Berwick – Ajak and Anyeir start playing juniors at the club next year. Their older brothers are playing senior football with the Wicks.

“We could see them 10 years down the track, you never know,’’ Riak says.

More immediate for him is the combine on Sunday, October 6. Mac is telling him to prepare well and go for it.

Riak is taking inspiration from his brother – “To try to get to his level is obviously going to be hard, but if he can do it, why can’t I? … it gives me a lot of motivation’’ – just as he does from his parents.

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They had fled from South Sudan to Egypt and arrived in Australia with their first three sons in 2005. Riak, their middle child, was born later that year.

“They left a heap of family to give us a better life, which was a huge sacrifice for them to make,’’ he says.

“The way the family has turned out … we’re all pretty close and super-grateful for what they’ve done for us. We don’t take anything for granted. Everyone in the family looks up to mum and dad as their biggest heroes. Without them we wouldn’t have the lives we have right now.’’