It was an AFL debut to remember, but that might prove difficult for North Melbourne’s Majak Daw on Monday morning.
Daw’s much-awaited debut ended in the opening quarter of his side’s clash with Brisbane on Sunday when the 22-year-old was taken from the ground after a head clash with teammate Ben Cunnington left him heavily concussed.
After taking a strong contested mark and kicking his first goal in the opening minute, the Sudanese-born Daw had set the game alight.
But it all came crashing down just 18 minutes later.
Daw was spun around in a tackle from Lions defender Daniel Merrett and clashed heads with Cunnington as he fell to the ground and was substituted out of the game.
But after waiting three years at the `Roos to get his AFL chance, he did enough to impress coach Brad Scott.
Scott admitted he was as excited as the crowd by Daw’s brilliant start.
“I did go up with the rest of the crowd and half our (coaches) box when he took that first mark,” said Scott.
Scott was also pleased with how well Daw handled the hype around his historic debut.
“Majak, in his short time on the ground, didn’t put a foot wrong,” said Scott.
“He positioned himself where we wanted him to, he jumped at the footy. He competed at the ground and he showed some of the things he can do on the footy field.”
Daw’s opportunity came because of an injury to forward Robbie Tarrant and both face fitness tests in the build-up to next Sunday’s clash with Hawthorn at the MCG.
Scott said Daw wanted to return to the game at three-quarter time.