Mykelti Lefau, The Kiwi Bloke Carving Up In The AFL

Mykelti Lefau, Remember the name.

For most Kiwi's the name would be unfamiliar, however across Australia especially within Victorian suburbs Mykelti Lefau is about to be a household name.

The 25 year old is currently playing for the Richmond Tigers in the AFL and after debuting for the club in April, he has played 6 games and received the man of the match award in a remarkable 2 out of those 6 games.

Mykelti was born in New Zealand with Samoan descent and moved to Australia at the age of 13 in hopes of pursuing a Rugby or League career. This progressed into a development junior contract with the Melbourne Storm in the NRL and he represented the club in under 16 and 18 grades.

Whilst training for the storm, Mykelti picked up the game of AFL and played for local melbourne club St. Kilda City on Sunday's where he was a standout player even scoring 25 individual goals in one club game...

Joining the Richmond VFL program in 2022 he had his season cut short when he ruptured his ACL, ruling him out of the game for over a year, making his eventual return to play for the Richmond VFL side in June 2023. From there he was a regular starter for the side and one of their top performers, earning him opportunity to train alongside the AFL squad over the summer with a chance to fill their remaining spot on their squad for 2024.

Mykelti isn't even listed in the clubs 2024 guide, it was a rapid surge of injuries throughout the Richmond club which lead to his debut in round 2 and he has relished his opportunity since.

In an interview on Melbourne's Triple M Rush hour, the Kiwi explained how he had to ask for a remarkable 175 tickets for his family and friends watch him debut at the MCG, the hosts were certain this has to be an AFL record.

Other Great New Zealander's across the years who have starred in the competition include, Simon Black whose father was a Kiwi (322 Games), Dusty Martin whose father was a Kiwi (324 games and the Brownlow medal), Wayne Schwazz (282 games) and Max Gawn the captain of Melbourne FC currently who was raised in Greymouth, won a title and played 191 games so far.

If you're keen to play AFL in NZ, there are a handful of teams in the Christchurch and Auckland areas (the Auckland league is dominated mainly by the Uni Blues club) and Wellington and Dunedin also have teams. Head to AFLNZ on social media to find out where you can join a club.

We wish Mykelti best of luck for the rest of your career in footy, you Great NZ'er!