Place Player Profile - Meet Sunday "Sunny" Majok Aneet
Andrew Thomson
You can blame Western Magpies Senior Coach, Glenn Humphrey for the nickname bestowed on "Sunny" Aneet. We can all see he is a happy bloke with a ready smile and obviously loves his footy and he bursts through the middle of the ground at lightning speed, but you see his proper first name is Sunday.
In typical Aussie manner, this was soon shortened to "Sundy" by the Senior Coach, and then it was a natural progression to "Sunny", and we were off and running (quite literally!).
Sunday Majok Aneet, now 21 years old, has had an interesting journey before arriving at the Western Magpies this season to light up the wing with his blistering pace.
Sunny was born in South Sudan in Africa which has been in a civil war for the past 15-20 years. He and his family escaped to Kenya when he was 7 years old where they lived in a refugee camp for 3 years until his family were able to be re-settled in Australia in 2004.
The family settled in Toowoomba where there is a reasonably sized Sudanese community. Sunny attended school and won a scholarship to Downlands College where he excelled at Rugby and Basketball. He also played Rugby League locally.
However he admits he was a troubled youth trying to find his way in a new country and at times found it difficult to fit in and was not sure where he belonged. As a result he found himself in trouble at school quite often.
His family decided he needed to be out of Toowoomba and sent him to live with an uncle in Melbourne and he was drawn to Australian Rules and went to play with North Footscray in the Western Football League. He picked up the skills of the game quickly to become a good player and drew the attention of the Western Jets Under 18 TAC Cup recruiters and he joined the Jets in 2011. The TAC Cup is the finishing school for talented young Australian Rules players in Victoria and the Queensland Under 18 team often play against TAC cup sides in the lead up to the national Under 18 championships.
Sunny then graduated to the Werribee VFL squad in 2012 and played reserves football there (called the Development League) when not selected in the TAC Cup team.
He did the pre-season with Werribee in 2013 and was rookie-listed but due to family reasons decided to return to Queensland just in time for the start of the 2013 season.
He joined Mt Gravatt, then in the NEAFL, in 2013 and played with them last year on their return to the QAFL.
He was looking for a change in 2015 so left Mt Gravatt and joined the Western Magpies and has been one of the finds of the season, adding pace and carry to the Pies midfield mix. He has been one of the reasons the Magpies are pushing for a top three finish this season in the QAFL, a marked improvement on the 2014 season.
Sunny comes from a non-Australian background and has trod an unusual path than most AFL players but has embraced the Australian game and has been a welcome addition to the Western Magpies ranks this year.
Why Sunday — you may have to ask him that yourself.
Place Profile - brought to you by 2015 Major Sponsor - Place Graceville
The fantastic team at Place have recently signed on for the 2015-2017 seasons as one of our valued club partners and sponsors, and as much as the club appreciates their support - Place will appreciate the club support in return. So for all your real estate needs, make sure Place are your one stop shop.
As an added bonus, Place will be providing further financial support to the club for every new listing - so make sure you tell them you're from the Western Magpies Community when you talk to them and support those that support you!