The announcement that Dogs defender Buku Khamis will play his first game on Sunday has prompted an outpouring of joy from the club and the football community.
The 21-year-old was on Thursday selected as the Dogs’ fourth debutant for the season, and the first from their Next Generation Academy.
A handful of the people who know Khamis best have opened up on his long and unlikely journey to his first AFL game.
“A couple of years ago… you were a million to one to play your first game,” a teary Luke Beveridge told Khamis in front of the players.
“When we came back from the hiatus and had the first session here, you were two million to one to make your debut… you just were a bit behind mate.
“To do what you’ve done… you’ve taught us all a lesson, you have to keep investing in your people and see it through.”
Born in South Sudan, Khamis came to Australia in 2006 via a refugee camp in Kenya and settled in Melbourne’s west.
He was first spotted as an 11-year-old by Charles Grech, then coaching St Albans in the Western Region Football League.
“We saw straight away 'Buuks' was special,” Grech told SEN’s The Captain’s Run on Friday.
“He needed a bit of a hand to get to and from training. I reached out because I thought this kid deserves a chance like everyone else to have a kick, basically.
“(Partner) Kelly and I decided we could help him, so let’s start off by giving him a lift to training, and the relationship grew from there.”
Grech and his partner practically adopted Khamis from there, even taking him on family holidays.
“We just fell in love with him,” Grech said.
“We make it clear Buuks has his biological family as much as us, and I’ll say to Buuks sometimes he’s unlucky, he’s got two families to deal with.”
It was with the support of his second family that Khamis found his voice in his new surrounds.
“Buuks was very shy, walking into the room he wouldn’t really engage with a lot of people,” Grech remembered.
“Kelly has been huge for him, she taught him to walk into a room and say hi and goodbye. He took to that pretty well.
“Everything that has come his way, he’s always been appreciative of it all, and to be honest at the start he had nothing.
"I’m very proud of him.”
Grech echoed Beveridge’s sentiment that Khamis had to find another gear to build the stamina demanded of players at the elite level.
“At the start, his first training session, you could see the raw ability,” Grech recalled.
“The biggest knock on Buuks back in the day, and it carried over to the Bulldogs and it’s what he had to switch on to get right, was his endurance.
“He just wasn’t a good runner. He’ll probably kill me for saying it, but he couldn’t finish a lap. He did everything else right.”
Dogs defender Bailey Dale says there were signs Khamis was close in the pre-season, when he came on for a quarter and a half as a key defender against the Demons.
“Playing against Melbourne in that practice game at the start of the year gave him a bit of confidence that he could play at the level,” he told SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“I’m so excited for him, I reckon he’s going to kill it out there. I can’t wait to see him take some good clunks and use the ball well.”
Caleb Daniel later enthused about the “high flying rebound defender” he’ll line up with on Saturday afternoon as Beveridge tinkers with the line.
“(He’s) really come into his own this year,” Daniel told SEN Breakfast.
“It’s a really, really special story to come from where he’s come from when he was first drafted.
“He had a pretty low fitness base, and he’s done all the right things to get himself fit enough to play AFL footy.”
Daniel passed on a tip that he received from a former Dogs captain, from when he made his debut in red, white and blue in 2015.
“Just take it all in and enjoy the moment, as Bob Murphy told me,” Daniel explained.
“You’re allowed to have a smile and enjoy the time, you’re in the team for a reason. You’ve got your qualities, just bring them to the fore and you’ll do well.”
Khamis and the Bulldogs will look to resume winning ways when they host Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon.