Brisbane great Justin Leppistch has revealed a personal insight into just how tough Kysaiah Pickett’s uncle Byron Pickett was in his time in the AFL.
Byron Pickett was one of the game’s best, playing over 200 games for North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, and Melbourne in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He finished his career with two premierships and a Norm Smith Medal for his performance in the 2004 Grand Final for Port Adelaide.
Off the back of former Melbourne strategy coach Craig Jennings declaring to SEN Crunchtime that Kysaiah Pickett was the player who would “hit you the hardest with a head of steam” in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final, Justin Leppistch gave an insight into how tough his uncle Byron Pickett was.
“It’s in (Kysaiah’s) blood, that’s for sure,” Leppitsch said.
“One day with Byron, because he’s a freak of nature, about 30 metres I was sprinting to chase my direct opponent, I was playing forward this day,” Leppitsch told SEN Crunchtime.
“He was in the way and sort of stood in my way, and I thought ‘I’m going to knock this guy over,’ he was only young in his first year Byron Pickett.
“I had a 30 metre head of steam, he just stood there like a stop sign, I hit him and I rattled for a good five minutes.
“It was literally like a truck hitting a wall, it was crazy how tough and big and solid his body was.”
The AFL Grand Final will be Kysaiah Pickett’s 39th AFL game, the 20-year old a potential game breaker for the Demons with his skills and breakaway speed.