KALKARINDJI is nearly 800km south of Darwin, closer to Broome than Alice Springs, but still more than 12 hours away from both. The remote Northern Territory community is home to 600 residents and has never produced an AFL player, but that could change by the end of this month.
Sonny Smiler is in the hunt to be the first member of the Gurindji people to make it that far if a club picks him at the 2026 Telstra AFL Draft, Rookie Draft or via the League's introduction of an additional Category B rookie spot for an Indigenous player in 2027.
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"It would mean a lot to them because they're all super proud and all behind me," Smiler told AFL.com.au at the Draft Combine as rain pelted down outside the MCG at the start of October.
"If I got picked up at draft night that would mean so much to my family, especially my mum – she'd be happier than me, I'd say, because she's my biggest support that I had throughout my journey.
"She's been the number one supporter driving me everywhere. I had a couple games that I needed to play in back home, so we'd just travel up eight-and-a-half hours play and then travel back [to Darwin]. So it would be awesome to just get picked up by a team for me and my community."
Smiler enhanced his status in the draft pool with strong testing in front of recruiters at the Combine. He ran the second-fastest 20m sprint at 2.868 seconds, which included the third-fastest 10m split time of 1.720. He has speed to burn.
And hops. He finished 10th in the running vertical jump, recording an effort of 86cm. He also has a decent tank, which has won him underage cross country races, recording a 6:42 2km time trial in wet and windy conditions on the day we chat inside the Betty Cuthbert Bar at the MCG.
But if a club picks him in the coming weeks, Smiler still won't be the most recognised member of his community or family. Not yet. That title belongs to his famous great-grandfather, Vincent Lingiari, who instigated the Wave Hill Walk-Off in 1966, where Gurindji stockmen and their families walked off in protest of poor wages and working conditions.
That led to the Whitlam Government awarding the land to the Gurindji people and sparked the modern Australian Aboriginal land rights movement. That historically significant moment when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured soil into Lingiari's palm in 1975. Smiler never met him his great-grandfather but has grown up listening to the stories that shaped his community.
"I never met him, but I've heard stories. His mob are from the WA border, which makes it my mob as well, I'd say. He moved to Kalkarindji because I've heard stories he was looking for someone to marry, you know, he was looking for love. And he found someone," Smiler said.
"He did make a big impact, yeah he did, didn't he? And then he helped the people out too, just walked off, which was pretty big.
"Now that I'm growing up, I just want to hear more stories about the old days because it sounds good, impressive, you know?"
Smiler started this year playing in the NTFL for Wanderers at senior, reserves and under-17.5 level. He got the call-up to play for the AFL Academy against the VFL in April, played in the Talent League for the Northern Territory – and a game for the Bendigo Pioneers in August – before representing the Allies in the under-18 national championships.
His backflip celebrations have gone viral on social media. Something he started practicing a long time ago. Something that will appeal to fans across the land, no matter where he lands.
"I started at seven on a trampoline. I got better, did more and more. But then I just started doing it on the ground, which was fun," he said with a grin, without wanting to elaborate too much. Actions speak louder than words.
Football has taken him everywhere. Even from a young age, Smiler experienced life away from home. He moved to Melbourne at 12 and spent two years there, starting at the Indigenous Transition School based out of Richmond Football Club, then spent a year at Brighton Grammar in the same year level as top-five prospect Arki Butler.
Now Smiler has just finished boarding school at Haileybury College's Darwin campus. Those experiences, a long way from home, have helped him prepare him for life after school, no matter where this life takes him next.
"It will definitely help. Just the resources what it gives. There is just plenty more stuff to do in the cities, you know?" he said.
"I just wanted to experience new things just in case, like stuff like this happens, so I'd be used to it already. That made me experience what the weather would be like down here and the environment."
Smiler wants to make a name for himself in this game to help inspire the next generation of kids from not just his community, but across the Northern Territory.
"I'm just trying to maybe create like a legacy for myself if I can and maybe pass that down. That's what I want to try and do as well, just be a leader even when I'm back home. Maybe teach some of the younger boys what they need to know about footy and all that, especially advice about life as well."
Like all draft prospects, Smiler represents more than himself. But if he is picked in November – or across the summer under Cat B rules – it will hold extra significance for a town in central Australia known best for what his great-grandfather achieved 60 years ago.
