Connor Idun grew up near Geelong, barracked for the Cats and, if not for a ruling by the AFL on his African-English family heritage, would likely have been yet another local gun in the horizontal blue and white stripes.
Idun, a running defender with surprising height (193 centimetres), gained notoriety over two newsworthy happenings.
GWS star Connor Idun wants to repay the faith the Giants have shown in him.Credit: Getty Images
The first was the Giants’ “wacky Wednesday” end-of-season party that careened out of hand, in which he was dressed as Django from the Tarantino movie Django Unchained while teammate Lachie Whitfield led Idun around, as if he was chattel (Django is a slave in the film).
In a rare example of a player overturning (proposed) AFL sanctions for behavioural misdeeds, Idun successfully argued, as a man of colour, that his Django portrayal carried a different meaning to the one that the AFL found (racially) offensive. He was fined, though, as a member of the leadership group.
The second event that caught the footy public’s attention was Idun’s huge contract, as he signed a six-year extension that tied him to the Giants until the end of 2032.
The 24-year-old is one of seven players in the whole AFL contracted to at least 2032 – Max King, Noah Balta, Aaron Naughton, Connor Rozee and Idun’s teammate Sam Taylor are the only others signed to 2032. Fremantle’s Hayden Young is the sole player contracted for longer (2033).
Idun exchanges words with Tom Papley during the first half of their qualifying final last year.Credit: Getty Images
“[I] grew up following the Cats,” said Idun, who was born in England to an English dad with a Ghanaian background, and an Anglo-Aussie mother, but raised mainly in Drysdale near Geelong.
“But you know, they had the chance to draft me when I was 18, and they didn’t,” Idun said of the Cats, who “had a few picks where they could have got me, but they didn’t.
“So the rest is history.”
So, before signing that super-long contract, Idun did not speak to or explore the option of Geelong, who had form in persuading “local” players – Jeremy Cameron and Tanner Bruhn – to leave GWS.
Geelong had spoken to a teenage Idun as a prospective NGA recruit, under the system that gives clubs first dibs on zoned Indigenous or multicultural background players. Idun suggested that it was his father’s designation as English that took him out of NGA calculations.
Jeremy Cameron made a high-profile switch from the Giants to the Cats.Credit: Getty Images
“They were trying to get me into the next gen [Next Generation] academy but that fell through,” he said.
“There’s complications behind it. I think my dad wasn’t born in Ghana, so it didn’t quite go through. He was born in England, not Ghana. So something like that.”
Would he otherwise be a Cat? “Yeah, you never know, but it’s all worked out perfectly.”
Idun said he was indebted to the Giants.
“Loyalty is ingrained in me, so for the club to take a chance on me when I was 18 and wasn’t much of a person-slash-player, and then I felt like they’ve built me into what I am today. It’s up to me to repay them. And the thought of leaving makes me feel sick, to be honest.”
The Giants also batted hard for Idun when he was slated for suspension for the Django Unchained skit.
“Obviously, we never intended to sort of affect anyone like we did,” Idun said of the party, which took place at a Sydney pub and featured an offensive skit in which a naked player, Josh Fahey, portrayed Jarryd Hayne, the former NRL player accused of rape, with a blow-up doll.
“And we regret that sadly, and we apologise, but, you know, we’re going to learn from and be better for it.”
Fahey accepted a four-match ban.
Hayne was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent following an incident involving a 26-year-old woman in her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL grand final.
He was found guilty twice following two trials, only for his convictions to be overturned on appeal.
Idun would not comment on what transpired in his portrayal of Django. The AFL, which offered a two-match ban, was compelled to have senior executives watch some of the relevant Tarantino movie, in a case that contained unusual complexities. One was that Idun was comfortable with the skit’s content.
Exciting Magpie Isaac Quaynor, like Idun, has Ghanaian heritage.Credit: Getty Images
Idun has been exploring his Ghanaian heritage recently – he’s been in touch with several others at other clubs who have that background, such as Collingwood’s Isaac Quaynor, Sydney’s Joel Amartey and Fremantle’s Brandon Walker.
“I didn’t really give it much respect, and sort of, you know, just said I was English and Aussie, and sort of neglected it a bit,” Idun said.
Lately, his awareness had been raised. “Being proud of where you come from, your heritage, and sort of, last four or five years – I’ve really bought into that.”
His England-based father came out to Australia and met with Connor for the first time in around 10 years, in what he acknowledged was an emotional encounter.
“Dad came over last year for the first time I’ve seen him in probably 10 years, which is good to reignite the relationship with him and my older brother.”
The re-connection with his dad was the subject of a brief Roaming Brian (commentator Brian Taylor’s) segment in a Seven broadcast.
“Yeah, [it was] definitely emotional, I sort of didn’t know how to feel,” Idun said of meeting his father. “I saw him after a game straight away, and I had … Channel Seven in my face with Roaming Brian, so I was a bit sort of taken aback.
“But yeah, it sort of, I felt like I was meeting a stranger again, to be honest. Like, [I] didn’t know how to feel, but yeah, spent a couple of weeks with him, and he was really nice in the end.”
Idun has an older half-brother in the UK on his dad’s side, and an 18-year-old brother in Victoria with his mum.
Idun’s father remains in the UK.
“So he’s going to try and get over every year or so and watch some games, but that’s always hard,” Idun said.
On Sunday, Idun will confront ex-teammate Harry Perryman as a Collingwood opponent.
“[I’m] good mates with Pez, so it’s going to be a bit weird,” he said.
“But as soon as you cross that line, I know he’s got white-line fever and so do I. We won’t be mates, and I’m sure the other 22 out on our team won’t give him too much respect.”
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