Heritier Lumumba

Heritier Lumumba
Lumumba at training in July 2015
Personal information
Nickname(s) Harry, H, Tier[1]
Date of birth (1986-11-15) 15 November 1986
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Original team(s) Claremont Football Club (WAFL)
Draft No. 20, 2005 rookie draft
Debut Round 18, 2005, Collingwood
vs. Fremantle, at MCG
Height 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2005–2014 Collingwood 199 (28)
2015–2016 Melbourne 024 0(2)
Total 223 (30)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2016.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Heritier Lumumba (born 15 November 1986) (formerly known as Harry O'Brien[1]) is a Brazilian-born Australian former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Since his debut in 2005, he achieved All-Australian honours and won an AFL premiership, playing mostly as a half back. He is the first Brazilian-born player who played an AFL match.[2]

Playing career

Collingwood

Lumumba in 2012

The 188 cm Lumumba played most of his football as a medium defender.[2] He was picked up with pick 21 in the 2004 AFL Rookie Draft by Collingwood, and made his debut in Round 18 of 2005 against Fremantle at the MCG. He kicked a goal against the Kangaroos shortly after his debut, and did enough to be retained on the rookie list. In 2006 Harry showed more improvement and was elevated to the senior list again during the year, this time due to the absence of Sean Rusling, playing a total of 9 games.

Coach Mick Malthouse at one point in an interview challenged the AFL's rules on rookies in response to not being able to permanently play Lumumba in the seniors on the basis of his excellent form.[3]

He was elevated to the senior list for season 2007. In 2008, he came 5th in the Copeland Trophy count, Collingwood's best and fairest.[4] In 2009, he came 4th in the Copeland Trophy.

He played in numbers 43, 30 and his final number 8. In 2010 he won All-Australian honours playing off the half-back flank. He was instrumental in Collingwood's 2010 grand final replay win over St Kilda and kicked a long goal from the boundary line late in the game.

Melbourne

On 15 October 2014, after issues with the club and management, Lumumba and Collingwood agreed to part ways and he joined the Melbourne Football Club in a three-club deal with Mitch Clark going to Geelong and Travis Varcoe joining Collingwood.[5]

Lumumba made his Melbourne debut in round 1, 2015, against Gold Coast, in what was also his 200th AFL game. He kicked a goal in a 26-point win for his new club.[6]

Lumumba missed the round one match against Greater Western Sydney in 2016, before playing the next five matches; he missed the remainder of the season after suffering from concussion symptoms.[7] Despite being cleared to train by Melbourne doctors, he did not return to pre-season training in November citing lingering concussion symptoms,[8] and he subsequently retired from AFL football in December.[9]

Personal life

He was born to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father in Rio de Janeiro, and moved to Western Australia when he was 3 years old.[10] However he was raised by his Australian stepfather and was 19 years old when he found out about his biological father.[11] He supported the Essendon Bombers as a child, with his family owning a pet dog named Sheedy after the long-time Essendon coach, Kevin Sheedy.

He went to school at Rossmoyne Primary from 1994–99, and also went to Rossmoyne Senior High School.

Lumumba changed his name to Harry O'Brien when he was 9 years old, taking an anglicised Christian name and the O'Brien surname of his step-father. In December 2013, he decided to change his name back and officially be named "Heritier Lumumba" in recognition of his father's family name and his paternal Congolese heritage.[1][12]

In 2017, the documentary Fair Game was released about Heritier's life, and experience of racism while playing professional football. He called the culture at Collingwood a “boys’ club for racist and sexist jokes”[13] and stated his team mates nicknamed him 'chimp', a term with a strong history of connotations as a racial slur against Black people[14].

Statistics

Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2005 Collingwood 43411221638870.30.35.54.09.52.01.8
2006 Collingwood 4390051439425120.00.05.74.810.42.81.3
2007 Collingwood 3023011539324674570.00.06.74.010.73.22.5
2008 Collingwood 82421189140329106450.10.07.95.813.74.41.9
2009 Collingwood 82550230172402106450.20.09.26.916.14.21.8
2010 Collingwood 8266426414240699620.20.210.25.515.63.82.4
2011 Collingwood 82412245176421110430.00.110.27.317.54.61.8
2012 Collingwood 8243223914638594580.10.110.06.116.03.92.4
2013 Collingwood 819710263161424105470.40.513.88.522.35.52.5
2014 Collingwood 8213522219842082550.10.210.69.420.03.92.6
2015 Melbourne 8192114312727061610.10.17.56.714.23.23.2
2016 Melbourne 85004145862180.00.08.29.017.24.21.6
Career 223 30 27 2062 1459 3521 891 500 0.1 0.1 9.3 6.5 15.8 4.0 2.2

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 Niall, Jake (6 December 2013). "Harry O'Brien no longer: Magpie to change surname to Lumumba". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 Walsh, Courtney (31 May 2008). "Magpies Harry O'Brien defender a leader in the making". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  3. ↑ Boulton, Martin (11 May 2006). "Give rookies a better go: Pies". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  4. ↑ Lane, Samantha; Gleeson, Michael (4 October 2008). "Swan named Magpies' best". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  5. ↑ Ryan, Peter (15 October 2014). "Clark a Cat, three-way deal sees Varcoe join Magpies". AFL.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Burgan, Matt (4 April 2015). "Lumumba cherishes win in 200th". MelbourneFC.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Raplh, Jon (6 November 2016). "Heritier Lumumba ready to return for Melbourne in 2017 after concussion ruined 2016". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Ryan, Peter (21 November 2016). "Lumumba still not training as concussion lingers". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Warner, Michael (21 December 2016). "Heritier Lumumba retires from AFL following medical advice over concussion issues". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  10. ↑ Gleeson, Michael (12 February 2008). "African journey helps O'Brien". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
  11. ↑ Warner, Michael (11 March 2009). "Pies confirm tragic loss". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 23 August 2009.
  12. ↑ Rielly, Stephen (6 December 2013). "Harry reclaims his birth name: Heritier Lumumba". Collingwoodfc.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Lumumba slams Pies as 'racist, sexist boys' club'". The West Australian. 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  14. ↑ "Heritier Lumumba Collingwood, documentary, Eddie McGuire, Nathan Buckley". Fox Sports. 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
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