Melbourne superstar Kysaiah Pickett is maintaining his electric AFL form despite living almost 4000 kilometres away from his two-year-old daughter. Following a relationship breakdown earlier this year, the mother of Pickett’s child moved back to Darwin to be close to her family, where she now lives with their daughter, Bellany.
Club support key to success
Melbourne have allowed Pickett to travel to the Top End three times in-season since then, trusting that it won’t affect his All-Australian-level form. And the Demons talisman has repaid them in spades, having won best on ground awards for the Anzac Day eve clash with Richmond and Monday’s King’s Birthday blockbuster with Collingwood, both on the back of trips to Darwin. Pickett returned home from his latest trip on Friday morning and produced a 28-disposal, three-goal game, including the match-winner, to sink the Pies on Monday.
“I was there last week to see my baby girl,” Pickett told The Agenda Setters after the game. “The club allows me to have a little bit of freedom. I just thank them to be able to fill my cup up.”
Fatherhood fuels performance
The 25-year-old said seeing his daughter gives him a shot of energy every time, stressing how grateful he is to the Demons for allowing him to do it. “Yeah, definitely. I get to spend time with my little girl,” Pickett said. “That’s just them trusting me and letting me be able to be myself.”
The Demons will be sweating on their superstar this week though, with Pickett set to come under video scrutiny for a potential trip on Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard. The Magpies hard man fell in the incident and dislocated his shoulder for the second time on Monday. That forced Maynard out of the game.
