Austin Wonaeamirri Biography

Melbourne coach Mark Neeld confirms that Austin Wonaeamirri will be delisted after the young forward spent most of 2011 injured and grieving over the loss of his father.

"You can read that when the list gets lodged this afternoon. Aussie won't be on that," Neeld said.

"I'm not certain if he'll get another go, that's hypothetical. In terms of whether it was a tough decision, to delist any player is a tough decision and you need to make sure you're doing the right thing."

After seven weeks home in the Tiwi Islands Austin Wonaeamirri has indicated he will return immediately to resume his footy career at the Demons.

"I think now he feels more comfortable representing his culture in Melbourne. I think that was tested when he lost his father and also Maurice afterwards. The thing Aussie does is he trains very hard anyway," Melbourne coach Dean Bailey said.

"He looked like he was in reasonable condition to be honest. Maybe he's done a little more training up there, he certainly didn't tell us he'd been doing a lot."

Austin Wonaeamirri is unlikely to play for Melbourne again this season after telling officials he would not be returning from the Tiwi Islands.

"We're 100 per cent supportive of that. Everyone knows Aussie lost his father earlier in the year. I lost my father as well, so I know exactly what he is going through," Melbourne football manager Chris Connolly said.

"It's a very, very difficult situation and AFL footy is difficult enough without those sort of challenges thrown at you."

Melbourne will try to convince forward Austin Wonaeamirri to return from a leave of absence when it visits Darwin this week when it faces the Power there.

"We'll catch up with Aussie and have a chat to him about how everything is going. We've been in constant contact with him and we get a chance to see him face-to-face this week," Bailey said.

"As the game has got closer I think he's finding the opportunity to come back and play AFL footy stronger and stronger. We need to get in front of him. He seems to be in a pretty good place so hopefully it's a good opportunity for us to convince him there is a really good opportunity for him back at Melbourne."

Austin Wonaeamirri is benefitting from time spent in his homeland of the Tiwi Islands and is expected to return to Melbourne soon.

"He caught two turtles and I think it was about 12 or 13 fish yesterday," Melbourne coach Dean Bailey said.

"He's having a good time. We'll see him back soon. I can't give you a definite date."

Melbourne forward Austin Wonaeamirri has returned home to the Tiwi Islands, after he was granted a leave of absence by Melbourne .

Melbourne is hopeful Colin Sylvia will recover from a broken jaw in time to play Collingwood.

"Col had a clean break, so it's been wired up and he'll return in about round two," Melbourne football operations manager Chris Connolly said of Sylvia.

"He stayed in hospital on Saturday night - he was operated first thing on Sunday - and was at our team meeting on Monday. We're hopeful for round two, but we'll just have to see how he goes with training."

The prognosis for injured forward Austin Wonaeamirri who has a hamstring injury is less certaini is less certain.

"He was having scans today (Monday), so we're not sure of the severity of the injury, but once that's worked out, we'll put the right programs in place and take a conservative approach with his injury," Connolly said.

Melbourne's Austin Wonaeamirri says he was castigated by teammates for coming into pre-season training overweight but says he has gotten his weight under control now.

"We all make mistakes, so I put my head down and bum up and worked really hard," he said.

"I became strict with my diet and from that day I thought to myself, 'Why did I come back this heavy, when last year I was trim and fit?' But then I got my skinfolds down pretty quick."

Austin Wonaeamirri faces another month before he can re-join full training with the Demons after injuring his hamstring.

"It was really unfortunate for Ozzie, because he was training well," Melbourne coach Dean Bailey said.

"He'll rehab and get up and get going, running and striding again in the middle of January. It's a hiccup but I expect him to be OK."

Melbourne says forward Austin Wonaeamirri will recover from a hamstring injury in time for the 2010 season.

"Although it's a setback - on the back of a really tough year last season - and it's not ideal, we've been told that if he does the right rehab, he'll recover 100 per cent," Melbourne assistant coach Josh Mahoney said.

"He'll be right to go for the season, so there are no problems there."

Melbourne has lost John Meesen for the year to a foot stress fracture while Austin Wonaeamirri requires knee surgery which will keep him out for six weeks.

Melbourne forward Austin Wonaeamirri will be sidelined for another month after suffering a setback during his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury originally sustained on February 21.

His latest hamstring injury came during a training session last week.

Exciting Demon Austin Wonaeamirri sheds a few kilos and his shy, retiring nature.