It's a draft choc-full of family connections. There are father-son prospects Jack Silvagni and Bailey Rice. There's Sam Weideman, grandson of Collingwood premiership captain Murray Weideman. Josh Schache, tipped to head to the Brisbane Lions at pick two, is set to follow the path of his late father, Brisbane Bears player Laurence.

There are Warragul twins Harry and Ben McKay, both of whom are likely to be packing their bags for the big smoke soon. And then there's Sudan-born Mabior Chol. He's got quite the family story to tell as well, even if there are no former AFL players in the Chol household.

His parents "don't really understand footy". That's understandable. The Chols – Mabior, his parents, and five younger siblings – fled war-torn South Sudan more than a decade ago. They moved to Egypt, but there was little improvement in their quality of life.

"All I can remember is just racism coming towards the darker-skinned people," Chol says. "It was quite tough for my family and me."

That wasn't even the half of it. The threat was not only verbal. "My younger brother at one stage nearly got kidnapped. It was ridiculous.

"It was just on the street. We were out having fun and some random bloke came and just tried to take him. I rushed inside and called my mum. Lucky enough they came out really quick before anything happened."

In 2005 the family moved to Brisbane. Reassuringly, Chol says the discrimination has not been an issue in Australia. In many respects, he is just a normal teenage boy.

He likes to hang with mates, watch action movies, and go to parties. He's a big soccer fan, Arsenal in particular, having played the sport previously. He doesn't disagree that he is a pretty fair player and can more than hold his own on the basketball court.

He's a car buff as well, and after school he wants to do an automotive apprenticeship.

But family remains central to Chol's existence, even as a prospective AFL star.

"Having to be the oldest is a huge responsibility. We're definitely close. We live all together with mum and dad."

The closeness and pride of his family explains some of the issues Chol has endured this year, and makes the fact that he has pressed towards a berth in AFL even more remarkable.

Queensland academy coach Adrian Fletcher wondered why Chol hadn't been as diligent as other state squad members in attending training sessions. He found out there was a very good answer.

"They work at night time so it does make it difficult," Fletcher says. "He has responsibilities outside of school hours.

"They're a very proud nationality, so they don't tell you until you find out that he's actually doing something for his family. He couldn't get to training because he didn't have somebody to take him."

But once the problem had been identified, the solution was relatively straightforward. "Once we put those things in place to support him in those areas, he's been very professional. He hasn't let us down at all in Queensland.

"We made sure we always had someone to get him if he couldn't get to a game down the coast. Those things you don't take into account because normally your parents are going to take you there. Once the alarm bells were there, we implemented strategies to make sure we could support him."

With that support, Chol has thrived. He was part of the Allies team that played the curtain raiser at the MCG on grand final day.

"The day before the game I was really nervous about it," Chol recalls.

"Having to play where all recruiters are, the most important game probably this year turned out to be a really good game for me. I just couldn't believe it."

But things went well. "It was just an unreal experience to be honest. I loved every moment of it. It's a dream come true to play on the MCG and I always wanted to play there. I loved and it, and am hoping this is just the beginning."

He's a big-game player, too. Asked to nominate his best showings, Chol picks a trial game against Vic Country, an Under-18 championships match against NSW/ACT, and most notably the MCG match.

He's been part of the Hyundai Help For Kids Lions Academy this year, an experience that has included a pair of games for the Lions reserves, playing with the likes of Brent Staker, Trent West and Mitch Golby, all of whom Chol nominates as role models.

Yet for all that, he still can't shrug his support for Sydney, due in no small part to his football idol Adam Goodes. Having experienced racism in Egypt, Chol calls what Goodes went through this year as "disgusting".

"There are people out there you can't really help and can't get along with."

But thankfully there are some positive parallels with Goodes as well. For all he endured in what was in many respects a horrific year, the dual Brownlow medallist emerged with his credibility as a leader entrenched. Fletcher says there's some of that in Chol, too.

"He was actually a leader," Fletcher says. "We'd go to Melbourne and he'd be our best player. Out of his comfort zone. So that's a very good thing to have as a player.

"I think we haven't seen the best of Mabs. He's got it all. He can jump, he's quite aggressive when he's in the game.

"He's cat-like at ground level and he's a beautiful raking left-foot. And he can mark it above his head, he can play in a number of positions. He can play centre-half back, he can play in the ruck, he can play in the forward line.

"I hope that some club sees what I see in him. He's a good guy. He's one of the good guys."