It doesn’t seem to matter which sport he plays, just put a ball in his hands and he’ll leave everyone else for dead.

The talented 14-year-old has just returned from Blacktown, Sydney, after he was handpicked to play in the NSW/ACT team in AFL’s Kickstart All Nations Championships.

But here’s the really amazing bit: until last week Oshay had never played a game of AFL in his life.

His first official match saw him representing the Gumbaynggirr nation in front of massive crowds in Sydney.

“In my first game I was a bit nervous because I didn’t even know if I could play, but I actually went alright – it’s not that hard,” he said.

Oshay caught the eye of selectors at the fourth annual Adam Goodes Talent Program in December last year.

Since 2014, the Adam Goodes Talent Program has given more than 100 Indigenous boys aged from 11 to 17 the opportunity to attend development camps on leadership, role modelling and AFL skills.

“He [Adam] did a day with us at the camp. He helped us train and we had a talk at night and he spoke to us about respect and racism,” Oshay said.

Other mentors also came in and talked to them about a range of issues from road safety to social media management to nutrition.

“They talked to us about what sort of food and drink we should eat before games to help us play better,” he said.

“Energy drinks are only good after games, and watermelon is bad for you because it brings your energy levels right up and then drops you again.”

Mum, Lydia Buchanan, said that it was at the regional tryouts for the U15 All Schools Touch Football Competition (which, by the way, he was also selected for) that she got the call saying he’d been selected for the Kickstart Championships.

“Charlee-Sue Frail (the Team Support Officer) called me and said that he’s just a natural, and all the selectors agreed,” she said.

Over 300 players from all the Australian states and territories attended the five day tournament at Blacktown International SportsPark between April 14-19.

Mum and Dad, Shane Tyerman, both made the pilgrimage down to watch Oshay play and to video his games.

“I was that happy. It was one of the proudest days of my life,” Lydia said.

“They got really beautiful jerseys and other stuff to wear, and all their stats were printed out; height, weight, nationality.

“He wasn’t allowed to sit with us at all, they were very official.

“But it was a good thing it was so strict – I wish they’d do that in Rugby League.” 

Oshay said, after games, all the players went to the pool for recovery and to watch their matches played back to them for a team review.

Then it was a one-on-one chat to find out how the players were going and to ascertain their personal goals.

“One of my aims was to kick a goal – so they put me in as forward in the semi-finals,” he said.

And, like the true natural he is, Oshay Tyerman got his goal against a venerable South Australian side. 

“Yeah, it felt really good to kick a goal,” he said.

But despite his AFL prowess, Oshay’s heart will always be in Rugby League – he’s got a dream to one day be a Bulldog.

Whatever code he chooses to play, one thing’s for sure, expect to see ‘Oshay Tyerman’ up in lights very soon.

Go Oshay!

Oshay and his family would like to thank Steven Grant, Bowraville Pharmacy, Bowraville RSL, and the Bowraville Lions Club for their financial support.