WHEN Geelong's Michael Turner and Hawthorn's Kelvin Matthews rocked up to Millner Primary School in Darwin in 1977 to run a footy clinic, little could they have known the impact it would have on the future of the national game.

Sitting among the students that day was an impressionable 12-year-old named Michael McLean. 

The son of a crocodile-shooting Queensland father and Wuthathi woman from Thursday Island, McLean grew up in the Top End and was a star at whatever sport he turned his hand to.

He could box, winning all 11 of his amateur fights.

He was a rugby league gun, courted by the then Balmain Tigers as a teenager to head south and pursue the 13-a-side game in the NSWRL.

But after that school visit from Turner and Matthews, McLean's heart was with Australian football.

"[Turner and Matthews] were standing in front of me in their footy jumpers with runners and sunscreen. I just remember them talking about the 'three Ds' – discipline, dedication, desire – and it just stuck in my head," McLean told AFL.com.au, overlooking TIO Stadium.

"My nickname back then was 'Kundi' (given by his mother, of which he never asked why or what it meant).

"I remember walking home from the clinic picking up the blue stone pebbles off the road and kicking them and I was saying: "discipline, dedication, desire".

"My mates were laughing saying: 'Kundi, what are you doing?' I told them I was going to be a VFL star. They said I was dreaming."

In essence, McLean was dreaming. To that stage, Reuben Cooper, who played two games for South Melbourne in 1969, was the only Northern Territorian to have played in the VFL.

Players from the Territory usually went to South Australia or Western Australia to play in the warmer weather and on the more expansive grounds. It suited their playing style.

Colour television was relatively new, and watching The Winners became part of McLean's routine. There was something about the big, colourful crowds and the muddy ovals in Victoria that appealed, thus starting a journey that would result in 183 VFL/AFL games and an everlasting impact at two clubs.

Along with Maurice Rioli, who played for Richmond via South Fremantle, he was a trailblazer.

The man affectionately known as 'Magic' would perhaps have an even greater impact away from the field, playing a key role alongside his great mate Michael Long in establishing the AFL's racial and religious vilification code of conduct in 1995.

He is revered by Indigenous players around the country and still has a major influence on many today.

McLean is this year's Sir Doug Nicholls Round honouree, recognising an impact in the game that has extended well beyond 40 years, on and off the field.

After playing senior footy for Nightcliff in the NTFL as a 15-year-old, he made waves around the country with a runner-up finish at the national under-16 carnival and was selected as an All-Australian.

McLean got interest from everywhere. He spent 10 days at North Melbourne (who recruited Phil and Jim Krakouer instead, "not a bad call" McLean laughed), and also had nibbles from Essendon, Richmond and Carlton, along with offers from SANFL and WAFL clubs.

McLean's rugby league-loving father, Patrick, was hopeful his son would take up the offer from Balmain, but that ship had sailed, and it was Footscray that would sign the teenager via the old Form Four method used by VFL clubs to contract interstate players.

In Darwin, he was a self-professed "big fish in a small pond", and the move to Melbourne in 1981 at such a tender age would take him well out of his comfort zone.

He'd never met a Bulldogs official until he got off the plane at Tullamarine. Telegrams, faxes and phone calls was the way of the day.

"Melbourne was really daunting, to be fair," McLean recalled.

"It was the first time I'd been away from home for more than a week, and this was for real. 

"I've got two big suitcases, and this is actually happening. Reality hit me. I cried like a baby when they put me on the plane.

"I got to Melbourne and met the Bulldogs official, Gary Merrington, went to his house, met his wife and they put me in a bedroom. I said thank you, closed the door and cried.

"I cried a number of times on the phone to my girlfriend and my family. My brothers would encourage me to stay."

Making the adjustment more difficult was the fact Nightcliff wouldn't clear its young star to switch competitions. McLean sat out the first five rounds of 1982, unable to play as his home club sought financial compensation.

They'd end up getting $40,000 for his release.

"They said to my dad they'd build a grandstand in my name. I'm still waiting for it. It's never happened. I was very disappointed," McLean said.

"I was their first VFL player to come out of that program. I was really disappointed at the time. I'm still disappointed to this day. It was a promise that's never been honoured."

The adjustment was hard – really hard. McLean was adamant he was returning to Darwin, but his then partner, and now wife Linda, had other ideas.

She headed to Melbourne, at the age of 17, to live with an uncle in Ferntree Gully to support McLean. The young Bulldog would train at Footscray on Thursday night and then jump on a train and make the long journey to Melbourne's outer east.

They would then return to Punt Road, Glenferrie Oval, Windy Hill, or wherever the Dogs under-19s were playing on the Saturday to lace up the boots.

When McLean speaks of Linda, their children Mark, Gavin, Jamie and Haylee, and their seven – soon to be eight – grandchildren, there's a pride and emotion that surpasses anything he achieved with a Sherrin.

"My wife has been my rock. She had to leave home at a young age.

"It was a dream for me, and I chased it, I believed in it, I made sacrifices along the way and I achieved it, along with her.

"If it wasn't for Linda, I wouldn't have made it long-term.

"We had plenty of ups and downs and she stuck with me all the way.

"The money was terrible. You were doing it because you loved the game and were chasing a dream.

"My number one priority, and the thing I'm most proud of, is my kids and grandkids."

With his life settling down, McLean served his apprenticeship in the under-19s and reserves before debuting in the seniors midway through 1983.

It was early in his time at the Dogs that Doug Hawkins and Steven Knight gave him his iconic nickname.

"It's a great nickname. I spin out a little bit, and it's a bit surreal, when players I played against, and don't really know, call me 'Magic' and 'Mago'. It's pretty cool.

"It's a nice warm feeling when people run into you and say 'Magic'."

In McLean's ninth career game, he would play an opponent he'd been dreaming of facing for the previous seven years.

Playing on a wing, McLean was less interested in his direct opponent Robert 'Scratcher' Neal, and the fact the Dogs lost by 40 points to Geelong, than he was with seeking out the Cats' other winger – Michael Turner.

"As soon as the siren blew, I ran across as quick as I could and shook hands and said: 'Do you remember me?'

"He said: 'No, I don't young fella. Well played'.

"I said: 'You came to Darwin and took me for a coaching clinic when I was 12. I just wanted to thank you. You inspired me'. 

"He said: 'Yeah, I did go to Darwin. Wow, good luck with your career, young fella'. It made my day. I felt like I'd arrived."

McLean would return to Darwin during his off-seasons, and with an increasing profile around the competition, would start impacting those close to home.

Among those he would talk to was a young Andrew McLeod. 

The future Adelaide champion, Australian Football Hall of Famer and two-time Norm Smith Medal winner was also born in Darwin and a cousin to Linda.

"When I was 12 or 13, 'Mago' would be coming back from Dogs in the off-season and training a lot," McLeod recalled for AFL.com.au.

"I used to go around to my godmother's house, and I'd be sitting there, next to him, in awe, because I loved footy.

"He'd just come back from some crazy 15km run, and when I was that age, I couldn't comprehend that. I didn't ride my bike that far. He was a very well-tuned athlete.

"I spent a lot of time with him. He was keen to have a chat and share those experiences … for a kid that age it planted the seeds, to have those conversations.

"I still have those conversations with 'Mago'. Nothing's really changed."

McLeod was the first of a long line of Indigenous players that idolised McLean. Triple premiership Lion Darryl White was like a "little brother" to him.

It was his willingness to invest time in others that made him so special, McLeod said.

"I fell in love with him as a young lad and he was someone that was my footy idol from that point on.

"That's important for a kid in the Territory … someone that you could see, touch and feel and have that exposure to.

"It's something you never got as a kid from the Territory.

"'Mago', whether it was conscious or not, it's just the person he is, to give time to people, particularly young people who have aspirations.

"It's a real testament to the man he is."

McLean, with his chiselled physique that looked carved out of granite, would play 95 games for the Bulldogs before being delisted in 1990.

Six of those seasons were under Mick Malthouse, a man who taught him about "tough footy".

He may have been 'Magic' by name, but he was ruthless by nature, playing as a tagger and someone that ran through the midfield and on to a wing, with exquisite skills on both sides of his body and a thirst for the contest.

He was beautifully balanced and had a superb fend.

In his own words, the Dogs turned him from a boy into a man. He would be made a deputy vice-captain in 1989, but 12 months later with Terry Wheeler in charge would be moved on.

McLean's body was a mess, and although he understood the decision, it didn't make it any easier to handle.

"I love the club. I'll always love the club. They gave me the opportunity," he said.

"I still feel I'm a Doggie for life, along with Brisbane. I have no animosity towards the club. Being stuck on 95 games did shatter me though."

Still just 25, he felt he could mix it at the top level, so had to figure a path back.

McLean returned to Darwin and went about rehabilitating himself, playing another dozen games for Nightcliff and running out for the NT rep team against Hawthorn.

This was his chance to impress clubs again. He would dominate, named his team's best player, and would instantly get interest from 10 clubs ahead of the upcoming pre-season draft.

Malthouse effectively offered him a spot at his new club, West Coast, but McLean would then get a call from another man that would shape his life – Robert Walls.

Walls, in charge of the battling Brisbane Bears, who were based out of Carrara on the Gold Coast, set up a meeting.

McLean laid out some ground rules though. He told Walls he had a chronic ankle injury and although wouldn't be able to train like his teammates, was professional and would play good footy.

"He gave me trust, faith and opportunity. I love the man. If it wasn't for Robert Walls, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

It was a trust McLean would repay in spades. Dealing with a body that had 16 operations – six on his ankle, three on one knee, two on the other, two on his hand, two on his shoulder and finally one on his back that finished his career – he needed to train differently.

He would box and do underwater hypoxic swimming, to build aerobic endurance.

His teammates playfully named him 'Golden Boy' as he skipped Tuesday training and then took part in Thursdays only before playing at the weekend.

So unsure was McLean of his long-term future, he commuted from Darwin for the first five rounds of the 1991 season, flying in for main training and the weekend's game before heading back home.

He played his best football that year, winning the first of two best and fairests for the Bears and finishing fifth in the Brownlow Medal, despite his team winning just three games.

McLean said the support from the Bears' older brigade of Roger Merrett, John Gastev, Martin Leslie, Mark Zanotti and David Bain was invaluable. Early in his Bears career, the core of the eventual triple premiership team began to emerge with Michael Voss, Marcus Ashcroft, Justin Leppitsch, Jason Akermanis and Nigel Lappin.

He and Voss would become great mates, with the latter giving him a framed jumper on retirement that said: "You're the best footballer I've ever played with".

Another B&F in 1993, where he edged Nathan Buckley, and three years in the club's leadership group, would cement McLean as a fan favourite and ultimately put him into the club's Hall of Fame despite playing 'just' 88 games.

His playing impact at the Bulldogs and Bears was indisputable, but his biggest imprint was yet to come.

In 1995 when Michael Long called out Collingwood's Damian Monkhorst for a racial slur in the inaugural Anzac Day game, it was a watershed moment for the competition.

McLean had been dealing with the abuse since he headed to Melbourne as a teenager, both within his club and out on the field.

"They weren't nice times when I look back, but I got through it," he said. 

"I stood up for myself at a young age. My teammates sensed it. Guys like Steve Macpherson, Doug Hawkins, they supported me big time.

"The playing side, I copped it most weeks from opposition players, supporters. I was copping it from young people, which was sad.

"It made me angry and then when you reflect on it, really sad when you've got young people doing it.

"From the playing side of it, it was a bit of a nightmare."

Two weeks after Long had gone public with his complaint about Monkhorst, and the ensuing furore, McLean and his Bears faced Essendon at Princes Park.

At 30, McLean was the elder statesman of the AFL's Indigenous cohort and wanted to see how his friend was handling things.

"I'd got racially taunted by a supporter that day and I was horrified. All this media stuff had gone around, and you'd think people would be educated enough to know it's not on.

"I asked him how he was travelling and he said he was struggling and not happy.

"I told him to leave it with me."

It was then that McLean put his name to newspaper articles saying he'd start naming racist abusers publicly if the AFL didn't take the matter more seriously.

Long, who was six years his junior, had always admired McLean and watched his journey from Darwin to Melbourne. One of the greatest memories of Long's playing career came in 1988, before he played in the AFL, where he helped the Northern Territory win the Bicentennial Carnival in Adelaide.

Despite the help of his club Essendon, Long felt alone, and needed McLean's support.

"It wasn't the first time it happened," Long recalled.

"It was the most challenging time I've ever had, and against one of the biggest clubs. I had a lot of death threats.

"You believe in who you are and where you come from and I know where I come from and who I am and my beliefs.

"Mick stood up … I'll never forget what he did that day."

McLean, Long, Che Cockatoo-Collins and Gilbert McAdam met with AFL executive Tony Peek to thrash out the problems and solutions. It led to some "robust conversations".

"I wanted to do what Mick Long had done. He showed a lot of courage to do that, to say he wasn't happy with mediation and that we needed to do more," McLean said. 

"I admire him for that.

"I said to Tony Peek: 'you walk through those doors and get racially taunted by staff members, and they're out of a job. This is a human rights issue, and the playing field is our office'.

"About two weeks later we had a roundtable discussion with players from different multicultural backgrounds and to a person, they all expressed the same feelings.

"That's what opened the doors for the racial vilification code of conduct based on equality.

"That's something I'm really proud of. I'm proud of Longy for what he's done and I'm also proud I supported him.

"It's evolving in different areas, but it's so much better now. It's a lot safer space to showcase your talents. I feel good about the future."

With the new code in place and his career winding down, there would be one final unforgettable moment for McLean.

Coming off a 1996 campaign where the Bears had made a preliminary final, McLean would play the first – and his final – game for the merged Brisbane Lions.

Lining up against Adelaide at Football Park on March 30, 1997, there was a reason it would hold extra significance.

That day, he would play against McLeod, who was in his third season for the Crows and would later that year win the first of his two premierships and first of two Norm Smith Medals.

"It was special. Not many people get to do it, and I got to play on my footy idol. It was very humbling, for what he means to Territory footy," McLeod said.

"Michael McLean was a bloody good player and probably doesn't get the accolades he deserves.

"He led the charge for change. In terms of leadership and driving that, sometimes that gets forgotten about. He was foundational, an integral person in the movement for change.

"I can't talk more highly of someone in the role he's played, particularly for us Territory kids for being such a great role model.

"He's the mould of what you aspire to be, both on and off the field."

It was almost fitting that McLean's career would end on the field against someone that he inspired, 20 years after he himself had been shown the light by two men playing at the game's highest level.

"Mick was one of the trailblazers," Long said.

"I've got such high respect and regard for Mick, and I think that's the way of the Territory boys. We always punch above our weight in terms of players getting drafted to the AFL.

"He set the bar high. Someone had to break the ice and Mick and Maurice (Rioli) did it in different ways.

"Mick's paved the way for a lot of guys from the Territory. He's done it harder than anyone – to come from Darwin and make it in Melbourne, it wouldn't have been easy.

"What a wonderful story with what he's achieved in that time."

'Magic' would go on to coach for almost 20 years, and work extensively in youth diversion, at a youth drop-in centre and in school engagement programs.

He's currently a mentor in the talent pathways program for the under-16s and under-18s in the NT and a part of the national diversity program for males and females.

"I've always had a feel for people in terms of caring for them and supporting them along their journey.

If you can see it, you can believe it. Just as a young Michael McLean looked up to VFL stars Turner and Matthews with stars in his eyes, hundreds of teenagers in the Territory – and across the country – continue to do the same to the man they still call 'Magic'.