Explosive. Physical. Tough. Talented.

Uncompromising in the way he went about it, Byron Pickett is an old-school North Melbourne fan favourite.

A proud Nyoongar man, Pickett played 204 games in the AFL, featuring for the Kangaroos, Port Adelaide and Melbourne before hanging up the boots at the end of the 2007 season.

He retired as a two-time premiership player - first with the Roos in 1999, then with Port Adelaide in 2004. He was a Rising Star winner, a Norm Smith Medallist, an All-Australian, and a member of the Indigenous Team of the Century.

Yet his storied career nearly never began.

Having relocated with his family from their home state of Western Australia to South Australia, Pickett was playing for Port Adelaide's reserves side as a teenager in the mid-'90s, but it wasn't happening for him.

Pickett found himself struggling to get a game.

Feeling despondent, he spoke to his mum about quitting Alberton to head back to the family's home base of Port Lincoln.

"We sat down at the dinner table and had a yarn about the footy and the travelling," Pickett told NMFC Media.

"I mentioned that nothing was happening. I wasn't getting any reserves games.

"There was only a month (of the season) left, so she said to just play the last three or four games of the year, finish it off, and then we can go back."

Arriving home one night soon afterwards, he found an Essendon FC card under his door. A day later, there was one from North Melbourne.

Both clubs were interested in drafting the talented teen.

"I didn't really plan on wanting to play in the AFL, but the opportunity came up ... and the rest is history," he said.

"It was luck of the draw, I suppose."

Having been overlooked by the Bombers with their eight selections in the 1996 draft, Pickett became a Kangaroo at pick No.67, joining a list boasting the likes of Wayne Carey, Anthony Stevens and Glenn Archer.

Though his drafting had hardly been luck, Pickett himself was a raw prospect. In his rookie season of 1997, he managed just one game.

"The first year was obviously going to be a challenge but North Melbourne made me feel a lot more comfortable and welcome," he said.

"Archie (Glenn Archer), Mick Martyn, 'Stevo' (Anthony Stevens), all of those guys made me feel welcome.

"It was just how the club was back then."

"I stayed with a couple of other draftees [in my first year]. A big city like Melbourne was a challenge in itself but by 1999 I had my own house, and the family were coming over."

After a solitary appearance in '97, Pickett exploded in '98, playing 25 matches on his way to claiming the Rising Star award.

So, what allowed him to reach new heights so quickly? The arrival of flying forward Winston Abraham.

"That year, 1998, we ended up getting Winny Abraham from Fremantle. He'd obviously been in the game for a little bit longer than what I was at that stage," Pickett said.

"I loved that he was there when I need a little bit of support.

"He always guided me when I went to him in my second year. He helped me come out of my shell.

"I felt more comfortable with him being an older player. He was like a bigger brother at the club [for me]. Still to this day, he's like a big brother."

Playing under master coach Denis Pagan, Pickett swiftly became a cult figure in a champion Kangaroos team that had already secured the 1996 AFL Premiership.

He had a knack for unleashing a torp for goal, but it was his hard-hitting approach that set him apart from other players.

"Growing up watching my dad, uncles and older cousins play, that’s just the way the style of footy was, with the attack on the footy and player. It was just hard footy," Pickett remembered.

"Whether we were playing against our cousins or brothers, we'd go toe-to-toe on the field and get that white line fever.

"Then after the final siren we'd have a yarn and talk s*** about who's going to pay for the first couple of drinks."

Never one to chase individual glory, Pickett's focus was always on the team, and in 1999, that mentality paid off as the Kangaroos topped Carlton in the Grand Final.

"I say it's luck that I got drafted by the Kangas. Being a part of that team in the late '90s was special," he said.

"I was never focused or worried about winning individual stuff like best and fairest awards, I've always been a team player.

"I've always put the team first, that’s just the way I was and I'm pretty much the same guy today."

Regarded as one of the best First Nations players the game has seen, Pickett's legacy extends beyond premierships and personal achievements.

He's humbly aware of the path that was cleared for him by other First Nations players and of the role he's played in continuing that journey for others.

"The Krakouer Brothers, Michael Long, Nicky Winmar. Players like that really set it up for us to do what we did," he said.

"And hopefully we've done the same for the current and next generation of footy players coming through."

That generational impact is especially close to home for Pickett.

His nephew, Melbourne livewire Kysaiah Pickett, is one of the most exciting players in the competition.

His two sons, Byron jnr and Kayde, have been playing for Mallee Park in South Australia this season, the same club for which two of his daughters - Lakeesha and Mikayla – have also laced their boots.

Whether it was a big brother figure like Abraham or a blood relative, the importance of family has never been lost on 'Choppy' – a nickname given to Pickett by his mum because of the former star's tendency to 'chop' his cousins after they'd all watch Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies together.

"Family is a really big thing for me," he said.

"I've always played football for my family and my people. It was never about me.

"Even when I was a junior playing with Port Adelaide, I never went out there to get 30 possessions or kick goals. It was always family first, and that's something I'll never change from."

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