By Nicholas Galea
Muhammad Saad was born and raised in Brunswick, Victoria to Lebanese parents who immigrated to Australia. His mother was 21 and his father was eight years old when their families decided to make the move. Brother to five siblings (one brother and three sisters), Saad has always thought of Coburg as his home
‘I have a lot of family that live in Coburg; I’m in Coburg most of the time so I’m very fond of this. Coburg is the best place in the world,’ Saad said.
‘It’s just the vibes you get when you’re in Coburg, I feel comfortable going around the streets, everyone’s so welcoming and so friendly, they’re just talking to each other laughing and smiling. Plus there are some good spots to get lunch or dinner.’
Family has always been an important part of Saad’s life describing it as ‘honestly the best thing.’
‘We have a massive family, obviously the five of us I was the second youngest. I had an older brother (Adam) and three sisters. Our cousins, we’re all really close with my brothers and sisters, all 30, 40 of us,’ Saad said.
‘We have celebrations, Eid, weddings or barbeques. We have a barbeque every Saturday at my grandmas. We just go and see cousins, uncles and aunties we haven’t seen in ages. My grandma hasn’t seen me in a week, for her it is like a year, for her its ages but for us not really. Family is the best; you can’t get better than that.’
Growing up as a child, football was always a part of his life. Saad played his junior football at West Coburg while his father and many of his uncles played country football in the Bendigo Football League and locally around Coburg.
‘As a kid I always wanted to play footy, than as I got older I started liking more sports,’ Saad said.
‘I started getting into soccer, basketball and UFC but footy has always been there for me. My dad used to play (for North Old Boys) and my uncles used to play country footy (for Seymour) so it has always been around me and my family.’
Saad represented the Calder Cannons in the 2016 TAC Cup before moving up north to join his brother on the Gold Coast.
After a one year stay with the Gold Coast Suns Academy in the NEAFL in 2017, Saad returned to his junior football club in West Coburg for the 2018 Essendon District Football League season. At the end of the season Saad realised he wanted to take his football to another level but was unsure if he wanted take the VFL pathway. That was until he received some advice from his older brother Adam.
‘I didn’t know if I wanted to go to the VFL, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I spoke to Adam and he asked me that if I wanted to play AFL and try and get drafted, I said yes,’ Saad said.
‘There’s obviously him getting drafted from Coburg but it wasn’t just that, he said Coburg is probably the best family club, everyone gets involved and that made it a bit easier for me when he told me that.’
Saad was invited to be a part of the football clubs pre season and ultimately was able to obtain a list spot.
‘It’s an honour to actually play for Coburg. To play in round one a couple of weeks ago we had close to 2000 people come support us, that was massive for us. Coburg has such a huge history, they’ve won flags…. I’ve never won a flag but to win a flag with Coburg would top it off definitely’ Saad said.
‘It was easy for me just being so close to home and then I’ve known some of the boys, a few Cannons and the two Gold Coast boys (Brodie Foster and Harry Simmington) that came down with me made it a bit easier.’
‘We’re going in the right direction with this group, we’ve only got the one win now but more will be coming. Coburg fans have just got to trust the process.’
When Saad isn’t representing Coburg in the VFL, he will line up for Macleod in the Northern Football League. Currently Saad has played in the opening three rounds of the 2019 VFL season.
Many people who play the game do so with the hopes of getting drafted to any one of the AFL clubs, Saad is no exception but he realises that achieving that goal isn’t always predetermined.
’I do aspire one day to hopefully play AFL but if not the VFL is still such a great level and I wouldn’t mind being a long term player for Coburg,’ Saad said.
‘As long as I’m playing footy I’ll be happy. It’s a great level of footy as you’re playing against AFL players every single week. I am loving my time here so far.’
Outside of football Saad is working full time with AFL Victoria. There he helps kids with multicultural backgrounds gain an interest in football.
‘I recently got a gig with AFL Victoria; I’m in the Multicultural Department. I get schools involved in football, kids that have come to Australia that don’t know anything about football; I try to get them involved,’ Saad said.
As well as his job at AFL Victoria, Saad has also done work with his brother Adam for the Adam Saad Academy.
‘Recently I’ve been a team manager with Adam’s academy so I’m sort of running that and making sure that everything goes smoothly. It’s probably my first real big project, I work with Mark Morgan and Shane Abdullah at Windy Hill and they’ve helped me so far with it.’
Despite all these commitments and leisure’s such as playing other sports, socialising with friends or going to gym, Saad is still able to find time for religion in his life.
‘Lately with Adam, we both have tried getting into our religion (Islam) a bit more,’ Saad said.
‘I try to attend the Mosque every day whether that’s for morning prayer or night prayer, I try to get there once a day at least. That’s something I have been trying to improve on.’
Saad acknowledges that sometimes he is known more for being related to his brother Adam than on his own accord but that doesn’t faze him as he tries to shape his own legacy.
‘In footy when they see me, I want people to see me as Muhammad Saad not Adam Saad’s brother,’ Saad said.
‘It’s pretty hard when both Adam and I are left footers playing half back and we both like to run and carry the ball. For life in general I just want people when they speak to me or see me they go and say “Muhammad, he’s a good bloke, humble not arrogant, speaks to everyone and is a nice guy”.’
Saad describes himself as “funny, laidback, a bit of a joker at times” and a “lover of sport and eating.”