Quick Facts
Biography
Heritier "Harry" Lumumba (born 15 November 1986) (formerly known as Harry O'Brien) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Since his debut in 2005, he achieved All-Australian honours and won an AFL premiership, playing mostly as a half back.
He is the first Brazilian-born player in the AFL.
Playing career
Collingwood
The 187 cm Lumumba played most of his football as a medium defender. He was picked up with pick 21 in the 2004 AFL Rookie Draft by Collingwood, and made his debut in Round 18 of 2005 against Fremantle at the MCG. He kicked a goal against the Kangaroos shortly after his debut, and did enough to be retained on the rookie list. In 2006 Harry showed more improvement and was elevated to the senior list again during the year, this time due to the absence of Sean Rusling, playing a total of 9 games.
Coach Mick Malthouse at one point in an interview challenged the AFL's rules on rookies in response to not being able to permanently play Lumumba in the seniors on the basis of his excellent form.
He was elevated to the senior list for season 2007. In 2008, he came 5th in the Copeland Trophy count, Collingwood's best and fairest. In 2009, he came 4th in the Copeland Trophy.
He played in numbers 43, 30 and his final number 8. In 2010 he won All-Australian honours playing off the half-back flank. He was instrumental in Collingwood's 2010 grand final replay win over St Kilda and kicked a long goal from the boundary line late in the game.
Melbourne
On 15 October 2014, after issues with the club and management, Lumumba and Collingwood agreed to part ways and he joined the Melbourne Football Club in a three-club deal with Mitch Clark going to Geelong and Travis Varcoe joining Collingwood.
Lumumba made his Melbourne debut in round 1, 2015, against Gold Coast, in what was also his 200th AFL game. He kicked a goal in a 26-point win for his new club.
Lumumba missed the round one match against Greater Western Sydney in 2016, before playing the next five matches; he missed the remainder of the season after suffering from concussion symptoms. Despite being cleared to train by Melbourne doctors, he did not return to pre-season training in November citing lingering concussion symptoms, and he subsequently retired from AFL football in December.
Personal life
He was born to a Brazilian mother and a Congolese father in Rio de Janeiro, and moved to Western Australia when he was 3 years old. However he was raised by his Australian stepfather and was 19 years old when he found out about his biological father. He supported the Essendon Bombers as a child, with his family owning a pet dog named Sheedy after the long-time Essendon coach, Kevin Sheedy.
He went to school at Rossmoyne Primary from 1994–99, and also went to Rossmoyne Senior High School.
Lumumba changed his name to Harry O'Brien when he was 9 years old, taking an anglicised Christian name and the O'Brien surname of his step-father. In December 2013, he decided to change his name back and officially be named "Heritier Lumumba" in recognition of his father's family name and his paternal Congolese heritage.
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Goals | B | Behinds | K | Kicks | H | Handballs | D | Disposals | M | Marks | T | Tackles |
| Season | Team | # | Games | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Collingwood | 43 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 16 | 38 | 8 | 7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 9.5 | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| 2006 | Collingwood | 43 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 43 | 94 | 25 | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 10.4 | 2.8 | 1.3 |
| 2007 | Collingwood | 30 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 153 | 93 | 246 | 74 | 57 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.7 | 4.0 | 10.7 | 3.2 | 2.5 |
| 2008 | Collingwood | 8 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 189 | 140 | 329 | 106 | 45 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 7.9 | 5.8 | 13.7 | 4.4 | 1.9 |
| 2009 | Collingwood | 8 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 230 | 172 | 402 | 106 | 45 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 9.2 | 6.9 | 16.1 | 4.2 | 1.8 |
| 2010 | Collingwood | 8 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 264 | 142 | 406 | 99 | 62 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 10.2 | 5.5 | 15.6 | 3.8 | 2.4 |
| 2011 | Collingwood | 8 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 245 | 176 | 421 | 110 | 43 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 10.2 | 7.3 | 17.5 | 4.6 | 1.8 |
| 2012 | Collingwood | 8 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 239 | 146 | 385 | 94 | 58 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 10.0 | 6.1 | 16.0 | 3.9 | 2.4 |
| 2013 | Collingwood | 8 | 19 | 7 | 10 | 263 | 161 | 424 | 105 | 47 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 13.8 | 8.5 | 22.3 | 5.5 | 2.5 |
| 2014 | Collingwood | 8 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 222 | 198 | 420 | 82 | 55 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 10.6 | 9.4 | 20.0 | 3.9 | 2.6 |
| 2015 | Melbourne | 8 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 143 | 127 | 270 | 61 | 61 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 7.5 | 6.7 | 14.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| 2016 | Melbourne | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 45 | 86 | 21 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.2 | 9.0 | 17.2 | 4.2 | 1.6 |
| Career | 223 | 30 | 27 | 2062 | 1459 | 3521 | 891 | 500 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 9.3 | 6.5 | 15.8 | 4.0 | 2.2 | ||
Honours and achievements
Team
- AFL premiership: 2010
- 2× McClelland Trophy: 2010, 2011
Individual
- All-Australian: 2010