It’s a drive of four thousand kilometers from Geelong to the Pilbara, a couple of hundred kms less to Darwin, and a short hike of two thousand nine hundred to Cairns.

Brett Jukowics’s football career took in those points of call and many others in between over a span of twenty six seasons.

“I was a mercenary,” was Brett’s frank summary. “I would play wherever the money was.”

The story of the flamboyant Brett Jukowics is one of a wasted talent, a man who should have been running around on the MCG, Football Park, or Subiaco instead of the red dust and black mud of country grounds Australia-wide. Jukowics was a mercurial player who could take a mark like John Gerovich one minute and break a tackle like Billy Walker the next, but, by his own admission: “I enjoyed the good life off the field and suffered from white line fever on it.”

“I never went the biff for the sake of it, but always stuck up for myself and my team mates,” he said. And such was his influence on a contest, he became a target from opponents to put him off his game.

After playing colts at Geelong, Brett fielded approaches from AFL clubs throughout his career. Brisbane, Essendon, Carlton, West Coast, and Collingwood were in touch at various times over the years. He impressed good judges in Western Australia in his season at West Perth, among them the West Coast Eagles, who invited him to train with them.

The Brett Jukowics story began at Corio, near Geelong, a powerful junior club, where the youngster impressed the Cats scouts, and led to two seasons with Geelong colts. His tenure there ended acrimoniously after he was dragged for fighting in the last game of the 1985 season. Jukowics maintains he was harshly treated. “I copped a few whacks from a couple of prominent Melbourne players,” he said. “I retaliated and got taken off the ground.”

Disillusioned, Brett went to Geelong West, who competed in the VFA. In a fiery clash against Coburg, Coburg captain-coach Phil Cleary discovered the folly of locking horns with Jukowics. A clash between the pair in front of the umpire led to Cleary being knocked senseless and unable to give his side’s half time address. Brett faced the tribunal, but the eighteen year old was exonerated on the grounds of provocation.

At the end of the 1987 season Jukowics had approaches from Collingwood, Brisbane, and Essendon. Deciding on the Bombers, he spent the following year languishing in the reserves. “Sheedy and Robert Shaw had me playing in defence,” he recalled. “I was going alright, but my role was as a stopper, so as a consequence I never stood out, so couldn’t break into the league side.” As an example, he minded North Melbourne’s John Longmire in one game, the forward failed to kick a goal, then kicked twelve the following week.

An unhappy Jukowics then joined the Army, playing a few games at Werribee in the VFA and Mayne, in the Queensland Football League. It was just prior to the first season of the Brisbane Bears, and Mayne dominated the local competition.

A matter of days before the mid season draft, coach Peter Knights advised Brett that he’d be drafted for the Bears, but a broken ankle in his next game put him out of contention.

An overweight Jukowics went to Darwin on leaving the Army and joined the Wanderers(a logical choice.) It was in the Northern Territory that he would enjoy his longest tenure at a club, and his achievements there indicate what may have been if he’d been more committed at AFL level.

In 1991/1992 he was included in the NTFL best team of the year, in 1995/1996 was Wanderers fairest and best, in the 1992/1993 season was a member of the premiership side when Wanderers defeated St Mary’s, and in 1994 played in the NTFL v Essendon game(in which he was opposed to James Hird) and was best on ground.

While playing in the Darwin summer competition, Brett migrated South throughout the nineties.

“I reckoned that was that for the AFL,” Jukowics said. “It was then that I thought, bugger it, I’ll make some money out of the game. “

And there was plenty of cash around if you could play a bit.

“I would guarantee a club that I would bring a few top players from Darwin with me, and believe me, there were plenty up there,” Brett said.

Lining up with Yarrawonga, in the Ovens and Murray League, he played against Wodonga, and must have impressed their coach Jeff Geischen. In 1992 Geischen was appointed coach of West Perth and asked Jurowics to join him in WA, along with Wodonga player, Darren Harris.

Jurowics enjoyed a good year as a forward with West Perth, culminating with an invitation to train with the West Coast Eagles for the 1993 season as well as interest from Carlton and Richmond, and the club was progressing under the stewardship of Geischen. But an exhilarating win in the second last game of the season that lifted club spirit ended on a sour note.

“We’d just beaten East Fremantle to give ourselves a chance of making the four,” Brett recalled. “The boys had a few drinks at the club afterwards. It happened that the bar had just been contracted out, and there were about a hundred and fifty in there when suddenly “last drinks” were called. A few started remonstrating with the staff, I looked around and saw a couple of team mates being manhandled.”

“I went to their assistance, grabbed the main offender, and he went through the glass door. That certainly wasn’t my intention, and the bloke received some lacerations.”

“Next morning when I arrived for training Trevor Woodhouse was waiting for me. “You’re suspended from the club,” was his greeting. My protestations that I was only helping other patrons who were being manhandled, and that others beside myself were involved fell on deaf ears. I had a word to Geischen, who was well aware of the importance of fielding our best side against Claremont. “Just turn up on Saturday and we’ll sneak you in,” he said.”

“I walked into the rooms on the Saturday only to be spotted by an official, whose objections to my being there were overruled by the coach, and I ran out onto the ground.”

Claremont defeated West Perth by nineteen points and East Fremantle went premiers.

The bar episode proved expensive for Jukowics, with West Coast, Carlton, and Richmond suddenly losing interest, but a lucrative offer to return to Darwin eased the pain.

He also had a hankering to coach, and in 1995 took over the reins at Shepparton, in the Goulburn Valley League followed by a stint at Hamilton Imperials in the Western Border League. There was plenty of support from his Darwin recruits, one of whom(Darryl Taylor)booted over a hundred goals a season for four or five different Victorian country clubs.

In 1997, at the age of thirty one, Brett returned to Perth on the instigation of Jeremy Barnard. Chronic hamstrings plagued him on his second venture into the WAFL, and his return for the Royals was only one game. He captain-coached Busselton to twenty wins in 1998,but they exited the finals in straight sets.

Returning to Darwin for another summer, Brett journeyed East to coach Cairns Centrals in 1999. In 2000 he was at North Albury in the Ovens and Murray league. North made it to the grand final and Jukowics was runner up for the league goalkicking award. The following season saw him at Temora in the Riverina.

At thirty five years of age Brett had to consider his family’s future, and became involved in the mining industry, which resulted in a move back West, to the Pilbara. He was snapped up by Newman Saints as playing coach, and played his last game in 2010. To prove some things never change, he received a ten week suspension. “I never touched the bloke,” Brett added.

Jukowics is still involved with the game that has been a major part of his life for almost three decades, and can often be found at the local oval coaching the kids.

Brett played against many great players, but he nominated Brad Mawson from Wanderers Eagles in Darwin and Robbie Walker from Wangaratta Rovers as the best he’d played against. “The best players not to play AFL,” he maintains. Andrew McLeod, Nathan Buckley(both of whom he played with in Northern Territory representative games), and Robbie West were best team mates. “Robbie West was magnificent the year he won the Sandover and didn’t get much of a go at West Coast,” Brett commented.

Brett Jukowics has no regrets about the direction his football career took. There can be little doubt that he could have achieved much if he’d taken the AFL path, but there are twenty four country clubs around the land that would be happy he didn’t. He played over four hundred games and was suspended for close on a hundred. He has an extensive list of nicknames Aussie wide, known as ‘Jungle boy’, ‘Apeman’, ‘Juggernaut’ and ‘The Primate’, but mostly as ‘JUKA’ the flying jukebox ”.  

As Brett would say: “I enjoyed my footy and played hard both on and off the field.”

Lucky Starr sang a song called “I’ve Been Everywhere,” in which he mentioned ninety four towns. It would be a safe bet that Brett Jukowics would have played footy in most of them.