Born in a refugee camp in Kenya to South Sudanese parents, Aliir’s family moved to Australia when he was seven years old, eventually settling in Brisbane.
After learning to kick a football at Kedron State High School in Brisbane, he was invited by a friend to play Australian rules football for the Aspley Hornets when he was 14-year-old.
Within a few years, he had made the Queensland side and was invited to play for the world XVIII at the under-16 championships in Sydney. It was during this trip that Aliir discovered he had a long-lost sister trying to contact him. In 2012, Aliir’s mother, brothers and sisters moved to Perth to reunite with his extended family. Aliir decided to remain in Brisbane, and that year, he made his debut in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) for Aspley. Aliir made his mark as a ruckman in 2012 while playing for the Hornets and the Queensland Under-18 Scorpions.
When he was overlooked in the 2012 AFL draft, Aliir made the decision to relocate to Perth to live with his family. There he joined the East Fremantle Football Club and spent the 2013 season playing for the club’s Colts team (reserves team). With East Fremantle, he was converted from a ruckman to a defender.
Aliir nominated for the 2013 AFL Draft a 2nd time, and was drafted by the Sydney Swans at pick 44 in the 2013 AFL draft, becoming the first player of Sudanese heritage taken in the National Draft.
Aliir had a promising debut season with the Swans reserves in the NEAFL. Unfortunately, he suffered a dislocated shoulder in round 16 and was ruled out for the remainder of the year. His shoulder injury resulted in him missing the team’s 2014 NEAFL finals campaign.
Heading into the 2016 AFL season, Aliir was in line to take over from the Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards in Sydney’s defence.
Aliir made his long-awaited AFL debut against the Brisbane Lion at the Gabba in Round 6, 2016 and he quickly cemented his place in the team after round 16, as he played in every match between then and the Swans’ preliminary final match. However, in the preliminary final, Aliir suffered a low-grade medial strain late in the first quarter of their win over Geelong.
The injury consequently ruled him out of the Grand Final. The Swans went on to lose the Grand Final by 22 points to the Western Bulldogs.
