JAIL was never the end game for Mattyray Walford, fresh from mowing the Plains Street Sporting Fields for this weekend's Koori Knockout.

"I first got locked up when I was 15," the now 18-year-old said on Thursday, October 2.

"Then I was locked up when I was 16 or 17, never for long periods.

"Most of my mates are in jail. A couple have jobs but most have done time in juvie [Orana Juvenile Detention Centre]."

Now on the outside, Mattyray has just helped mow the turf on one of nine fields that will see 170 teams compete in the knockout, starting on Friday, October 3.

It will be the biggest sporting event ever hosted in the region. But the game changer for Mattyray and his four colleagues is the chance to keep employed and out of jail.

That's thanks to the Fresh Footprints project, devel

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