The road to Oz isn’t golden
By Paul Fitzpatrick
I was off school sick on the day it was announced that my St Pat's classmate Nicholas Walsh was heading down under with a view to playing professional Australian Rules football.
At the time – I’m fairly sure it was the autumn of 2000 – Gaelic footballers being signed to play Aussie Rules wasn’t “a thing” any more. As a teenager, I was aware that some Irishmen had gone over in the 1980s and that Tadhg Kennelly was there but otherwise, it wasn’t something that cropped up.
Even though the Compromise Rules series between Ireland and Australia was back (rebranded as International Rules), having been shelved for the guts of a decade following some riotous encounters, the flow of players – which always went only one way – had dried up.
The Irish just weren’t making it. The ‘Irish Experiment’ had produced the iconic Jim Stynes as well as Kerry’s Sean Wight, who played 150 senior games but most of the others who were enticed to try to make it didn’t.
Around the time the Victorian Football League was enlarged and re-branded as the AFL in 1990, Derry men Anthony Tohill and Dermot McNicholl and Jim Stynes’ brother Brian all went over. Tohill suffered a broken leg and returned home; McNicholl and Stynes played five matches between them at professional level.
So you won’t be surprised when I tell you I initially refused to believe this bombshell – and in fairness, it did sound like a classic classroom wind-up. But it was true – and Nicholas, an outstanding midfielder for Cavan Gaels and Cavan under age sides, left soon after for Melbourne.
He completed the equivalent of the Leaving Cert down there and played for his school, winning their Best and Fairest award. As planned, AFL giants Melbourne Demons then snapped him up.
In 2001, he lined out for the Cavan minors against Monaghan in an Ulster semi-final in Clones when home on holiday – the great Paul Finlay dominated on that occasion – before heading back Down Under. Reports were that he was showing a serious aptitude for the Australian game – Walsh, for one thing, had a leap off the ground which seemed stratospheric – but eventually, a series of injuries caught up with him.
A groin injury was the final straw and he came back. That unlucky break was a lucky one for Cavan GAA; he lined out for club and county for a long number of years afterwards, before making an enormous contribution as lead development officer with the Cavan county board. He is now back in Australia and is a respected figure in the game, having held a number of lofty positions.
Nicholas was one of the first of a new wave of Irish recruits to try their luck in Australia. The numbers increased dramatically in the years that followed, with mixed results.
Walsh himself has spoken insightfully about the type of player Australian recruiters target and the mentality which makes Irish footballers attractive to them.
"Recruiters from Australia look at a specific profile of a player in Ireland to bring over… Work hard. That attitude will thrive here."
In a 2017 interview with the Irish Examiner, Walsh also offered a sensible perspective on the debate.
“The players coming over, they’re given an opportunity.
“I’m not saying it’s for everyone because it’s not. You had the likes of Seán Cavanagh, who decided not to come and he’s very happy with that. He’s played 15 years for Tyrone, has three All-Irelands under his belt, numerous All Stars, a good job and a lovely family. It was the best decision for him.
“Other guys came and didn’t make it like myself and numerous others. And then you have maybe four or five others that have really made it since 1984. Why are people so bothered?"
It's a fair question and one worth considering as the latest wave of departures gathers pace.
There are many accepted wisdoms among GAA followers and the commentariat which are plainly at odds with the evidence. One is that moving to Australia is a risk-free moonshot which will gain a player great experience and a nice tan at worst and a lengthy, lucrative career at best.
The reality is different; the majority don’t end up playing professionally for an extended period. The reason they don’t? Homesickness and loss of form are cited but often, it’s a pattern of injuries.
And that is before we consider what they are leaving behind. The players who sign for AFL clubs are the absolute best athletes and players in Gaelic football. Losing them would be seen as a fierce blow to most counties, let alone their clubs. Even Kerry are bemoaning it.
Inter-county players are well looked after now, as they should be. Mileage is ample, gear endless, nutrition and medical needs taken care of. Many pick up ambassadorial roles and the perks that go with them.
Students, in particular, are better off than their non county-playing peers.
Best of luck to them all; they enrich our lives as sports fans and deserve everything they get. But it’s hard to square the reality with Joe Brolly’s “indentured slaves” analogy of some years back; they’re hardly fleeing an intolerable situation either.
The pull factors - a tremendous lifestyle, being paid to play ball –are considerable but the dream of a long-term professional career is unlikely to materialise for most.
What is more likely is that the player who has devoted their adolescence to excelling in Gaelic football will spend two or three years not playing that game, starting at the bottom rung in an alien code. Some will break down physically with the strain. Eventually they'll return home, maybe try to pick up where they left off in education and deal, perhaps, with the unfair stigma of having failed. Irish begrudgery being what it is, that can be a difficult thing to shake off.
There will be huge expectations around how they might fare with their clubs and counties, too, with little or no allowance made by supporters for the difficulties of re-adjusting.
Nobody blames them for going. Given the opportunity, most young people would jump at the chance to live in Australia and play professional sport. But it's not the shot-to-nothing it's billed as. You're possibly risking your career in the sport you've excelled in all your life and which is a big part of your identity.
At present, there are 14 Irish male players and 46 female players on the professional books Down Under. While some of the above still applies, the situation is different for ladies footballers, who seem to be able to slot back into their own native code more easily. The shorter AFLW season, for one thing, makes it possible to maintain a foothold in both sports.
Whatever about Kobe McDonald, who was still a schoolboy and was signed before playing a senior match for Mayo, the news that an established inter-county footballer and Young Player of the Year Finbarr Roarty of Donegal has been recruited by Collingwood feels like an escalation.
McDonald is, in our opinion, the best forward in the country under the age of 21; Roarty is the best defender. Forget their clubs and county sides; the pair are a huge loss to the sport of Gaelic football.
It’s hard to see what the GAA can do to turn off the tap. And while the Aussies are taking a gamble on these young footballers, the players themselves are taking a bigger one.