The Great Revolving Door

The past two weeks have been a hectic time for the Irish boys in the AFL but the groundwork for this transformation has been made in the pipeline for some time now. To be quite frank, the interest in the Irish "experiment" peaked in those hazy days when I was giving Ricky Nixon disguises so that we wouldn't get attacked as we walked down Tralee Main Street. To explain the transformation I think it’s important to go back to the start of this cycle.


In 1987 Jim Stynes was brought to Australia by the Melbourne Demons and their far seeing coach Ron Baresi. He appreciated that Gaelic Footballers were natural bedfellows of Aussie Rules and that certain players could prosper in the game. After his success - Stynes went on to win the Brownlow (Player of the Year Award) - there was a rush to recruit Irish players. Alas Anthony Tohill, Brian Stynes, Colin Corkery and others came and failed. Thinking the talent had dried up, AFL clubs deserted the Emerald Isle. That was until a certain Tadgh Kennelly burst onto the scene.


I don't know how it happened but the Sydney Swans took the brave decision to go against the grain and recruit an Irish player. This turned out to be one of the best decisions in the club history, as Kennellys strong run and carry propelled the Swans to the 2005 Premiership. His performances encouraged all the other clubs to dust down their passports and travel to Ireland in the hope of finding the next Kennelly much like clubs in the early nineties tried to find the next Stynes. Herein lies the crux of the problem - there is no next Stynes or Kennelly, these guys are superstars of the game and to think that every GAA player is as good as these two is unrealistic. 

                                                                                              

So what then has happened in the last two weeks? Firstly we've seen the remarkable re-emergence of Martin Clarke to the extent that he's resigned with Collingwood. Clarkes big problem initially was his kicking - pinpointed by St.Kilda as the weak point of his game. Rather than rush at him, which is what every other club did, they stood off him and pressurised him into kicking away possession. This tactic was soon employed by all clubs and Clarke was ultimately dropped. Time will tell weather Clarke has fixed this flaw in his game but I'm of the belief that if anyone is going to overcome this problem it's Clarke. Next we saw the trade sending Tommy Walsh to Sydney from St. Kilda. Up until an hour before the window closed, St.Kilda were trying to convince Walsh to resign with them. Why then, if the Saints were so eager to keep him did they not play him? All sports that use a draft do by their nature run in cycles meaning that clubs go from being strong to weak and back again. (For more on the intricacies of the draft system you can read my blog here http://kingbetireland.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-all-like-winners-just-not-when-they.html) When they're weak the coach will bleed a lot of new players. When they're strong they try to win championships and often forget about player development. For the past three years St. Kilda have been strong and gave no kids a chance. Tom Lynch- pick 13 in the 2008 National Draft - only played 6 games for the club before being traded to Adelaide this week, At Sydney, a club renowned for not going through this cycle, Walsh will get opportunities. 

Alas his signing meant the end of Chris McKeague. AFL clubs operate a strict, unofficial one Irish only rule. This can be seen on numerous occasions for example at Brisbane. Once Pearse Hanley had settled in, Colm Begley was shown the door. Carlton followed suit by releasing Setanta O'hAlpin now that Zac Touhy has emerged as a match winner. Essendon have delisted Michael Quinn and Jamie O' Reilly has also returned to Ireland - although his stay should be short as Richmond are keen to resign him. The last few weeks have put in sharp contrast just how cut throat the world of professional sport is - a feeling alien to GAA players. I can assure you that no matter how much you prepare the players for the worst, when they get the call to tell them their AFL career is over, they suffer greatly. It is also not a given that they'll come back to the GAA but when they do, it’s a huge boost to their counties. But this is little solace to players at this crossroads of their early lives.

Where does all this leave the "Irish experiment"? Well in terms of numbers we're down to eight players but in reality interest in severely on the wane. This isn't to say that the standard of Irish player has dropped but it highlights that AFL recruiters (and all sports recruiters) are sheep who merely follow trends. At the minute nobody wants to be seen to take a punt on Irish players as they're eyes are fixed on Papa New Guinea although the chances of finding a player from there are minuscule. However should Walsh kick six on his debut for Sydney or John Heslin take a couple of strong overhead marks on his debut for Richmond, watch how my phone will light up again.

Note - I'll try getting a blog out on my views on the International Rules and a review of the Australian panel by the end of the week so stay tuned to the Kingbet sports blog.

Seamus was head of Irish Development at Ricky Nixons Flying Start for two years. Follow him on Twitter @fbspecial