World Footy News

Last week Irish sports ‘commentator’ Tommy Conlon came to the attention of AFL fans via this article about Marty Clarke returning to Ireland and the GAA. The article raised the hackles of some, including in the Australian media with rebukes such as this effort from the Age : Irish crack at AFL just TommyRot

WFN was able to discuss the article with Conlon and posed a few questions.

WFN: Whilst the GAA is staunchly amateur, I would’ve thought the ‘AFL experiment’ for some to pursue a professional dream is not that bad a thing. I guess however, at present it does well to build a bit of AFL hatred locally in readiness for the upcoming IR series. After all, a full house at Croke Park for the IR is not coughed at by the GAA.

TC : 'Hatred' is a strong word, I feel it should be used sparingly in sport, if at all. Many of my Australian correspondents in recent days seem to be under the impression that GAA people over here are up in arms about the talent drain to AFL. This is not so. Just about everyone, me included, is of the view that if a young lad is talented enough to get the invitation, then best of luck to him. It's a no brainer: he has the chance to live every young sportsman's dream, which is to do what he loves for a living. And to do it in Australia too with the attendant weather and lifestyle?

Everyone understands why a lad would jump at the chance. The people it hurts most are those at his local club who've brought him up through the ranks. Normally it will be a small parish club with scant playing resources and to lose a player of that calibre is a big blow. That said, when he does make up his mind to go, he leaves with their best wishes - and frequently with a few extra quid in his back pocket after the club has run a fund-raiser for him. But emigration is such a fact of life over here that virtually every club in the country loses young players anyway who move abroad to work or university.

Nationally, it barely registers, just a few paragraphs in the sports pages, because the lad in question will largely be unknown beyond his county. In the case of Tommy Walsh, he was an exception in that he'd won his All-Ireland medal before leaving. In Kerry the reaction there was pretty much the same as it would be elsewhere: sad to see him go, but we can do nothing about it anyway so good luck, send us a postcard!

WFN : Given the pressures upon Gaelic sports and Gaelic Football in particular, from for example Rugby and Soccer not just at the age of 18 but earlier in school in the early teens - - would not the ‘return’ factor (to Gaelic Football) be far greater from the AFL than from Rugby and Soccer??

TC : The crossover from Gaelic to rugby is only a recent development because the sports rarely intersected over the last hundred years: the kids who played Gaelic, or rugby, came from such different backgrounds - social, schools and geographical - that they rarely got the chance to play both codes growing up. Nowadays Irish rugby stars like Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe and Geordan Murphy will have played Gaelic in their youth - Brian O'Driscoll too. The consensus among rugby followers seems to be that the ball skills picked up playing Gaelic helped their rugby careers. The rate of return from professional sports is by far the highest in soccer, for two reasons: first, there is a long-established soccer industry on Ireland's doorstep - England. Players have been crossing the channel for generations. Second, they are recruited in much greater numbers for trials and apprenticeships, so the attrition rate is obviously going to be much higher. Historically, the vast majority of lads who made professional careers in England wouldn't have played gaelic football growing up. Again there are social and geographical reasons for this, most Irish soccer players being recruited from the urban working classes where GAA would not have a strong presence. But that is changing too and Kevin Doyle, for example, a talented centre forward who is now a regular in the Irish international team and with his club in the Premier League, comes from a strong GAA family in county Wexford.

WFN : Given that of the couple of dozen young Irish lads to head to Australia, the actual number to have made an impact is still pretty small. The vast majority return home after what effectively turned into a 2 year working holiday, but, in a professional sporting environment. Has this been seen to be beneficial in the development as athletes for these players?

TC : I've no doubt that players who come home after a few yeas in the AFL are much the better for the experience: they have picked up good habits, are must more powerful athletes, and probably more mature as people too. As for their pure skills, I'm less sure about that and would need to talk to someone like Marty Clarke to get a better insight.

WFN would like to thank Tommy Conlon for his responsiveness.