Lure of Aussie Rules football has always been there for Cork players
DRIVE: Liam O'Connell in action with the Cork U20's in Tralee. He wore the county jersey at the grade in 2022 and 2023 Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
SINCE Kerry’s Sean White and Dublin’s Jim Stynes acted as pioneers by becoming the first Irishmen to crack the sport of Aussie Rules in the 1980s a host of talented, young Irish athletes have made the long trip Down Under to give it a lash at this ‘alien’ game, with Cork arguably being the county that has been most impacted.
The likes of Kerry, Down and Mayo have also seen a lot of their up-and-coming stars leave these shores to try their hand at becoming professional athletes in the AFL, but in Cork it certainly feels as though we have seen more than our fair share of young talent depart.
Nemo Rangers’ Colin Corkery was the first Leesider to make the sojourn Down Under when he travelled to Melbourne in 1989, after helping Cork win that year’s U21 All-Ireland title, to tog out for the Carlton Blues.
He lasted in Australia until 1991 before returning to win multiple county, provincial and national titles with Nemo, as well as picking up four Munster titles and an All Star with Cork.
Next to make the trip was Castlehaven’s Bernie Collins in 2001, who spent a couple of seasons with the Western Bulldogs, again in Melbourne, before returning to Ireland to play with the Haven and Cork.
Setanta and Aisake Ó hAilpin both famously headed to Carlton in 2004, with Setanta going on to represent the Blues on 80 occasions between 2005 and 2011 before ending his AFL career with a shot stint at Greater Western Sydney.
Fellow Na Piarsaigh man Aisake spent a number of years in Australia, mainly lining out for Carlton’s VFL-affiliate club the Northern Bullants, with a groin injury ending his hopes of getting a call-up to the Blues' first team.
He returned home and will always be remembered for the manner in which he terrorised the Tipperary full-back line in 2010 in the Munster Hurling Championship.
Michael Shields joined the Cork Carlton crew briefly in 2007 after a successful three-week trial, and he duly signed a two-year contract with the club, but after deciding that the sport wasn’t for him he returned home a few months later and helped Cork win the All-Ireland in 2010.
His 2010 teammate Ciaran Sheehan was next to go, when he again chose the blue of Carlton in November 2013, with him too signing a two-year contract.
After learning the ropes with the Northern Bullants he made his senior debut in August 2014. Sheehan played the final four games of that campaign, being chosen as Carlton’s best rookie that season, but recurring hamstring injuries put the brakes on his AFL career, with him only playing two further senior games before departing the club in 2017.
Cork fans did get to enjoy the sight of Sheehan playing for Cork again in 2020.
Mitchelstown’s or Ballygiblin’s, depending on what hat you have on, Mark Keane is currently plying his trade with Adelaide, after having spent a few years with Melbourne giants Collingwood, for whom he made five senior appearances.
He famously togged out for the Cork footballers in 2020, scoring that amazing last-second goal to beat Kerry in the Munster Championship semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, and he has since played with the senior hurlers too, but when Adelaide dangled a pro contract it was too hard to resist.
And it is not only the lads either, as Bríd Stack signed for the Great Western Sydney Giants women’s team in 2021 only for a controversial injury picked up in a pre-season practice match to cut her adventure short.
Now it is O’Connell’s turn to give it a crack, as he becomes the first Corkonian to play in the red, white and black of St Kilda.
Cork football fans will be well aware of the raw athleticism that the Ballincollig centre-forward brings to the table, so he has every chance of making it in Melbourne, and the fact that he lived in Australia between the ages of four and 11 are likely to stand to him.
Of all the Cork players that travelled to try their hand at Aussie Rules, only Setanta never came back and represented Cork again afterward.
Time is on O’Connell’s side to give it a good shot, and if it doesn’t work out, there is plenty of time to come back to Ballincollig and Cork too.
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