Ciarán Sheehan: Injuries were character building and made me stronger 

Cork’s 2010 All-Ireland senior football winner Ciarán Sheehan admits dealing with injuries was a tough period while playing in Australia.

The former Éire Óg player, who is now based in Shanagarry, played in the AFL with Carlton for three years shortly after helping the Rebels win the Sam Maguire. 

Before he made the difficult decision of leaving the GAA behind him for a few years, Sheehan was one of the best young footballers in the country when Cork claimed All-Ireland glory 15 years ago.

“It’s lasting memories, it all happened quite quickly,” he said speaking on the Beyond The Game podcast.

“Looking back on winning the All-Ireland in 2010, being 19 years of age, I am a bit disappointed with myself that I didn’t soak it all up, but I suppose, as a kid, you kind of take it for granted. I do have fond memories looking back on what it meant to others. The likes of Anthony Lynch, Noel O’Leary, Graham Canty, guys who had soldiered for a number of years, getting so close and not quite getting there.

“That’s what I feed off now and what I look back fondly on. That 2010 group meets up every November just to have a few pints and what not. It’s great.

“I was kind of in and out of the panel in 2009. At that stage, my goal was to become a Cork senior footballer not knowing what was around the corner.” 

The Farran native admits he found the transition from GAA to AFL a challenge. He moved to Australia over a decade ago where he played for Carlton from 2014 to 2017 before coming back to Leeside. 

“People think when you go out to Australia that it’s all rosy in the garden,” Sheehan says.

“A rookie contract helps you survive, but you're not on loads and loads of money. My mentality was that I wanted to carve out a successful career and that was to play 100 games in the AFL. I managed six. That community environment that we have in the GAA in Ireland is so important. That’s not matched anywhere else in the world.

“We had four different senior coaches while I was with Carlton. There was also a lot of change in personnel on the playing squad. It was a rebuilding job. I didn't have a good relationship with one of the coaches, Brendan Bolton. There was just no connection, but he had a lot of characters to deal with.

“It definitely hampered my progress. But then on reflection, how many people go through professional systems that don’t forge the right path and just fall out with people and that’s it? Injuries played a part, but there were a couple of opportunities where I felt I could do something and I didn’t get that chance.” 

Sheehan certainly wasn’t helped by a number of injuries during times when it looked like he was going to make an impression with Carlton. Recovering from setbacks was one that the now 34-year-old found stressful.

“I kept asking myself if I was doing something wrong here,” he said.

“In my short career in Australia, I had nine surgeries, five on my left knee and four hip surgeries. When you get to a certain place and you need to lift off and you suffer a setback, you question everything.

“To be fair, I can’t speak highly enough of the people within the club. A lot of time is spent on your own in a rehab room and you're looking in a mirror saying ‘here we go again’. It was tough.

“In 2017, I suffered my last injury over there, one of the coaches said ‘sometimes you feel like being in a dark place and you're buried, but you have actually been planted.’ It's something that has stuck with me. Yes, I got a lot of injuries, but it was character building, facing adversity and bouncing back.” 

Sheehan returned to Ireland and made a return to the Cork senior football team in 2020. He retired from inter-county the following year.