Ciaran kilkenny back for Dubs

cat in the sack

he is not going to the AFL will be with the dubs for 2013 good news for Dublin fans in their drive for Sam.

MrJoeSoap

cat in the sack wrote: »

he is not going to the AFL will be with the dubs for 2013 good news for Dublin fans in their drive for Sam.

Great news. Fantastic statement too.

“I have decided not to pursue my career in Australian Rules football any further and have informed the Hawthorn club of my decision.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience in Australia and am extremely grateful
to Hawthorn for providing me with the opportunity to experience life as a
professional athlete in a wonderful country. The professionalism of the club was
exemplary and they always made me feel very welcome.

“However, seeing Australia and a different way of life, also served to bring home
to me the things that make Ireland so special. Obviously family and friends are
important but I also came to really appreciate the things that make Ireland unique
such as the people in general, the way of life and of course the GAA.

“As much as I enjoyed the lifestyle of a professional Aussie Rules player and
relished the challenge of achieving in a different code, I realised that it would
never matter as much to me as the sense of community and joy I get from
togging out and playing alongside the people with whom I grew up and live.

“Achieving success and realising my potential as a hurler and footballer with my
club and county will always be more important to me than any of the benefits to
be obtained from professional sport.

“It may seem like a short time to spend in Australia but I have always given
absolute commitment to any team in which I was involved and I feel it would be
unfair on both Hawthorn and myself to continue in a situation where I am not
100% committed and happy in myself.

“I’ve come to realise also that although I enjoy the game of Australian Rules
football, it could never replace the satisfaction I get from the round ball or a
sliotar. Sport has always been something I did for enjoyment and I have found
that it’s not something I can do merely because it’s my job. The passion I feel for
hurling and football is not transferrable to any other sport and seeing my
neighbours and team mates happy when we do well is reward enough.

“Going to live in Australia was never something I felt I had to do. I always said
however that if I didn’t go I might have doubts or questions later on in life but
having spent some time there now I’m happy that that those doubts and
questions will not arise. Now I’m looking forward to getting back involved in what
I feel truly passionate about, hurling and football with my club, and seeing where
that takes me.

“I will be making no further comment at this juncture and would appreciate if
people would understand and respect this position.
“Ní glaise iad na cnoic i bhfad uainn i gcónaí!”

The Ferrit

Fantastic News, Go on the Dubs!

art foley

good call by Ciaran - he obviously realized he wasnt up to it and quit

this is good news for us GAA fans as the number of lads failing over there now is quite high so they might stop coming

dcr22B

art foley wrote: »

good call by Ciaran - he obviously realized he wasnt up to it and quit

That's a very unfair statement as he was more than capable of making it down there (unless you're speaking from his own personal POV but then you may have worded your statement a bit better).

Sometimes the thoughts of home are too much for a 19 year old fresh out of Leaving Cert.

Great news for Dublin fans.

art foley

dcr22B wrote: »

That's a very unfair statement as he was more than capable of making it down there (unless you're speaking from his own personal POV but then you may have worded your statement a bit better).

Sometimes the thoughts of home are too much for a 19 year old fresh out of Leaving Cert.

Great news for Dublin fans.

nah-its a huge step up to playing professional sports

I know the aussies can switch between the 3 codes easy enough but for a gaa player its too big a step

the ratio of flops must be near 95% now

MrJoeSoap

art foley wrote: »

I know the aussies can switch between the 3 codes easy enough but for a gaa player its too big a step

What three codes are you referring to?

art foley

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

What three codes are you referring to?

AFL,League & Union

Fr Tod Umptious

art foley wrote: »

nah-its a huge step up to playing professional sports

I know the aussies can switch between the 3 codes easy enough but for a gaa player its too big a step

the ratio of flops must be near 95% now

It's not so much the move to professional sports, it's the change from the the round ball to the oval one.

You are a 20 year old GAA player that has spent you whole life playing with a round ball and then you are expected to play a very different sport with a very different shaped ball, and compete for a contract against a local kid who has been doing it since they were five.

That's the reason for the fact that there are only a handful of GAA players that have made it in the AFL.

Fits Morris

Great call by Ciaran to come home - he's clearly seen that Australia is very far from the "living the dream" cliche that so many who have never been there seem to think it is. Personally I can't understand how any Irish person would want to live there - it's a cultural wasteland and there are some awful mosquito and spider-infested dumps. I found Brisbane in particular to be a godforsaken kip, and while Melbourne isn't quite as bad, it's still far behind this side of the world in terms of quality of life.

art foley

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

It's not so much the move to professional sports, it's the change from the the round ball to the oval one.

You are a 20 year old GAA player that has spent you whole life playing with a round ball and then you are expected to play a very different sport with a very different shaped ball, and compete for a contract against a local kid who has been doing it since they were five.

That's the reason for the fact that there are only a handful of GAA players that have made it in the AFL.

New Zealenders make the switch easy enough

Hammer Archer

B*llocks!

Good news for Dublin and for Castleknock who are in the All Ireland Junior semi final soon. Bad news for pretty much everyone else.

MrJoeSoap

art foley wrote: »

New Zealenders make the switch easy enough

Irish-born players have 793 AFL appearances, NZ-born players have 1400. Hardly a massive difference considering we are the other side of the planet.

cat in the sack

art foley wrote: »

AFL,League & Union

you won't see them hurl doe

MrJoeSoap

art foley wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Thanks for that. Care to elaborate?

Realt Dearg Sec

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Thanks for that. Care to elaborate?

No he doesn't. I had an inkling he was trolling on the GAA marketing thread, where he did this exact thing, so I had a look at his other posts. He's also clearly trolling on the "Why do people love to hate the GAA" thread. He's posing as a GAA fan but criticising it on all of those threads. Criticism isn't a bad thing, but when he's quite obviously going out of his way to instigate fights, it becomes tiresome very quickly. Old tactic from An Fear Rua. Incidentally, Art Foley was the name of a contributor to that site, right up until when it was shut down because the place was overrun with trolls.

AGC

art foley wrote: »

nah-its a huge step up to playing professional sports

I know the aussies can switch between the 3 codes easy enough but for a gaa player its too big a step

the ratio of flops must be near 95% now

Nearly as bad as your first post.

The reasons for coming home are fairly obvious, nothing to do with not 'being up for it' or being able to make a 'step up'

It is quite clear the bloke has a love of GAA and more so home.

He gave it a go, it is along way from home and he realised what he wanted to be doing. Absolutely nothing to do with ability because he has it in bucket loads.

Good luck to him

art foley

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

No he doesn't. I had an inkling he was trolling on the GAA marketing thread, where he did this exact thing, so I had a look at his other posts. He's also clearly trolling on the "Why do people love to hate the GAA" thread. He's posing as a GAA fan but criticising it on all of those threads. Criticism isn't a bad thing, but when he's quite obviously going out of his way to instigate fights, it becomes tiresome very quickly. Old tactic from An Fear Rua. Incidentally, Art Foley was the name of a contributor to that site, right up until when it was shut down because the place was overrun with trolls.

how dare you

there is a cosy consensus and backslapping around here which does our sport no favours

if I reel in your hyperbole you should thank me

MrJoeSoap

art foley, if I may also add, since 2000:

Irish-born players have played 310 AFL games:

Colm Begley (30)
Pearce Hanley (47)
Tadgh Kennelly (197)
Niall McKeever (17)
Michael Quinn (8)
Zach Tuohy (11)

That isn't even including the 81 games that Setanta O'hAilpin played, and he spent the majority of his childhood in Ireland.

New Zealand born players have played 161:

Adam Campbell (13)
Donald Dickie (4)
Karmichael Hunt (15)
Daniel McAllister (4)
Brent Renouf (52)
Shane Savage (20)
Wayne Schwass (53)

Looking forward to your considered response.

popebenny16

art foley wrote: »

bollox

he didnt give it a go - he was there for a few weeks but didnt have the courage or mental strength to see it out

he probably didnt have the ability to make it in a professional sport and will now forever be known as a man that failed in professional sports

i think he will be remembered for more than that at the end of his dublin career.

I like you, I hope we get to keep you and you dont end up banned. You're exciting and new and edgy and stuff.

freddiek

what a massive bottle-job from him. got a lifetime opportunity that thousands of his peers would have killed for. packs it in after a few weeks

his opponents will rib him about this on the pitch too

freddiek

cant see him playing both codes for too long. that just doesn't happen these days. shame, but true


that might be his next change of mind

AGC

freddiek wrote: »

cant see him playing both codes for too long. that just doesn't happen these days. shame, but true

Cadogan.

I don't think he will, id say it will be football this year.

MrJoeSoap

freddiek wrote: »

cant see him playing both codes for too long. that just doesn't happen these days. shame, but true


that might be his next change of mind

He won't be playing both codes at inter-county level, he'll be a footballer.

elefant

Lads, this is one of the most obvious troll-jobs I've seen- why even bother responding!?

'Mentally brittle'

lala88

Did he not say when he first went he always dreamed of playing in the AFL?

Fits Morris

art foley wrote: »

+1

sadly a bit of sledging might see him quitting our association too as one thing we can all agree on is that he is mentally brittle

Go to bed TASE

freddiek

AGC wrote: »

Cadogan.

I don't think he will, id say it will be football this year.

if so, that is a total cop-out.

“Achieving success and realising my potential as a hurler and footballer with my
club and county will always be more important to me than any of the benefits to
be obtained from professional sport.

MrJoeSoap

lala88 wrote: »

Did he not say when he first went he always dreamed of playing in the AFL?

I certainly don't think the word "dream" was used.

He did a fairly honest interview with Seán Bán Breathnach for RnaG before he left and was quite truthful about the opportunity and how he would be back to win an All-Ireland and to help out his club in the off-season. He was always liable to miss Ireland, he's as Irish as they come.

MrJoeSoap

freddiek wrote: »

if so, that is a total cop-out.

“Achieving success and realising my potential as a hurler and footballer with my
club and county will always be more important to me than any of the benefits to
be obtained from professional sport.

Give it a rest, please. Have you any idea of the level of commitment needed to play both codes for club and county at that level? Eoin Cadogan is definitely the exception to the rule.

lala88

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

I certainly don't think the word "dream" was used.

He did a fairly honest interview with Seán Bán Breathnach for RnaG before he left and was quite truthful about the opportunity and how he would be back to win an All-Ireland and to help out his club in the off-season. He was always liable to miss Ireland, he's as Irish as they come.

im sure i seen that. Ill see if i can find it somewhere