We chat to former Cork footballer Ciaran Sheehan about his first season with Aussie Rules side Carlton…
The progress that Ciaran Sheehan has made with AFL side Carlton in eight months has been very impressive. After just 14 games for the Northern Blues (Carlton’s affiliate club) in the Victoria Football League, Sheehan earned the call-up to make his debut in the navy blue in Carlton’s meeting with the Gold Coast in Round 20.
In his first AFL match Sheehan gathered 13 disposals, five marks and two tackles. The performance saw him hold onto his place in the side for Carlton’s remaining matches of the season which saw him finish the year with four AFL games under his belt.
Ciaran is back home in Ireland for a couple of weeks and JOE had the chance to chat to him about his adventure in Australia. The topics we covered include adapting to the game, Pearse Hanley, Irish players coming home, meeting Harry Kewell, meeting The Rock and what the future holds. Scroll down to read…
JOE: Ciaran, you’ve been in Australia for just over eight months now and so much has happened, has it flown by?
CS: It’s gone incredibly quickly, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster to be honest with you. Obviously coming out I’d a bit of catching up to do in terms of body shape, learning the game and physicality so I was starting a bit back. The debut came a little earlier than expected too so that was a bonus. It’s brilliant though waking up every morning going to work to play sport. It was always a dream to play professional sport and when I was younger I was sure I’d be a Premier League soccer player [Laughs] but little did I know I’d end up playing for the Premiership trophy over here. I’m loving every minute of it.
JOE: Is the Premier League soccer player dream over?
CS: [Laughs] Yeah, I think I’ll have to let that one go.
JOE: Tell us about the first few weeks training and integrating with the group, was it difficult?
CS: It’s completely different to what I experienced at home. The level of physicality is at another level but in terms of the skills of the game, what I learned as a young lad growing up in Eire Og and Cork is obviously transferable. It’s that extra bit of physicality that I found toughest to get used of, you can’t just go up and catch a ball without body contact. Also, getting used of taking a tackle was the another hurdle, you might give a pass and more often that not, you’ll get hit but in AFL it’s a legal block where in GAA it’d be a third man tackle. The block isn’t just where someone stands in your way you can be taken out of it so that was a bit frustrating but it’s part of the game and I’m used of it now.
JOE: What’s been the biggest eye-opener in terms of preparation and the way you look after yourself before and after the game?
CS: Recovery is the big thing. Even being at home now I’m doing a bit of stretching, going for walks or working on the foam roller. It’s funny how much it can help you when you go out training or playing a match the following day. The important thing is time, back with Cork you have so much going on be it college or work so it can be difficult to focus on but over in Australia I can give so much time to it. You run round 14 kilometres during a game which is pretty full on so getting the recovery right is vital.
JOE: Were you surprised that Caolan Mooney and Marty Clarke decided to come home?
CS: I played against Caolan and he was one of the best players on the pitch that day so I expected to him to do very well but sometimes it doesn’t go right for fellas. Caolan’s a great lad and I’m sure he’s going to go back to Down and do some great things, he’s a real talent. I actually met Marty at the airport when I was coming over here so we had a good chat about footy and he told me a bit about what to expect. Marty is another class footballer and obviously he thinks it’s the right decision to come home so I’m sure it’ll all work out for him.
JOE: Pearse Hanley is the highest profile Irish guy playing over there now. Since we’re Irish we all have a vested interest in him but how highly rated is he in Australia?
CS: He’s very highly rated over there. He’s one of Brisbane’s best player and he’s been one of the stand out players in the game. He can kick so well and he’s got a massive engine so he has all the attributes you need. Pearse is a bit of a character as well and he’s been on the Footy Show, which is huge here, a few times. He’s a real role model for young Irish lads over there.
JOE: You made your debut last month which seems so far ahead of schedule considering it normally takes players a lot longer to break into the first team, you must be so proud of getting there so fast?
CS: I’m pretty happy with the way things have went alright. I’ve been lucky enough to come to a great club like Carlton with Mick Malthouse as the coach and there are so many great people in the set up. If you’re playing consistently well at VFL level they’ll give you a chance and I felt I was doing okay and they have me an opportunity. Once I got the call up, I was absolutely honoured and personally it was a massive achievement. For the debut my mother came out to watch the game so that was very special. Yeah, it’s only really sinking in now because it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster.
JOE: What’s it like being a first team player for an Aussie Rules side, the sport is huge in Oz so are you getting recognised on the street now and all that?
CS: [Laughs] No not quite. I’m the newbie so nobody bothers with me. I always have a joke with the lads because I take a tram to training while there all arriving in their big jeeps and cars and I’d be running over from the tram station which is less glamorous. To be honest, I’m just keeping my head down, working hard and we’ll see how it goes.
JOE: We follow you on Twitter and we spotted that you met The Rock and Harry Kewell in the last few months, rubbing shoulders with some big names?
The awkward moment when the guy next to you in @GoldsGym is @TheRock #goodworkout #goldsgym #veniceCA pic.twitter.com/vjfyDbwq9J
— Ciaran Sheehan (@Gussyman90) December 18, 2013
CS: It was last December when I met The Rock, we bumped into him in Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach. We got a photo with him and I was tensing as hard as I could while his arms were just resting, he put my to shame to be honest, he’s a massive guy and he was dead on. Harry Kewell was a good guy too, we chatted about moving away from home to play sport because obviously he went over to Leeds as a young lad. It was very interesting asking him questions and I got a lot out of the chat.
JOE: We always find when any of us go to a foreign country we pick up the accent and slang after about 54 seconds, has that happened you yet?
CS: It has a bit and the lads have been taking the piss out of me. It was always going to happen because you’re talking to Australian lads all the time. My main Aussie word so far is ‘mate’ and myself Zach Tuohy and Ciaran Byrne are always catching each other using weird phrases and we quickly put each other back in place. Although when I flew into Dublin airport, my Cork accent was stronger than ever.
JOE: What about the future, will you see out your contract and come home or will you sit down to renegotiate or what’s going to happen?
CS: At the moment I’m waiting to see what happens, Carlton have to finalise their list but it’s just a waiting game at the moment. I’ll see over the next few months and hopefully something good will come out of it.
Part two of our interview with Ciaran Sheehan will be on JOE.ie tomorrow where we chat to him about Cork’s year, his experiences playing against both Kerry and Donegal, an All-Ireland Final prediction and more.
