MARTIN CLARKE SIGNS FOR COLLINGWOOD

[qz]

Blues axe Irishman O'hAilpin

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-18/blues-axe-irishman-o27hailpin/3577506

O'hAilpin's axing and the recent retirement of Sydney premiership player Tadhg Kennelly leaves only eight Irishmen with AFL clubs, with all of those other than Brisbane's Pearce Hanley, Collingwood's Marty Clarke and Sydney's Tommy Walsh on rookie lists.

[Jinxy]

I'd imagine Tuohy will be elevated to the senior list.

[spuds]

Blues axe Irishman O'hAilpin

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-18/blues-axe-irishman-o27hailpin/3577506

O'hAilpin's axing and the recent retirement of Sydney premiership player Tadhg Kennelly leaves only eight Irishmen with AFL clubs, with all of those other than Brisbane's Pearce Hanley, Collingwood's Marty Clarke and Sydney's Tommy Walsh on rookie lists.

Does that mean Setanta cannot be picked up by another club next saeson ?

[GalwayBayBoy]

Blues axe Irishman O'hAilpin

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-18/blues-axe-irishman-o27hailpin/3577506

O'hAilpin's axing and the recent retirement of Sydney premiership player Tadhg Kennelly leaves only eight Irishmen with AFL clubs, with all of those other than Brisbane's Pearce Hanley, Collingwood's Marty Clarke and Sydney's Tommy Walsh on rookie lists.

I thought Setanta was doing quite well last year. What happened to him since?

[Aerlik]

GWB, Setanta was being used as a 'utility' player, either a ruck man, fullback or fullforward so he didn't have a set position.  Carlton now have a very good list of players and they are established in specific positions.  Also, he is easy to read and mark.

Heave ho, the young lad did fantastic.  His team went through the season totally unbeaten, with him scoring the winner in the last minute in the 'big' game against South Perth. He ran his wee legs off that day, ahem, a wee pep talk about spirit from his auld boy maybe doing the trick, 
You'd think parents in S.Perth would have dignity, but I suppose when you're fcukin loaded and a lawyer you expect everything your way in life.  They were not happy.  Mini me got runner-up in the best and fairest but the coach told me he was the best by far but they had to give it to another player as he won it for the past two years. He is eligible to play U-10 next year but wants to go up to U-11 so that he can tackle properly.  He uses me as a tackle bag.  His club's U-13 and U-14 also went through the season undefeated.  Great achievement for the club.

[HeaveHo]

Blues axe Irishman O'hAilpin

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-18/blues-axe-irishman-o27hailpin/3577506

O'hAilpin's axing and the recent retirement of Sydney premiership player Tadhg Kennelly leaves only eight Irishmen with AFL clubs, with all of those other than Brisbane's Pearce Hanley, Collingwood's Marty Clarke and Sydney's Tommy Walsh on rookie lists.

Does that mean Setanta cannot be picked up by another club next saeson ?

Setanta has nominated for the preseason draft and could get picked up by another club. Depends on what a club needs and how much Setanta nominates as his salary.

[HeaveHo]

GWB, Setanta was being used as a 'utility' player, either a ruck man, fullback or fullforward so he didn't have a set position.  Carlton now have a very good list of players and they are established in specific positions.  Also, he is easy to read and mark.

Heave ho, the young lad did fantastic.  His team went through the season totally unbeaten, with him scoring the winner in the last minute in the 'big' game against South Perth. He ran his wee legs off that day, ahem, a wee pep talk about spirit from his auld boy maybe doing the trick, 
You'd think parents in S.Perth would have dignity, but I suppose when you're fcukin loaded and a lawyer you expect everything your way in life.  They were not happy.  Mini me got runner-up in the best and fairest but the coach told me he was the best by far but they had to give it to another player as he won it for the past two years. He is eligible to play U-10 next year but wants to go up to U-11 so that he can tackle properly.  He uses me as a tackle bag.  His club's U-13 and U-14 also went through the season undefeated.  Great achievement for the club.

Sounds like the young bloke is a jet. Doesn't surprise me about the South Perth types - the entitlement crowd usually perform like that.

[AlriteHorse]

Well Aerlik, didn't realise you were in Perth. What club is your young cub with? Knocked about a bit with Wembley Magpies at the start of the year. Broke the ribs playing gaelic and never got back to Wembley after that.

Bit of a head on me in here today.......Subi Hotel got a rattle for the rugby.

[heganboy]

One word springs to mind when describing Martin Clarke - Wingmirrors.

He never wanted to know when players like McKeever or Noel O'Leary were marking him.

Had a decent 1st season back with Down, but was anonomous last year

don't know where to even start with this post. There's not a county team in Ireland wouldn't start Clarke, as an Armagh man passing comment he more than gave McKeever his fill of it, and looked dangerous every time he got the ball, his vision is exceptional.

I do feel that he will be a big loss for Down, though you can more than understand his willingness to go there and give it another rattle. I felt that his last season there was tempered by the fact that he was debating and then decided about going back to Ireland. I think he'll do well there now that he's fully committed. A very smart young man, and a credit to his family IMHO, wish him all the best and don't expect that this will be the last we hear of him.

[seanaglis]

One word springs to mind when describing Martin Clarke - Wingmirrors.

He never wanted to know when players like McKeever or Noel O'Leary were marking him.

Had a decent 1st season back with Down, but was anonomous last year

don't know where to even start with this post. There's not a county team in Ireland wouldn't start Clarke, as an Armagh man passing comment he more than gave McKeever his fill of it, and looked dangerous every time he got the ball, his vision is exceptional.

I do feel that he will be a big loss for Down, though you can more than understand his willingness to go there and give it another rattle. I felt that his last season there was tempered by the fact that he was debating and then decided about going back to Ireland. I think he'll do well there now that he's fully committed. A very smart young man, and a credit to his family IMHO, wish him all the best and don't expect that this will be the last we hear of him.

Im not saying Clarke is not a good footballer, but i do question his attitude.

If you compare him to other great CHFs of the recent past (Blaney, McGuigan, McEntee, Declan O'Sullivan) - the bigger the game, the better these guys seemed to play.

Be it Blaney standing up to McGilligan (twice his size) in Celtic Park in '94, McGuigan skipping past Geezer in the '03 AIF, McEntee kicking points while concussed in the '02 AIF or numerous MOM performances by O'Sullivan, these guys had the proper attitude to match their ability and thats why we will remember them as great CHF's.

The opposite can be said of Clarke, who i will remember for hiding in the AIF in 2010, complaining about bad pitches in the league, and clearly giving up this year when down were being beat by cork. None of the players mentioned above could ever have been accused of this.

[heganboy]

who i will remember for hiding in the AIF in 2010, complaining about bad pitches in the league, and clearly giving up this year when down were being beat by cork. None of the players mentioned above could ever have been accused of this.

You certainly have strong opinions on the subject, and thats what makes a discussion forum, I  strongly disagree with you however. And indeed I know three of the four fellas you mention above and all of them hold Clarke in the highest regard and all of them have very strong opinions on football and footballers too...

Wjile we're on the topic, to say that Martin Clarke hid in the AIF is an awful slur, and I think your reading of that speaks volumes on the subject. But sure isn't that what opinions are for?

[supersub]

Clarke was alright, decent first season. Far too much media coverage where he never said anything exciting, apart from cry about the state of the pitch in castlebar. It was at that time i though "well go f off back to oz". I'm sure he played on loads of shite pitches in down.

He'l be a loss to down, too the rest of the gaa he'l be fotgotten about come next year's league. But good luck to him anyway, i lived in oz and if i was offered any big job back there i'd jump at it

I see he said he went to st marys for a month and couldn't be bothered with deadlines, having to be at lectures at certain times etc, and he could'nt get used to this. Is the life of a professional footballer not all about strictly controlled regime's??

did he ever play ball for st marys?

A bit more motivation when you are getting a few grand a week to do it though 

[heganboy]

Interesting piece here:

Why the Irish experiment doesn't add up


http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/why-the-irish-experiment-doesnt-add-up-20111022-1mdp7.html

Three decades on and the doubt remains, but there's hope they're out there - somewhere.
JIM Stynes, the late Sean Wight and Tadhg Kennelly are not merely the most successful Irish imports to the AFL. To this point, they are the only clear-cut Irish successes in a game that, to date, has been unforgiving to Gaelic converts. They're like the minority of actors who make it in Hollywood while the rest wait tables.
Last week was a fateful one for Irish players in the AFL. Setanta O'hAilpin was cut by an apologetic Carlton. Two days later, Essendon quietly delisted Michael Quinn, the Irishman whose potent athleticism won him a best and fairest at the Bendigo Bombers, but wasn't sufficient to make the grade in the AFL, where he played eight games.

Tommy Walsh was in demand. The key-position prospect left St Kilda for Sydney on the proviso that he would be given his chance. Walsh rivals North's Majak Daw as the most hyped zero-game player in the AFL. Tommy turned down the Saints and, not to be outdone, Majak did the same to the Queen.
O'hAilpin's versatility and size should ensure that he finds another club. While his position in the Carlton seniors was never really secure, he stands among the most decorated of the Irish to play AFL. O'hAilpin, an alumnus of hurling, played 80 games for the Blues.
From the Irish ranks, only Melbourne's pioneering pair of Stynes and Wight, and Sydney's Kennelly, have bettered his games tally.
Stynes, Kennelly and Wight (who was technically Scottish) are the only Gaelic graduates to have played more than 100 games of VFL/AFL from an ad hoc migration program that has been running for more than a quarter of a century. The extraordinary life stories, tragedy and romance of that trio have masked the difficulty the Irish have had in converting from round to oval ball.
The basic numbers show that the Irish invasion hasn't been nearly as successful as widely believed - indeed, the strike rate of footballers from the el cheapo Victorian amateurs over the same 27-28 years is no worse. AFL clubs have done far, far better in mining indigenous talent, which today represents about 11 per cent of players.
The AFL's conservative official figures lists 34 players as recruits from Ireland, including Wight, since the well-named Paul Early played his one and only game for Melbourne, a full year before Wight, in 1984. Out of that group, very few have established themselves as regular senior players. A staggering 19 out of 34 didn't - or haven't yet - played a single game of top-level football. Several others played only one, two or three games. Melbourne had five forgotten Irish who played an aggregate of three games.
It should be noted that, of those 19 past and present Irish without a game, a few are considered certain to play - Walsh, for instance, will be given senior games by the Swans, while Collingwood is optimistic about the prospects of Paul Cribbin and explosive recruit Caolan Mooney (not counted among the 19), whom we hear would win any AFL decathlon. Richmond's Jamie O'Reilly managed four games in his two seasons at Tigerland.
There's also a small group of players who might well improve the overall Irish performance, headed by Pearce Hanley of the Brisbane Lions, who has played 34 games and has the tools to break the 100-game barrier. Taller teammate Niall McKeever played 10 games this year, Carlton's Zac Tuohy (11 games) also has shown signs of genuine ability, while Marty Clarke who had an impressive first two seasons before dropping off in 2009, will add to his 46 games.
Clarke's decision to return to Ireland to play Gaelic during 2010-11 underscored one of the Irish problems - the time constraints (imposed by either player or club). O'hAilpin started his odyssey in 2004. At 28, he is probably approaching his peak at an age when most players are entering decline.
Given that many Irish don't arrive until they're 20 or older, the window for a) learning the game, and b) becoming very good at it, is quite narrow, and I suspect this will encourage the drafting of taller Gaelic players who can be afforded more time.
The Irish experiment Ron Barassi launched at Melbourne was predicated on the similarity between the codes and the supposed ease with which an Irishman could adapt to Australia's game. But Australian football has proven a challenging sport to take up. It's possible that the congestion caused by the press makes it tougher for the Irish, who have mainly played best behind the ball with space in front of them.
As the future of the international rules series becomes a legitimate concern, the AFL desperately needs an Irish star or two to emerge. Collingwood and Carlton have the money to make it worthwhile; others consider it expensive and don't bother. West Coast can afford it, but doesn't like the percentages. Would the Pacific Islanders provide a better investment, or does American basketball offer a richer field, given the scarcity of 200-centimetre athletes here? Is New Zealand a possibility? Or is it better simply to focus on other sports in Australia?
An Irishman, a Pacific Islander, a Kiwi, an Australian rugby player and an American basketballer all try to play AFL. It sounds like the beginnings of a joke. One can only hope that it isn't.

[Hardy]

Would the Pacific Islanders provide a better investment, or does American basketball offer a richer field, given the scarcity of 200-centimetre athletes here? Is New Zealand a possibility? Or is it better simply to focus on other sports in Australia?

What's this about? Why can't the AFL develop its own players from within like every other sport? I don't know of any other field sport that gives so much of its attention to poaching players from other codes as the AFL seems to.

[HeaveHo]

Would the Pacific Islanders provide a better investment, or does American basketball offer a richer field, given the scarcity of 200-centimetre athletes here? Is New Zealand a possibility? Or is it better simply to focus on other sports in Australia?

What's this about? Why can't the AFL develop its own players from within like every other sport? I don't know of any other field sport that gives so much of its attention to poaching players from other codes as the AFL seems to.

There are now 18 AFL teams. Each team has 35 listed players and can list 8 rookies meaning a total of 774 spots. There are around 15 Irish lads on lists, 2 former rugby league players and 1 Canadian rugby player making a grand total of 18 players or 2.3% of all listed players. All AFL clubs have full time recruitment staff and a large number of part timers reviewing players from state leagues, country leagues including remote desert leagues, amateur leagues and any number of junior competitions. I don't think running a few trials for Irish lads is either taking up much of their time or attention.   

As the article notes there are a limited number of elite athletes especially taller ones in AFL circles. All players salaries are underwritten by the AFL. Given the congruence of these facts some would consider the failure to look for appropriate tall athletes from other leagues would be bordering on the negligent.

Rugby union would top the AFL in Australia for poaching players from other sports.

The AFL interest in the Pacific Islands has arisen following the recruitment of Nic Natiniui. He is a 200 cms, 105 kgs and has freakish athletic ability (and hair). Google Nic Nat's mark for evidence (note that he is jumping over the 195 cm Josh Kennedy). Nic Nat did grow up in Australia but the AFL thinks there may be others like him in his native Fiji and surrounds.