Setanta gets kicks from new ethnic role

This article first appeared in the Irish Echo

By Luke O’Neill

The GWS Giants man was recently appointed as the AFL’s multicultural ambassador in New South Wales and, as he explains to the Irish Echo, it is a role he is embracing enthusiastically.

“Obviously, I’m humbled and honoured to be a part of it, coming from a multicultural background myself – being Irish and Fijian. I guess when they approached me, it was something that I’d often wanted to do,” he says.

Ó hAilpín says being in Western Sydney – where he was born before moving to Cork – shows him how “massively multicultural and steeped in ethnic groups” that part of the city is.

While Ó hAilpín says he will work hard to engage communities in the GWS hinterland, he is keen too to draw in the high numbers of Irish people living closer to the city.

“As a multicultural ambassador, I can deepen my connection with diverse communities. It gives me an opportunity to meet young people and their families and share my passion for the game and engage people into participating, no matter what game [it is],” he says.

Ó hAilpín is aware of the power of sport as an icebreaker for children from multicultural upbringings, like his own.

“We’re working tirelessly towards engaging multicultural communities and it’s a big part of our game. We’ve got to grow not just in Australia but around the continent.”

With Kerryman Tadhg Kennelly charged with leading the AFL’s international talent hunt, the pair also find themselves comparing notes on how best to bed in new converts to the game. They speak “on a regular basis”, he says.

“Myself and Tadhg have often spoke about that – the hardship of leaving your family and your country. But I guess, as you can see with the economic downturn, more people are leaving Ireland. I guess it’s just another avenue to go down,” he says.

With Irish families coming to Australia, he hopes Irish kids can be given the opportunity to progress through to the top level of AFL.

“It would be great in ten years time to see Irish kids playing with Sydney or GWS,” he says.

He believes the infrastructure for code-swapping players has vastly improved since he first joined Carlton ten years ago as a teenager.

“The way kids are being looked after is ten times better. I guess the infrastructure is there in all the clubs develop each international player. Whereas when I first came and Tadhg, they didn’t have much of an infrastructure there to develop players coming from different codes.”

He believes an understanding of past players has helped to improve this process at many clubs.

Ó hAilpín is excited about multicultural trials being held across Sydney by AFL NSW this week.

“I myself like to see people coming from different necks of the woods, coming in and trying their hand at AFL. You never know, at various different camps, you could inherit a star of the future – which one day we’re hoping to do.”

Now at GWS, where he has a contract until the end of this year, he is focused on recovering from the ACL injury that ruled him out for 2012 on hisvery first game of the season. The club’s medical team is happy with his recovery.

“They’ve said progress is going very well. I’m ahead of schedule by four or five weeks, which is very pleasing to hear,” he said.

“The last bit of my rehab is getting through games unscathed, so progressively gaining game time and getting it up and up so I can play four quarters consistently.”

Getting through the year without injury and contributing to GWS is high on his priority list, but Ó hAilpín also has his eye on the upcoming International Rules series, following the appointment of new Ireland manager Paul Earley.

“Definitely, a passion of mine is to represent my country,” he says. “It’s not until you leave the country that you understand how important it is to pull on an Irish guernsey.”

He believes there are a number of Irish players, who could impress this year.

“I think Pearce [Hanley] flies under the radar quite a lot, not much AFL goes on up there [in Queensland]..

“I’ve watched him closely since he’s got here and he’s amazing. I guess if there’s someone that’s going to emulate the feats of Jim Stynes or Tadhg Kennelly it’ll be Pearce himself. He’s travelling fantastically. It shows in his result in the best and fairest, coming in the top five. He’s really another one to watch out there.”

He also names Zach Tuohy and Martin Clarke as ones to look out for in the upcoming season.