Setanta on verge of Carlton first team

FORMER Young Hurler of the Year Setanta Ó hAilpín is on the brink of a dramatic first team breakthrough in his adopted game of Australian Rules.

Ó hAilpín’s club, Carlton, suffered a heavy loss in last weekend’s first round of the AFL, when the Kangaroos beat them by 20 points.

After a successful pre-season, that represents a setback for Carlton coach Denis Pagan who is accordingly considering promotion for Ó hAilpín in order to add some physical presence to the side.

“We’ve got to get some height into the side,” Pagan told the Carlton club website. “We don’t want to get too short.”

Carlton defenders Bret Thornton and Luke Livingston were injured in last weekend’s loss and are ruled out for this weekend’s game against Essendon in the MCG, which means Ó hAilpín and Karl Norman, are in with a chance of breaking into the team.

Ó hAilpín has made huge strides in picking up the oval ball game since joining Carlton in the wake of Cork’s loss to Kilkenny in the 2003 All-Ireland final. If he makes the Carlton line-up and stays in the team until June 4 he’ll come up against former Kerry footballer Tadhg Kennelly, who is an established star of Aussie Rules.