Setanta has training ground bust-up with Carlton teammate

SETANTA Ó hAILPíN hit the headlines in Australia yesterday after pictures of a training ground bust-up with team-mate Cain Ackland appeared in the country’s biggest selling newspaper, The Melbourne Herald Sun.

The two Carlton players traded blows in front of stunned team-mates during a routine rucking drill after Ackland had apparently clipped the Irishman with an elbow.

Both players then went to ground with Ackland pushing the former Cork hurler’s face into the turf before being separated by assistant coach Brett Ratten.

An enraged Ó hAilpín and Ackland continued their spat as soon as both recovered their feet, with the Cork man apparently landing a handful of punches before the heat finally fizzled out of the situation.

Both players were laughing and joking about it within minutes and Carlton’s football operations manager Steven Icke said there was no bad blood because of the altercation.

“That’s what you want isn’t it?” Icke told the Herald Sun. “I reckon it is fantastic that the blokes take training that seriously.

“Ideally, you wouldn’t want every player punching on with their team-mates but occasionally that sort of stuff is not a bad thing.

“No-one got hurt, which is the important thing, and they kissed and made up at the end of the session.”

Ó hAilpín has been getting regular time on the paddock this season with the Melbourne outfit and Icke went on to say that he was not surprised by the Irishman’s spirit in training.

“He is a super competitive kid,” he said. “He probably just got beaten for a ruck contest and he’s done what he’s done with a few of his opponents this year and come back.

“He’s taken on some pretty big tasks this year and he’s just so super competitive. He just hates losing.”