No regrets for Mourne man O’Reilly as he relishes Tiger time

DOWN tyro Jamie O’Reilly insists he has no regrets about leaving home to concentrate on an AFL career with Richmond Tigers despite the Mourne men’s progression to the last four in the All-Ireland championship.

The 22-year-old’s transition to a new code paid almost instant dividends after he was fast-tracked to the senior team list, despite still being in the first term of a two-year international rookie contract.

“I’m loving it,” said O’Reilly. “It’s everything I expected it would be, living the professional lifestyle.

“At home I had a part-time job, was studying full-time and had football five or six nights a week for all different teams. So it’s good to concentrate all of my energy on one thing.

“The coaching staff and all our players having faith in me during games is a lot of help in terms of motivation and being comfortable in this environment. If you felt that people didn’t have confidence in you to hit the kick or make the handball or make the tackle, it would make things a lot more difficult.”

The Loughinisland native was spotted by Tigers’ recruiting manager, Francis Jackson playing for Down against Armagh and subsequently impressed on a trial at Richmond’s Punt Road ground.

In the early days he struggled with the pace and length of an Aussie Rules game, finding the stop-start nature of it most difficult. Although he has bulked up, like most Irish recruits, he is been positioned as a running half-back.

“I watch a few different players – obviously Tadhg Kennelly, because I play a similar position, and he’s come a similar route to the game as I have – Lindsay Gilbee and Jarrod Harbrow from the Bulldogs, and Heath Shaw of Collingwood. They’re all hard-running gut-runners who use the ball well and are really directional, always calling to teammates where to get the ball, and reading the play. Their game is all about reading the play and anticipation, which are some of my strengths that I can implement here to make me a good player.”

Whether or not he gets an AFL game this year – and his chances have improved significantly, now that he’s on the senior list – O’Reilly is relishing his time in Australia and loving Aussie Rules.

“You get enjoyment out of different things in a lot of different ways – making a really strong tackle and putting them to the ground and holding the ball, because it can inspire the team,” he said.

“And coaches like seeing players who work hard defensively, and I get enjoyment out of someone else making a tackle. I enjoy the kicking and handballing aspect of it, whenever you hit a really incisive kick that opens the defence up. Because of my background I’m a run-and-carry player so I enjoy breaking the lines and really taking a burst forward.”