‘I got the chance to say thanks to a few people’

BEING drafted into the Cork senior setup as a raw defender out of the minor ranks was a milestone in Michael Shields’ football career.

But there has been a flipside to being immersed in the inter-county game for the past six seasons. The lure of a J1 trip to the United States for a summer had to be resisted and any other travelling plans also had to be shelved as Cork have been playing championship football in August and September.

Having graduated from UCC last August, he spied an opportunity to head to Australia after the Cork team’s holiday to South Africa in January.

“I realise that I was lucky being brought onto the Cork panel straight out of minor and I’ve been lucky that every year since then Cork have either got to an All-Ireland semi-final or final.

“I never had the chance to get away bar a couple of team holidays as when the season ended, I was straight back into college. You’d see other friends go off and it’s something you’d like to do. So I took the chance this year.”

Shields visited friends from home now domiciled in Melbourne, including Cork team doctor Dr Con Murphy’s son Colm. Spending time in Australia also allowed him the chance to renew acquaintances with old teammates from AFL outfit Carlton.

“I hadn’t been back to Australia since I left in 2008 so it was nice to catch up with a few people. I got the chance to say thanks to a few people who were very good to me when I was over there. In the International Rules last year I played against Eddie Betts, Bryce Gibbs and Kade Simpson, who I knew from Carlton. Matty Lappin then was one of the selectors with the International Rules and he was a Carlton selector when I was over there. I met up with all of them again, they’re good guys. I got the chance to catch up with Setanta and Aisake as well which was great. I did some training over there as well to keep in shape and it was just a really good refreshing break.”

Shields missed Cork’s opening league tie against Kerry but since then has been a constant presence as they have succeeded in reaching Sunday’s league decider against Dublin.

Cork’s achievement has been admirable as they have been bereft of experienced figures like Alan Quirke and Graham Canty, yet Shields reckons it was time for him and his 2007 All-Ireland U21 winning ilk to step up to the mark.

“You do have to start stepping up. I’ve been involved now for six years so I’ve a bit of experience at this stage. I suppose myself, Daniel (Goulding) and a few of the others probably now feel that we can help point other younger guys in the right direction. Coming up to a league or championship game, we can talk about what certain guys are like to mark and certain teams are like to play against.

“We do try to give them some bit of knowledge and we have to drive the thing on.”