Corkman Sheehan set for AFL debut on Saturday

Meticulous scrutiny of Australian football matches was a central factor in Ciarán Sheehan’s selection on the Carlton side for this Saturday’s clash with Gold Coast.

The former Cork footballer, who will wear the No 47 jersey, will make his AFL debut at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, eight months after giving the game a second chance.

The Éire Óg product spent four weeks during the summer of 2009 training with Carlton, but had a change of heart about pursuing the professional lifestyle and opted to remain on Leeside instead. An All-Ireland SFC medal materialised the following summer, with Carlton renewing their interest in Sheehan off the back of his outstanding performance in last year’s International Rules series.

The 23-year-old has played 14 games for VFL outfit Northern Blues this season, an affiliate club to Carlton, and was fast-tracked to the senior list as a replacement for the injured Andrew Walker.

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse hailed Sheehan as a “fantastic story” of persistence, adding the promotion of the Irishman was solely “on the back of good form, really good form”.

“In many respects it could even be considered late for him to be playing [his first match] because his form has been very, very solid for a number of weeks,” continued Malthouse.

Northern Blues coach Luke Webster praised the forward’s “exceptional hunger” to remedy his lack of tactical knowledge of the game.

“He was really diligent. He took time out of his own day to sit down and watch a quarter of footy here and a quarter of footy there on his own, and obviously went to watch live games once the footy started,” Webster told Melbourne’s The Age newspaper.

“He did a lot of individual work on his own, going away and reporting back on what he’d seen and asking a lot of questions, which really helped his development. His questioning throughout development and team meetings has been really good.”

Sheehan is one of three Irish players currently involved with the club along with Zach Tuohy of Laois and Louth’s Ciarán Byrne.

“He’s got a very good left-foot kick. He can kick a long goal, and he’s kicked a couple from 50 metres a couple of times [in the VFL],” continued Webster.

“Ciarán is the one, out of all our first year guys, who has played the most amount of footy.

“He started the year learning to play as a forward, and then swung around and learned to play as a backman, and he has adapted to that really well. One of his biggest assets is his speed – and he’s defending the ball really well and also makes good decisions once he gets his hands on the footy.”

Meanwhile, this weekend marks the beginning of the Australian Rules International Cup, a triennial competition showcasing the international growth of the game. Both the Irish men’s and women’s teams are in action against Fiji at the McAlister Oval in Melbourne on Sunday.