GAA players’ amateur ethos still baffling for Aussie Rules stars

Colm Begley says his former AFL team-mates still can’t believe senior Gaelic footballers aren’t paid to represent their counties.

After five years in Australia, the former Brisbane Lions and St Kilda player returned home to play for Laois at the end of 2009 but keeps in touch with his old colleagues.

And the 29-year-old knows exactly what will be motivating them on Saturday.

“It’s a sense of pride for them that they don’t want to be beaten by amateurs. But over the years they do know what’s going on in Ireland. Often the boys have asked me, ‘How are you still not getting paid?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know...’

“They’ve asked about training and the pre-season that we do. Some of their coaches last year even talked to me about what our training is like so they do know that we’re not just lads who are out training Tuesday and Thursday and play a game on Saturday and go on the beer.”

He appreciates exactly what’s at stake for this star-studded Australian side too. “Last year they brought their best team in a long time. If they did that and were beaten — and I think if we had a few more minutes then we would have beaten them — then… I think they showed themselves ‘we can beat these lads. We haven’t brought our best teams before but this is our best team now.’ So this game will be very important.

“They’ve brought a very, very strong team again. We’ve got very strong, experienced players but we’ve also got some new faces too.”

Begley continues: “They’re very competitive. They don’t like losing. But what country likes losing? They do take it personally. Part of their game involves sledging at a younger age. We’ll see what happens.”

In the final year of a degree in DCU, there’s a part of Begley that misses the AFL. Luck as much as anything else went against him making a long-term career there especially in Melbourne with St Kilda.

“The first few years went well, then a new coach came in to the Brisbane Lions. I thought I was going to get a contract from my old coach Leigh Matthews but he stepped down.

“Then I went to another team, St Kilda, and they won 20 (games) in a row. So I only got one game that year. They just went so well. And maybe my ability wasn’t quite good enough at that level. I don’t know. I would have liked to have tried another team out there.

“Players who are doing well are impact players. Pearce Hanley was one, a very powerful player. Tadhg (Kennelly) as well. There was a niche for Tadhg at the time. Sydney needed a player like Tadhg and he stepped into that perfectly. The players who have done well have made a niche for themselves that the team required. Maybe, myself and Marty Clarke a few of the guys who went out there didn’t find that niche. There was a lot similar to us.”

He dismisses the idea he lost out because he was Irish: “Whether I was playing a reserve game — me and an Australian guy at the same level, whoever was playing better would have played. Their goal is to get the best players on the field.”

Set to make his 13th appearance for Ireland on Saturday, Begley doesn’t mind saying International Rules provides him with an avenue to show those in Australia what they’re missing.

“For me, two reasons: GAA players who are amateur get a chance to prove themselves against some of the top athletes in the world. That’s a personal thing. And they are some of the top athletes, fitness-wise and strength-wise, in the world, especially in field-based sports. As players now, we consider ourselves professional players in the way we train. To go against these fellas and beat them, physically and in game-set, is always a proud moment for lads.

“For me it goes both ways. I like to show myself and maybe show them ‘Oh yeah, he could have made it… he was a good player out there – and is back here as well.’”