Cork's Ciarán Sheehan calls time on AFL career
Sheehan, a member of the 2010 All-Ireland winning side, yesterday confirmed his retirement from Australian Rules Football, four years after joining Melbourne giants, Carlton Blues.
Sheehan who turned 27 last month, suffered a horrific run of injuries during his time in the AFL and managed just half a dozen first-team appearance.
He tweeted his decision yesterday: “What an amazing experience these last 4 years have been! Thanks very much to @carltonfc and @northernbluesfc for giving me this opportunity! Great to experience being a professional athlete..didn’t get to where I wanted to go this time but thanks for all the support #newchapter.”
Speaking during last month’s International Rules Tour, Sheehan admitted that the injuries took a heavy toll on him: “I’ve had three hip surgeries, two knee surgeries and a fairly badly broken nose this year. The hips gave me a lot of trouble early on. In my first year I had a great start and I played four games. I ran into some hip trouble pre-season my following year. I tried to rehab and get it back right but eventually I ended up having to go for surgery halfway through the year. Both hips ruled me out for the year.
“I was fit and ready for the next season but a couple of months I had a stress fracture reaction in my foot so went into a boot and that flared up my hip again so I had to get that done again. I got back midway through that year but then tore my lateral ligament and hamstring as well so that put me out for another six or seven months.
“Then I got back this year and I had a pretty clean run aside from that broken nose. I had a meniscus repaired at the end of the year. Yeah, there’s been a lot of interesting moments throughout my career so far but, you know what, it’s been a huge experience and I’ve learned an awful lot about me as a player and obviously as a person. It’s been quite an up and down trip.”
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