Darragh Joyce: ‘I grew up dreaming I’d play for Kilkenny. It is still on my mind’

But on Sunday he will sit down in his Brisbane apartment and haul up GAAGO. Roaring on from Down Under, just as he did during the dramatic Leinster final.

Darragh Joyce of the Lions in action during the 2023 AFL Round 04 match between the Brisbane Lions and the Collingwood Magpies. (Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

A teen leading the black and amber up the Hogan Stand steps, the dream delivered. One week later shift across to Hill 16 and watch the brother put in a Man of the Match showing as Kilkenny clinch a minor and senior double. Imagine.

Recently Darragh Joyce received a WhatsApp from home. It was a video from a Kilkenny volunteer, ten years on from his minor debut in the 2013 Leinster final. In 2014 he captained his county in the minor decider. The last frontier before green shoots sprouted. Limerick were the coming force. That team contained the likes of Sean Finn, Cian Lynch, Barry Nash, Peter Casey and Seamus Flanagan. Their invasion was delayed but it would not be denied.

After the U18 curtain-raiser, Kilkenny and Tipperary played out an epic draw in the senior clash. A week later Brian Cody launched a coup of his own, tossing in Kieran Joyce. He did not play a single minute in the first final. He finished the replay as an All-Ireland winner and the best player on the pitch.

“The week leading up to the replay, we were in the car one day just the two of us,” Joyce recalls with a reminiscing smile. “Kieran just turned around and told me he was playing. That was early in the week now, Tuesday I think. It turned out to be magic. I’d to keep it quiet because if the mother got a hold of that news…”

One of the many fragmented visuals that blurs into a weeklong haze. The sense of anticipation and giddiness returns to his face for the briefest of moments. That year was a whirlwind. The Rower Inistioge man was already on the AFL’s radar by then.

Australian Rules was long on his mind. Along with Kieran and middle brother Conor, they would watch TG4 highlights sporadically. His mother would speak fondly of her relation Kevin ‘Spitfire’ Walsh, who played for Essendon in the 1980s. There were several cross-continent phone calls, trials and clubs visits in Melbourne and Sydney.

Darragh Joyce in action. Pic: St Kilda.

Eventually St Kilda made their move and Joyce spent an impressive six seasons with the side. Last winter, he was ordered to a meeting with management. Becoming a professional sportsman had become the new dream. The dream was over.

“I saw the writing on the wall in my last year and I thought I was well-prepared for that meeting,” Joyce says.

“I mean, I played two games in my last year. I didn’t have the best relationship with Ratts, I just didn’t think he rated me as a player. That’s fine. He has a job to do.

“My form was really good in the VFL (reserves) but I only played 12 games in the entire year out of a possible 23, 2 AFL and 10 VFL. You feel fucked around a bit being that emergency carryover player. 

"It throws you off, you miss games. You are on standby basically. So, I was going to Perth not playing, then training on my own. I was fit the entire year, not a single injury. It was so frustrating.

“I saw it coming but then you go into the exit meeting and you hear it, it hits you like a brick. Sitting there being able to compose yourself in the moment, it is one of those experiences, it prepares you so well for anything.”

Joyce coldly breaks it down in simple terms. The pro industry demands as much. How did he feel in the moment? Not good enough. Not wanted. It was indisputably a laudable feat; he had reached double digits as an AFL player, but he wanted more. It was time for restoration and renovation. That had to start at home.

The St Kilda squad went on an end of season holiday to Bali. He flew back to Melbourne for a few days and then sought refugee with the Rower.

“I landed on a Wednesday. We went training on the Thursday and I played a full game on Saturday. After being delisted and all, it was just great to be back amongst lads again with a common goal.

"I leaned on them. If I was alone in Melbourne, I don’t know how it would have gone. It was the best thing ever to be around family and friends, talk things through and get out to play.”

The magnetism of the AFL is obvious. Everyone wants to make their mark. That does a curious thing to a group. Joyce was always on the verge and perfectly placed to watch how the spirit churns as the campaign progresses. Preseason is positivity. Chat of finals and awards. Pursue the peak.

Offseason is carnage. Livelihoods are on the line. A familiar face one day suddenly cut adrift the next. One consoling WhatsApp before you gradually lose contact. At first coaches were seen as all-powerful. As his career progressed, he discovered they too have their own vulnerabilities. For so many this profession is one of uncertainty. A scurry from the bottom.

His agent encouraged him to persevere. He had shown enough to merit another opportunity elsewhere. Brisbane Lions offered a lifeline. In January they moved defender Marcus Adams to the inactive list due to a concussion issue and Joyce was a like-for-like replacement.

“I was open to the opportunity and had six good years in Melbourne. There was the Irish connection with James (Madden) and Conor (McKenna),” he explains. Smooth sailing from there? Not likely. Haven’t you been listening?

“I had a great start and then a bad dose of sickness. See I had blood poisoning and was in hospital for five days. I actually lost five kilos. It was a cut on my knee but I didn’t know it at the time. Sometimes after a game in this heat, you are so dehydrated. That’s what it felt like.

“I came home and didn’t feel good. Went for breakfast the next day with Conor and his girlfriend, they were asking me to do things and I just wanted to go to bed. Anyway, they had spread fertiliser on the ground and it got into my blood.

"Four or five days later I was still vomiting. It was too long for gastro. I was in hospital lying on my side and the doctor came in, he spotted this black spot on my knee and copped it.”

The Queensland outfit are in the hunt for silverware, currently third on the AFL and VFL ladder. Joyce plays across both.

“I played five of the first six AFL games. I’d a great start and then we played Fremantle and they went with a smaller backline. If I was told I’d start like this with the Lions I’d have taken your hand off. However once you start playing you want to keep going. I’m just trying to get back in now.”

In between St Kilda and Brisbane there was the club. And the prospect of Kilkenny emerged once more. What he labels as a decent day against Carrickshock in the Shield final was actually five points, all from play. Derek Lyng wasn’t long making contact.

“I managed to get on a bit of ball and I got a call later that week. We had a few conversations. When we finished with Rower I went in for testing. But I’d told him I was going back to Melbourne to get my stuff sorted at the very least.

“I would have backed myself to be there or thereabouts with the team. I still think there is time for it yet. Derek wanted me back in because he realised all I needed was hurling, hurling, hurling. Fitness wouldn’t be an issue. It was just time to hurl. Club hurling is fine but we’re an intermediate club. Senior club is another step up and senior intercounty is a big step.”

So he will sit down on Sunday night in his Brisbane apartment and haul up GAAGO. Roaring on from Down Under, just as he did during the dramatic Leinster final. Four of the family will gather in Croke Park. He still yearns to return there again.

“It is still a childhood dream. I didn’t grow up thinking I’d be playing footy; I grew up dreaming I’d be playing for Kilkenny. It is still on my mind. It will be great to watch them on Sunday, but it will be a tough watch. You’d love to be part of it. I’ve to see how this goes. Full focus on the finals campaign and see how it goes for me personally.

“The lads are all heading. My middle brother Conor is just back from Dubai so he is going with Dad and Kieran. Conor is sports mad; he is actually on the team for the UAE in the World Games.

“Mom will only go if one of us is playing. She won’t go if we aren’t. To be honest, she will be awake at 3am watching my VFL game. She doesn’t understand footy, but she has to make sure I get through injury free. She always says the next Kilkenny game she goes to will be the one I play.”