AFL club Carlton recommence Irish recruitment with Dublin visit and twelve player interviews

DUBLIN-BOUND: Nick Austin, Head of List Management of the Carlton Blues. Pic: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

AFL outfit Carlton are relaunching their Irish recruitment with list manager Nick Austin and national recruiting manager Mick Agresta flying to Dublin for a visit this weekend, according to club CEO Brian Cook.

Carlton have a strong record of signing Irish talent, including Galway’s Cillian McDaid, Cork’s Ciaran Sheehan and Louth’s Ciaran Byrne. Fermanagh native Joanne Doonan currently plays for their AFLW side.

Speaking on the AFL nation podcast, Cook was asked about the strength of their squad and how they plan to develop it.

“I think it is getting there. I really do. Top end is very talented. Like most clubs, we are continuing to build our depth. We have been doing that through free agency trade and particularly the draft because of the implications of that are, we are doing that.

“There are options we are looking at. We are setting up an Irish structure. We sent our two recruiting people, Nick Austin and Nick to Ireland to set up a structure and interview twelve players. The Category B Rookies is really important.” 

It is understood the latest AFL trial session will take place on Saturday in Dublin with the Carlton crew to attend. As revealed by the Irish Examiner last month, an AFL recruiter spent several weeks running sessions in Dublin for men and women who could make the move Down Under in the future.

In an interview with the Age Newspaper this week, AFL Talent Ambassador Kevin Sheehan said four Irish prospects will travel to the combine in Australia later this year.

“We’re back doing what we did before COVID, and we’ve got an agent [Gerard Sholly] scanning to see who might be good enough and might want to come,” Sheehan said.

“We’re running scanning sessions, and our intent is to bring four out for the combine, so we’re up to that sifting stage.”