JUST OVER A year ago, Louth’s Ciarán ‘Casey’ Byrne had the rug swept from beneath his feet and he found himself tumbling into the depths of despair.
Four days after making his AFL bow for Carlton against Essendon, on the hallowed turf of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Byrne suffered a hammer blow with potentially life-changing repercussions.
A hamstring injury the Wednesday after his debut kept Byrne sidelined for the rest of season. He had a taste of the big time, only for it to be cruelly taken away as he was left salivating for more.
On the field, Carlton, one of the game’s most famous clubs and tied for the most VFL/AFL Premierships (16), was at its lowest ebb.
They won just four of their 22 games last season, finishing bottom of the 18-team table, and had never looked further from their glory days of the 1970s and 80s, or their last Premiership win in 1995.
But fast forward to the present day and there is no need for the stethoscope; the sleeping giant is showing signs of life.
And Byrne is playing a key role in their rejuvenation.
Last May, Carlton sacked experienced coach Mick Malthouse, and they have since chosen former Hawthorn assistant coach Brendon Bolton as the best candidate to lead the club out of the dark.
It may be the 37-year-old’s first head-coach role in the AFL but he arrived with contemporary ideas, a big reputation and a comprehensive plan to rebuild the club from the bottom up.
After a difficult start to the season that saw the Blues slump to four straight losses, Bolton’s side have balanced the ledger, having since won consecutive games against Fremantle, Essendon, bitter rivals Collingwood, and Port Adelaide.
During that remarkable run, Byrne has earned widespread praise for his defensive performances. He has played six AFL games in a row, all four of their winning run, and today at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium at 10.25am Irish time, the St Mochta’s man goes up against table-toppers North Melbourne who have won eight from eight to date in this campaign.
It’s a new dawn for the 21-year-old who remains Louth and proud. A young man from the Wee County whose big, fanciful dreams are starting to become a day-to-day reality.
He knows how different it could have been, particularly if he didn’t have compatriots and Carlton team-mates Zach Tuohy (Laois) and Ciarán Sheehan (Cork) around for support and inspiration.
“I definitely went through some stages last year where I was contemplating getting on the next plane home,” Byrne told The42 from Melbourne, the home of ‘footy’.
“It was a hard year, I was in rehab for 12 months.
“But having Zach and Ciarán here makes it so much easier.
You get to talk about Gaelic things, just even talking about stories from back home, even just about having a pint of Guinness down the pub.
“When you have those boys and you’re talking about Irish things, it makes it that much easier.”
Byrne is just in the door from training and is pleased to report that he will be fit to play against the league leaders, having picked up a dead leg or a ‘corky’, as the Aussies call it, in Carlton’s thrilling 93-91 win against Port Adelaide last weekend.
He will line out in the full-back line, with Tuohy in view just one squadron further up the field, looking to implement and further adapt to his coach’s zonal defensive system, as opposed to last season’s man-to-man approach under Malthouse.
“It’s a completely different environment at the minute,” he explains.
“Last year, from my perspective, was a very different year. I made my debut and did my hamstring and was out for 12 months. Obviously Carlton didn’t have a good year either.
“A lot of things have changed over the last couple of months. We got a new coach in, plenty of new players and all of the boys have been learning a new system and we’re thriving at the minute.”
Destiny
In a bizarre way, Byrne has always had a connection to Australia, even if he didn’t know it until 2006.
Ten years ago, there was a knock at the door of the Byrne family home in Louth village, a small Wee County town of less than 1,000 people.
On the doorstep stood Australian cousins. An out-of-the-blue arrival from the other side of the world, calling to a family who were previously unaware of their existence.
Even Byrne’s nickname, Casey, is more Aussie surfer than Irish footballer. A moniker that stuck when his younger sister Eimear, as a three-year-old, struggled to pronounce her brother’s Christian name.
These days he’s only known as Casey, unless he’s in his mother’s bad books, he jokes.
“(The cousins) rocked up at the door and said ‘we’re related to you and we’re from Australia’,” Byrne recalls.
“We never knew. And I said to them that I’d love to play AFL one day. I think I was only 11 or 12 at that stage.
“Then a few years later I’m out here fulfilling that dream which is pretty crazy. It’s almost like it was meant to happen.”
Goals
Irish recruits tend to cut their teeth in the oval-ball game as half-backs, no matter how forward-thinking they may have been on the green grass of home.
It’s a place where their athleticism can be used to greatest effect, breaking from defence into attack, and it’s also an ideal spot to study and observe the game; to get a feel for its idiosyncrasies and complex movement patterns.
For Byrne, a renowned underage forward in Gaelic football who made his Louth senior debut three years ago as an 18-year-old, one of the most difficult adjustments has been changing his mentality. He is the hunter now, not the prey.
“I never thought I’d see myself as a defender, having been an out-and-out forward back home.
“I was a corner-forward, taking the frees. There wasn’t a defensive bone in my body, it was quite weird coming out here and adjusting to the defensive side of things but I’ve loved it.
“I started off early in my career out here playing as a forward. I played my first 14 games in the VFL in the forward line. But I was eventually moved down back and I felt more comfortable seeing everything ahead of me.”
There has been talk in Australia that Byrne has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Brisbane’s Mayo star Pearce Hanley in making the transition from defence into the thick of the action in midfield.
For now though, with just seven AFL games under his belt, Byrne is focused on cementing his place in the side, although his attacking instincts have him desperate to score his first AFL goal, and he’s got big plans for it.
“A lot of the boys have been speaking about my first goal celebration around the club.
“Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had a few chances to kick my first goal. I missed one against Collingwood which was kickable.
“Before I even kicked it I had the celebration in my head. But there’s no doubt that when I do kick my first goal that there’s going to be a bit of an Irish jig in there. I’ll definitely give it heaps anyway,” he quips.
In two weeks’ time, Hanley’s struggling Lions side (just one win from their opening eight AFL matches this season) will make the trip south to the Etihad to take on Carlton. And Byrne can’t wait to see what his compatriot, who has played 115 senior games for the Lions, is made of.
“There’ll be a bit of banter beforehand I’d say. We might hop on Twitter and have a bit of craic before the game,” he jokes.
“It will be interesting to go against him, I haven’t played against him yet. He’s going pretty well up in Brisbane too, he’s probably one of their best players, so it will be nice to get stuck into him.”
Recruits
It’s common to have the number of Irish recruits at AFL clubs in double digits as every season begins these days. But you can still almost count the success stories on one hand.
These young men in Australia are dotted across different clubs on the enormous island. They may be largely from different counties, and even playing for rival AFL clubs, but they have a shared goal. And that has created a deep bond between them.
“You keep in contact with all the Irish boys on the phone,” Byrne explains.
“We have the likes of Seán Hurley (Kildare/Fremantle) and Paddy Brophy (Kildare/West Coast) in Perth.
“There are a few boys in Melbourne too. I catch up with Conor McKenna (Tyrone/Essendon) regularly. It’s good to have those boys out here, us Irish stick together.”
For every tale of Hanley, Tadhg Kennelly (Premiership winner 2005) or the late Jim Stynes (Brownlow Medal winner 1991), there are scores of young Irish footballers who have failed to make the grade Down Under. Injury, illness, homesickness or failing to adjust to the oval-ball game have got the better of many of Byrne’s predecessors.
It’s a cut-throat business and Byrne and his team-mate Sheehan know better than most the disastrous consequences a particularly ill-timed injury can have.
Cork native Sheehan has had a tough time of it lately, having just made his return for Carlton’s affiliate club, the Northern Blues, in a game last weekend after a 15-month absence with a hip injury.
Byrne, Sheehan and Tuohy have been plotting a historic game for Irish recruits for quite some time. They lined out together in the pre-season NAB Cup early last year but the trio are desperate to do the same in the heat of AFL battle.
But Sheehan is a number of weeks off AFL football just yet and will need a few outings in the lower-grade Victorian Football League to prove he is up to the rigours of the main stage.
“We’ve said from day one that the goal is to get the three of us running off the half-back line in the AFL. How good would that be?
“Obviously we all would have to be injury free and playing well to be in that position. It really would be a dream come true though.
“It’s probably a bit soon for Ciarán at the moment for senior footy. Hopefully we can get him back into the side pretty soon.”
Carlton is a club with plenty of Irish connections; Setanta Ó hAilpín wore the blue guernsey on 88 occasions, while Michael Shields and Aisake Ó hAilpín, both also from Cork, had short spells at the club.
The Irish brotherhood helps it feel like a home away from home for Byrne. Although he does admit, particularly at this time of year, Ireland is still pulling at his heartstrings.
When he sees his beloved Louth, with brother and role model Declan a prominent figure at wing-forward, doing so well — having won Division 4 in the league and begun their Leinster championship campaign with an impressive 10-point win against Carlow — those pangs for home probe deeper.
“It’s a dream come true to play in the AFL system,” he explains.
“There are days when you think about family and home.
“For me, missing home, it comes in particularly when the Gaelic football kicks in.
“When Louth played Carlow last weekend, I’d love to have been involved in that. But then, when I weigh it up, I realise I’m out here in Melbourne, given a chance to play professional sport. It’s pretty special.”
One man who has caught the eye for Louth of late is 19-year-old forward Ryan Burns, someone whose achievements at such a young age, and obvious ability, have been compared to those of Byrne. And seeing the youngster excel comes of little surprise to the Carlton defender.
“I know Ryan really well, he’s a good fella,” Byrne, who is continuing his sport science studies on a part-time basis while Down Under, says.
“His personality is very laid-back but he has everything in him as a footballer; he’s very quick, both-footed and he’s very clever on the ball too. I’d love to play alongside him some day.”
For now though, Byrne will have to make do with playing alongside 16 Aussies and a Laois man. And, if all goes to plan, a Corkonian too in the not-too-distant future.
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