COLM BEGLEY HAS admitted that part of his motivation for wanting to play well in the International Rules series is to show the Australians what they missed out on.
The Laois man had a three-year stint as an AFL professional with Brisbane Lions and St Kilda before returning home in 2009.
Begley, 29, said that in an ideal world, he’d have made a much longer career for himself out there and played much more than the 30 times he did.
He’s now an International Rules veteran and among his reasons for wanting to wrestle back the Cormac McAnallen Cup on Saturday is his desire to prove a point, to himself and the opposition.
“For me, there’s two reasons to want to do well,” said Begley. “First of all, GAA players who are amateur are getting a chance to prove themselves against some of the top athletes in the world. That’s a personal thing for us all.
“And they are some of the top athletes, fitness wise and strength wise, in the world, especially in field based sports.
“As players ourselves, we consider ourselves professional players in the way we train so to go up against those fellas and beat them is always a proud moment.
“For me, it goes both ways. I’d like to show myself and maybe show them that, ‘Oh yeah, he could have made it. He was a good player out there and he’s back here as well’.
“Part of me would (like to still be there), yeah, definitely. If I’d made it properly and was able to make a career for myself, yeah. I did enjoy the sport, I did enjoy the people and the place itself. So if that option was still there, yeah.
“Having come back, the things I’ve experienced here, spending time with my family and finishing my degree hopefully this year, they’re really important.
“But if you get a chance to make a carer for yourself out of sport, that’s always the best option.”
Begley said that from chatting with Australian players over the years, they are clued in about the sacrifices made by elite GAA players and can’t understand why they don’t get paid.
“Often the boys have asked me, ‘How are you still not getting paid?’” revealed Begley. “And I said, ‘I don’t know, to be honest’.
“They’ve asked about training, pre-season training and what we do. Some of their coaches even last year talked to me about what our training is like, so they do know that we’re not just lads who are training Tuesday and Thursday, play a game on Saturday and then go on the beer.”
Begley said there was no single reason why he didn’t make it in Australia, claiming it was a number of issues.
“I’ve been thinking for years and years wondering about that question,” he smiled. “It’s probably a combination of things.
“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 St Kilda and they won 20 in a row. So I only got one game that year. They just went so well. Maybe my ability wasn’t quite good enough at that level too, I don’t know.
“I would have liked to have tried another team out there.”
