THE WORD WAS doing the rounds recently at home and once the medical was completed, the talented 19-year-old from Longford was an official AFL recruit.
On Friday, Matt Duffy became the second man from the midlands county to take that road as he signed on as an international rookie with Carlton Blues, along with Kerry dual star Rob Monahan.
Duffy will be following in the footsteps of Mickey Quinn when he links up with the Melbourne outfit in November for pre-season training. And when the official announcement was drawing near, Duffy contacted the Killoe man to pick his brains and inquire about what awaits him in Australia.
“I called Mickey last week and he basically told me his story, the things to watch out for and just different bits of advice,” Duffy explains to The42 about his exciting switch in codes.
“That was massive. It’s good to have someone who is a point of contact that’s been there, and who actually made professional appearances which is massive. It’s not something everyone gets to do.”
Quinn has set a high standard for Duffy to follow. After signing for Essendon in 2008, Quinn made his AFL debut in 2009, earning him the record of making the quickest debut of a GAA player in the AFL. He played eight games in total for Essendon across 2009 and 2010 before eventually returning home in 2011 where he resumed his club career with Killoe and playing for the Longford senior footballers.
Not every GAA player who has ventured into the AFL has carved out the career that they hoped for. Others didn’t come back the player they left as. But in the last year, two Irish exports enjoyed Premiership success as Zach Tuohy and Mark O’Connor prevailed with Geelong. Tuohy also set a new record for the most VFL/AFL games played by an Irish-born player, surpassing the 264 games that Jim Stynes completed during his time with Melbourne.
“For me, there’s no fear going over,” says an eager Duffy.
“I’m only 19 and if it doesn’t work out in a worst case scenario, I can come back and play for Longford and Dromard. That was my original dream anyway, and a lot of people said that to me that I’ll come back a better player.
“There’s a few lads who have won the Premiership and that probably increases the interest in the Irish market as well. It gives more opportunities for new lads like me to go out. That probably helped me a lot in my chances of getting picked.”
It was while playing for the Longford U20s in 2022 that Duffy’s path to the AFL first began taking shape. He got his hands on a Sherrin (the AFL ball) to become familiar with the differences and he attended Irish trials where he won a 2km race.
He’s been watching some of the games too and combing through the many clips that pour into his social media feeds.
“A lot of players who go out play either half-back or around the middle,” says Duffy about where he sees himself in a position where he can best serve the team.
The club described Duffy as a “running machine” in their announcement of Duffy and Monahan’s impending arrival, a nod to that impressive display in the 2km time trial.
“They say it’s really hard to learn to play as a forward with just the different runs you have to make in the position. But when you’re a half-back, they tend to say it’s easier to learn the game that way because you see the game more and attack it more.”
Before he can consider his AFL future any further, Duffy still has business with his club Dromard. The north Longford side haven’t won the Longford senior championship since 2007 and Duffy is determined help his club progress before the next chapter of his sporting career begins. They’ve made an encouraging start this season, picking up two wins and a draw from their opening games.
“I thought about winning the Connolly Cup long before I thought about playing Australian Rules.
“Everyone looked up to Mickey [Quinn] as someone who made it at professional level. You can see how it’s improved him so much. There’s definitely an element of pride in being the second Longford man to follow in Mickey’s footsteps.”
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