Aussie Rules get two more

Brisbane lure Laois duo
26/10/2005 - 11:11:51

Laois youngsters Colm Begley and Brendan Quigley have both signed two-year rookie contracts with Aussie Rules club Brisbane Lions.

The teenage duo stood out at trials recently staged by Lions manager Graeme Allan in Limerick and are to link up with the three-time AFL Premiership champions late next month.

Both All-Ireland minor winners with Laois in 2003 and frontliners for Ireland's U17 International Rules team in recent series, Begley and Quigley will bring to five the number of Irish players currently plying their trade Down Under.

Former Kerry minor Tadhg Kennelly became the first Irishman to win a Premiership title with the Sydney Swans last month, while Cork brothers Setanta and Aisake Ó hAilpín are on the rookie list at the Melbourne-based Carlton Blues.

Setanta, a hurling AllStar in 2003, is set for promotion to the Blues' senior list next season, having recently signed a two-year contract extension.

Begley, who made Mick O'Dwyer's senior Laois panel in 2005, is the elder of Brisbane's latest recruits at 19.

The talented defender, whose services will be required by Stradbally for Sunday's Laois county final against Portlaoise, had just started an Economics and Geography degree at UCD, but is set to continue his studies in Queensland.

Quigley, a second-year carpentry apprentice, is a strong-running midfielder from the Timahoe club and is ideally built for Aussie Rules at 6ft 4in.

The Brisbane Lions, a club merger between the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions back in 1996, made history by winning three straight Premierships from 2001 to 2003 before losing the 2004 decider to Port Adelaide and finishing a disappointing 11th in this year's table.

The Lions initially went after the signature of Sean Cavanagh, but the Tyrone midfielder turned them down.

Down minors James Colgan and Martin Clarke were also looked at but, under provisions for international rookies, there is a two-player cap on AFL clubs securing the services of players from non-AFL backgrounds.

Is this the start of an exodus? I read before the money Setanta O'Halpin was earning & was very little even when he promoted to seniot squad.

Irish people have always felt pride in young kids going to england to play football but will there be a similar feeling for GAA players?

Watch as the two midlanders disappear down an Aussie Rules black hole never to be seen again :D

The GAA treat players like dirt. Whatever the relatively small money they get playing AFL, at least they are treated with respect.

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Originally Posted by Macy

The GAA treat players like dirt. Whatever the relatively small money they get playing AFL, at least they are treated with respect.

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Wouldn't have agreed with you before, but from what i've heard from intercounty players recently has definitely soured me a bit more on the bigwigs of the GAA. Why is it that every sport in this country seems to be run by people who are more concerned with their own welfare than that of the players and fans who are the real heart of the sport.
The Cork players of a few years ago were dead right to go on strike, and when you hear of the Railway cup teams travelling to America in economy while the administrators are in business class it just makes the whole setup seem wrong. I don't like to see the AFL poaching young players for very little money, but could you honestly tell a young guy that he'd be better off set up in some job in Portlaoise and training his nuts off every day for nothing, than moving to Sydney and being a pro footballer?

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Originally Posted by bigmac

...and when you hear of the Railway cup teams travelling to America in economy while the administrators are in business class it just makes the whole setup seem wrong.

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If the FAI did that would be front page news.

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Originally Posted by pete

If the FAI did that would be front page news.

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It's a media conspiracy all this GAA love in sh1t

how much are they earing ?? maybe the lads got sick of the bog ball and just want to play a proper game ?

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Originally Posted by thejollyrodger

how much are they earing ?? maybe the lads got sick of the bog ball and just want to play a proper game ?

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Any game where you can win a free-kick for catching a ball - Aussie Rules, rugby, etc - isn't a proper game.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Any game where you can win a free-kick for catching a ball - Aussie Rules, rugby, etc - isn't a proper game.

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Whereas football is a proper game...and also an opportunity for the nice boys to show off their acting skills, show their diving prowess, and generally behave like a total and utter wa nker...