Dean Moriarty
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Irish recruit leaves nothing to luck
By Jon Anderson
February 6, 2004
IN THE words of his coach, Setanta O hAilpin has no right to be where he is in his football development.
Denis Pagan is open in his admiration for his 20-year-old Irish recruit, expressing amazement that a foreigner can pick up the nuances of our game so quickly.
Pagan's enthusiasm is shared by Carlton's star recruit Nick Stevens, who shakes his head at the improvement in his teammate.
"It will be tough, but he's got everything and after a year, who knows?", Stevens said.
Jim Stynes, the trailblazer for Irish recruits, believes O hAilpin is a huge chance to follow the path established by he and Sean Wight.
O hAilpin has been in Australia less than three months after responding to an invitation from Carlton recruiting manager Shane O'Sullivan.
A product of County Cork, where he was regarded as the best hurling junior in the land, O hAilpin is rarely seen without a football in his hands.
He knows he has to make up for lost time in a game that he started watching on Friday nights in Ireland.
"My father remembered Australian rules from when he lived in Sydney and told me it was a great game," O hAilpin said at Carlton's community camp in Ballarat yesterday.
"I started following St Kilda because of Peter 'Spider' Everitt and remember hoping they would win a match because they were always getting beaten. Then a friend of mine went to Sydney and brought me back a St Kilda jumper."
St Kilda is now a distant memory as O hAilpin strives to acquire the skills he will need to succeed.
He is a regular face on the training track long after the official work has finished, just kicking, marking and bouncing the ball with the likes of Anthony Franchina, Bret Thornton and captain Anthony Koutoufides.
"I'm gradually getting along nicely," O hAilpin said. "Those boys have helped me a lot. I might be a pest to boys like Kouta, Nick Stevens, Campo and Ryan Houlihan as I try and learn skills from them."
Setanta is named after a mythical Irish warrior and was born in Sydney, living there with his Irish father Sean and Fijian mother Emeli until he was five.
O hAilpin knows he must be patient as coach Pagan keeps telling him, but he finds it hard to hold back.
He will spend a learning year under coach Barry Mitchell with the Bullants in the VFL, although the man known to his teammates as "Carlos" (after guitar great Carlos Santana) doesn't see it that way.
"Geez, you just never know."
Herald Sun
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,8599283-23211,00.html
By Jon Anderson
February 6, 2004
IN THE words of his coach, Setanta O hAilpin has no right to be where he is in his football development.
Denis Pagan is open in his admiration for his 20-year-old Irish recruit, expressing amazement that a foreigner can pick up the nuances of our game so quickly.
Pagan's enthusiasm is shared by Carlton's star recruit Nick Stevens, who shakes his head at the improvement in his teammate.
"It will be tough, but he's got everything and after a year, who knows?", Stevens said.
Jim Stynes, the trailblazer for Irish recruits, believes O hAilpin is a huge chance to follow the path established by he and Sean Wight.
O hAilpin has been in Australia less than three months after responding to an invitation from Carlton recruiting manager Shane O'Sullivan.
A product of County Cork, where he was regarded as the best hurling junior in the land, O hAilpin is rarely seen without a football in his hands.
He knows he has to make up for lost time in a game that he started watching on Friday nights in Ireland.
"My father remembered Australian rules from when he lived in Sydney and told me it was a great game," O hAilpin said at Carlton's community camp in Ballarat yesterday.
"I started following St Kilda because of Peter 'Spider' Everitt and remember hoping they would win a match because they were always getting beaten. Then a friend of mine went to Sydney and brought me back a St Kilda jumper."
St Kilda is now a distant memory as O hAilpin strives to acquire the skills he will need to succeed.
He is a regular face on the training track long after the official work has finished, just kicking, marking and bouncing the ball with the likes of Anthony Franchina, Bret Thornton and captain Anthony Koutoufides.
"I'm gradually getting along nicely," O hAilpin said. "Those boys have helped me a lot. I might be a pest to boys like Kouta, Nick Stevens, Campo and Ryan Houlihan as I try and learn skills from them."
Setanta is named after a mythical Irish warrior and was born in Sydney, living there with his Irish father Sean and Fijian mother Emeli until he was five.
O hAilpin knows he must be patient as coach Pagan keeps telling him, but he finds it hard to hold back.
He will spend a learning year under coach Barry Mitchell with the Bullants in the VFL, although the man known to his teammates as "Carlos" (after guitar great Carlos Santana) doesn't see it that way.
"Geez, you just never know."
Herald Sun
http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,8599283-23211,00.html
