- Messages
- 27,589
this article was in todays Sun Herald
Sun Herald said:Luck of Irish for O'Davis
By WILL SWANTON
Robbie O'Davis thought indigenous blood was coursing through his veins. He thought his grandfather - the one who died in the NSW country town of Young in 1968 - was Aboriginal.
Lo and behold, to be sure, to be sure, O'Davis thought wrong. His grandfather was born in Ireland - a revelation that leaves the former Australian fullback chasing Irish citizenship in an attempt to resurrect his career with English Super League club Wigan.
O'Davis, who is being helped by Sonny Bill Williams's management team of Chris and Gavin Orr, is likely to earn a start with Wigan if he has an Irish passport because they won't have to include him in their quota of international players.
"Yep, I've applied for the citizenship - my dad's father was Irish." O'Davis said. "The only problem is we can't find out where he was born. He deserted the Irish army and changed his name to O'Davis when he was over here and that's the name we stuck with, but our proper last name is McCarthy. His name was Mark McCarthy.
"We have to be able to prove he was Irish with his birth certificate and then relate him to us. As soon as we do that, I can get my Irish passport and go over there to play."
Chris Orr said: "Robbie can't believe there isn't any Aboriginal heritage in him. He's played in indigenous touch footy days, all that stuff. He's a bit stunned. He had no idea until recently."
The Newcastle Knights sacked O'Davis last year. He's desperate to milk a few more years from his career.
"Dad was in the air force in 1968 and got a phone call saying his father had died in Young." O'Davis said. "Dad still remembers the phone call. All we need to do is get the info about his birth in Ireland.
"If it all comes to fruition we can do some business. I'm talking to a French side as well."