CORK’S CIARAN SHEEHAN will play his first AFL game in nearly three years when he lines out for Carlton against Adelaide Crows on Saturday.
The 26-year-old has endured a tough time with hip, hamstring and knee injuries and hasn’t played a first-grade game since 30 August, 2014 — a drawn match against Essendon.
Sheehan played four AFL games in his debut season at the Blues, and was de-listed after last year’s campaign before being re-signed as an international pick in the rookie draft.
He has impressed for the Northern Blues of late, the club’s affiliate side in the Victorian Football League, and has been rewarded with a spot on Carlton’s interchange bench for the game at the MCG against the second-placed Crows.
Louth’s Ciaran Byrne is also nearing a return for Carlton following his ACL injury and has been named as one of three emergency selections for the clash against Adelaide.
Sheehan is one of four Irish men named in their respective line-ups for Round 15 with Pearce Hanley, Zach Tuohy and Conor McKenna also set to feature this weekend.
Mayo man Hanley has been named in the half-back line of the Gold Coast Suns side to play against North Melbourne on Saturday despite picking up a hamstring injury in last weekend’s defeat to St Kilda.
The Suns are giving Hanley as much time as possible to recover for the visit of the Kangaroos and he is rated “a 50-50 chance” to play at the Metricon Stadium.
Tuohy will look to continue in the same vein of form that has put him in the frame for All-Australian selection when third-placed Geelong take on league leaders GWS Giants on Saturday.
Tyrone native McKenna has been impressing for Essendon in recent weeks and looks set to play in a ninth successive AFL game when the Bombers go up against Brisbane Lions at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
McKenna has been named on a seven-man interchange bench which needs to be reduced to just four names.
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O gara is building quite the coaching cv. There can’t be many coaches out there that have a super rugby and a top 14 trophy in their first few years of coaching.
@Jim Demps: agreed but never in a head coach or dir of rugby position – we often see good coaches and good players fail as managers – I do hope I am wrong. The O’Gara/POC ticket hasn’t been mentioned at all bar supporters. Who will be head coach? Who will be assistant? Both have aspirations
@Niall: That’s a weird comment to make. The lad has succeeded at every stage of his career and your contribution is “yeah but he hasn’t done this other thing”.
@Niall: the head coach role will come. My point is that to have won so much in such a short term as a coach is remarkable. Just because he isn’t the head coach doesn’t mean he didn’t contribute to the team.
@Jim Demps: he’s picked two high profile, ambitious clubs too though. What would he be like coaching under 12s on a rainy night in Drumshambo?
@Martin Quinn: us guys? Find a comment where I say he should be the Irish head coach. He’s enjoying his time as an assistant. He’s learning from top class coaches. He’s winning trophies. And he’s still in his early 40s. There’s plenty of time to become a head coach. I don’t see the point in even mentioning it for now. Should we stop celebrating underage teams victories because they haven’t done anything at senior level? Should we stop referring to players as good leaders if they aren’t the captain? This is silly logic.
@Rudiger McMonihan: totally agree, Jesus give the guy a chance
@Jim Demps: he won nothing leading a team !! Judge him on that and not being a coach – it that sense, how many French coaches are due in a manager role? How many English guys are due a managers gig?!! Kidney was loved then absolutely destroyed, Schmidt’s head was also called for on here 2 years ago!!
@Rudiger McMonihan: yes , he hasn’t done the main thing – be the main coach !! Be the head coach!! Be the boss!!
@Niall: nobody has said that he is the head coach though! What are you smoking?! Take a company for example, say there is someone in charge of a particular department and his department do very well that for many years in a row. You’re basically saying he doesn’t deserve any praise because he isn’t the CEO. Get a grip man.
@Rudiger McMonihan: it’s an Irish problem. People just can’t say well done. We’re a country full of begrudgers and small minded parish hallers.
Give him another year and then it’s time to see if he can cut it as a head coach somewhere. I’m not sure how he could ever motivate players with that monotone voice though.
@Davedental: You do realize he uses that monotone voice like all others do when giving interviews? I can bet you a dime he’s a lot more vocal when doing his coaching.
@Davedental: I’m pretty sure he could! He had the gall to call Sexton a nobody. He doesn’t give a hoot who ye are in that dressing room
@Davedental: not enough ‘Royshes’ for you perhaps?
I think ROG is being very calculated with his career progression which is very clever but he is still going to have to make the leap pretty soon to head coach. Time will tell….
Leo Cullen and ROG could make a good pairing for Ireland post Schmidt.
@Gary: imagine – Cullen, ROG, POC, Lancaster and Farrell – sorry lads , I need a sit down
@Niall: POC will have to prove himself first. A great player doesn’t mean a great coach. Martin Johnson springs to mind. (In saying that POC is a man that’ll probably do whatever it takes to succeed. I hope he takes his time to get experience the way ROG is doing it.)
@Gary: he’s being smart about it in fairness. He’s with the u20s at the moment and does seminars and sessions with the provinces and academies as far as I know. I don’t think he’ll jump into a high profile coaching role until he feels qualified I reckon. He should do well hopefully.
@Gary: Is Leo there to make the tea?
@Robbie: The same Leo that led Leinster to a champions cup and pro16. He’s first on the list as a replacement for Schmidt. Fact and stats don’t lie.
@Bruce Van der Gutschmitzer: joined stade this week as forwards coach.
@Gary: So the same job he has at Leinster, I don’t think Lancaster or Rog need him.
@Robbie: Ah, I see your angle now, you’re just a troll. Carry on then.
@Robbie: ★★★★
Crusaders play a very similar style of rugby. Both play off lineout strike plays through Ryan/Whitelock. Both have oppressive defence and insane ruck speed. Super Rugby teams play crowd pleasing rugby, but the Lions’ skills went up in smoke when up against world class linespeed. I can’t wait for Ryan vs Whitelock and Leavy vs Reid in November!
@Conor Alexander Lynott: *Similar style to Leinster
@Conor Alexander Lynott: no they don’t. They are polar opposites in how they play especially in broken field. Leinster play a beet conservative style of rugby.
@Conor Alexander Lynott: they would hammer Leinster every day of the week – don’t kid yourself
@Leo Erah: Conservative style of rugby? You obviously haven’t watched Leinster this season so. Have a look at Jack Conan and Larmour’s tries against the Scarlets in the pro14 final and McFadden’s try in the European semi final and we’ll talk then haha.
@Niall: I never said anything about who would beat who, I compared rugby styles. We’ll never know who would beat who cos the fixture isn’t going to happen. Off with ye, now, good boy.
@Conor Alexander Lynott: you can add rugby to the long list of sports you seem to know nothing about
@Mel Roberts: Enlighten us, then, how can Ireland beat the All Blacks in November? How do you maintain a balance in the defence when the speed of All Black ruck ball is so fast and the poachers are so brilliant that they don’t allow defences to reallign? Im sure Joe Schmidt craves your World Class imput.
@Fracko: Nah, this is way too much fun. Long live rugby.
If Leinster are so conservative then why did they have the highest number of tries scored in the pro14 for the last 2 seasons, while they conceded more tries than 4 teams this year and 3 teams the year before. Same thing in the Heineken Cup: most tries scored, yet a bunch of teams had tighter defences.
@Fracko: I never the exact same, I said similar haha
@Martin Quinn: In fairness, I think it was only Niall who suggested that Leinster couldn’t beat the Crusaders. Some others commented on their style being different/ more conservative. And it seems to me that Leinster prize ball retention while the Crusaders offload a lot more. Doesn’t mean Leinster wouldn’t win
@Kevin Ryan: I think European rugby in general is more conservative than super rugby. However, Leinster is definitely one of the most expansive teams in Europe. They are constantly trying to score tries. They also put a big focus on unstructured play like the kiwis do. We’ll never get to see the two teams face off unfortunately, but we will see Ireland vs the All Blacks, which I can not wait for
@Rudiger McMonihan: Basicaly my original point, but we’ll let that pass
@Conor Alexander Lynott: ignorance is a dangerous thing
@Conor Alexander Lynott: yeah ive been agreeing with you and disagreeing with the people who say leinster are conservative…
@Rudiger McMonihan: Fair enough, I’ll take that back.
Ulster probably better off without Jantjies, although some of the fault can be blamed on those around him, he still didn’t impress.
@SilexFlint: They’re absolutely better off without him. Not only is he incredibly inconsistent, but he’ll be missing for part of the season for Springboks duty. Ulster fans should be delighted but instead they used his non signing as some sort of evidence of IRFU bias towards Leinster.