CIARAN ‘CASEY’ BYRNE will become the latest Irish player in the AFL when he makes his debut tomorrow in Melbourne.
And the 20 year-old from Louth will have two big supporters in attendance at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) when he lines out for Carlton Blues against Essendon Bombers in a game that starts at 3.45am Irish time tomorrow morning.
Byrne rang his parents on Tuesday morning to tell them that he’d picked for his first AFL game and they immediately booked flights to Melbourne, flying 16,000km to cheer him on.
“Tuesday morning, we got the phone call in Ireland at quarter to seven in the morning, by half eight the tickets were booked,” revealed Ciaran’s father.
“Wednesday morning, five o’clock Irish time, we left home. The flight was leaving Dublin at nine o’clock and we’re here.
“He was always quite focused on what he wanted to do. To get the break to play professional football in Australia was a dream come true really. It’s a dream come true both for Casey and us all.”
Ciaran Byrne greets his father at the airport in Melbourne.Source: YouTube Screengrab"It's been a whirlwind experience but I've loved every minute of it," says Byrne. "I felt like it (Carlton debut) was going to come at some stage this year but it's earlier than what I expected. I think I'm ready to go.
"I've put in a lot of hard work this pre-season. I've really acted as a sponge and soaked up as much as possible."
You can watch the great video that Carlton FC have produced to mark Byrne's debut here.
-- First published 11.07
Fine player, only a matter of time until united ruin him
@Buzz O Sullivan: you must have missed the start of the season with him so?
@Buzz O Sullivan:
Should have known you were a Liverpool fan. Manchester United are the reason Daniel James is now playing in the Premier League, He scored 3 goals already
@Just Some Guy: as I said only a matter of time…
@Buzz O Sullivan: here mate, this is not about United or Liverpool it is about a good young player scoring a good goal. Unbelievable how small minded fools bring it back to premier league football rivalry. Giggs is taking risks and playing young lads, more power to him.
@Seagoat returns: I bleed the red of Liverpool, everything in my life revolves around it. Ynwa
@Buzz O Sullivan: What a sad life that must be.
@Buzz O Sullivan: I’d hope that that’s sarcasm. Can’t understand how anyone could ‘bleed’ any pl side in this day and age given the flippant nature of mercenary players and management.
I doubted Daniel James when he first joined Manchester United but he has proved me wrong. Keep up the good work for club and country
He has been the only positive part of Uniteds start to the season for me.
Daniel James looks like a great young player. He only seems to score quality goals. Let’s hope one or two of our young lads in the 21s become as good as James, Wilson and ampadu
Welsh out in force
Add Jadon Sancho and Declan Rice to that Utd team and they’d suddenly be feared again