Louth parents fly 16,000km to see their son make his AFL debut in Melbourne tomorrow

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

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