Barry living the dream on Aussie Rules scene
Sydney swan song a long way down th
IT TAKES real ambition and self-belief to uproot to the other side of the world to chase your dream of becoming a professional sportsman.
For Barry O’Connor, the easy route would have been to remain in Wexford and keep playing with distinction for St. Martin’s and the county footballers, but instead he had the confidence and single-mindedness to navigate almost uncharted waters.
When the Sydney Swans came calling, the Piercestown man was always going to take the road less travelled by, and he dived in head first and open-armed to tackle a fresh challenge.
‘At the start, during the whole trial process, and I think a lot of Irish guys are in the same boat, you don’t really take it massively seriously because a lot of guys do get asked to do trials,’ he said.
‘Obviously the majority, the vast majority, don’t get anything out of it. They don’t get offered a contract, they don’t even get offered a proper trial by a club.
‘As far as I knew, I was going to be playing football for Wexford for many years to come. I suppose it was only when I stepped off the plane in Sydney and really saw what it was like and went into the stadium and I got a taste of it that I really started to fully realise that this is what I wanted to do.
‘Being a professional athlete is a pretty unique job. I love playing sport, I’ve played a lot of sports throughout my life so I think it would be pretty silly to turn an opportunity like that down,’ he said.
O’Connor’s path to the Swans began when he impressed at an AFL Combine in Dublin, prompting the club’s general manager, Kinnear Beatson, to express his interest in the young St. Martin’s man, but O’Connor admitted that he hadn’t expected much to come of the trial and he was more concerned with helping his club to glory.
‘At the Combine I actually had to leave it early because we had an Under-20 game against Bunclody, a county final. It was my last under-age game, so that took preference that weekend.
‘I didn’t really realise the opportunity that I had until Kinnear sent me an email asking me to go to Sydney for a trial. I was obviously delighted to get the chance. I went out and did the trial and got on well, and a few months later I got offered a contract,’ he explained.
After signing a two-year contract as an International Category B Rookie, O’Connor made the big move down under last October and, although he quickly settled into his new surroundings, his focus was still firmly on the green, green grass of home, with his mind elsewhere as he kept a close eye on how his former St. Martin’s team-mates were faring in the county hurling final against St. Anne’s.
‘I had a pretty sleepless night, the night of the county final. Obviously it was the middle of the night over here. I told myself I wouldn’t stay up for it, but I ended up waking up anyway.
‘I had my first day of training the next day but I woke up in the middle of the night and I was hooked on the phone. They managed to get over the line, but they seemed to make hard work of it. I was pretty relieved when they got the job done,’ he said.
The settling in process was made easier having got to know his future team-mates during his trial the previous April, as well as having assistant coach Tadhg Kennelly from Kerry and team-mate Colin O’Riordan from Tipperary to help him to acclimatise.
‘Colin’s kind of like my big brother over here. He’s a couple of years older than me and he’s done really, really well so far. He’s been able to guide me in the right direction. I’m really lucky to have him, to be honest.
‘Obviously you wouldn’t be as skilful as the rest of the lads when you arrive over and it takes a while to get to grips with the game, because these guys have been playing it all their lives.
‘Colin is a big help if you’re getting frustrated or anything. I haven’t really suffered with homesickness too much yet, but with that kind of stuff he’d be able to help you out massively.
‘Tadhg’s been great too. We go over to Tadhg’s for dinner every now and then, well pre-corona virus we could. He’s done it all really, he’s won an AFL Premiership and he’s won an All-Ireland medal with Kerry.
‘I’m not sure if that will ever happen again, but he’s a big help too. He’s been there and done it all, so it’s good to have someone like him in your corner,’ he said.
O’Connor’s final game for Wexford, before switching sports, was a Leinster championship loss to Louth last year, and the 21-year-old, who turns 22 next month, is determined to carve out a successful career for himself in his adopted home.
‘Absolutely. That was always the intention when I signed the contract. It wasn’t something I was going to try for a couple of years and see whether I liked it.
‘I knew it was what I wanted to do and that’s very much the aim, to have a successful career here. I love living out here and I love being a professional athlete, so that’s absolutely what I want todo,’hesaid.
If it wasn’t for the Covid-19 shutdown, O’Connor would have been honing his craft for the Sydney Swans reserves against the likes of GWS Giants, Brisbane and Gold Coast, which would, all things going well, be a stepping stone to the first team.
‘In normal circumstances that’s where I’d be getting my games in and that would be the plan for this year and hopefully until I made the breakthrough into the first team.
‘We don’t actually know what’s happening at the moment. Hopefully we’ll have reserve games to play when it does come back because it’s an important part of our development,’ he said.
While it’s clear that first team football is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for young, wide-eyed Irish players looking to make their name in the AFL, O’Connor pointed out there’s no hard and fast rule that guarantees success.
‘It depends on the player to be honest. I’m not sure what the statistic is, but I think something like one in three Irish players that join a club actually play an AFL game. A lot of guys suffer homesickness and stuff and adapting to a new game and a new country isn’t easy.
‘For example, Colin played in his third year, but he’s very much a first team player now and he’s a pretty important player for the team. You’ve got other guys that might play in their first year but might not actually have a long career out here, so it just depends on the situation,’ he said.
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