Casey plans to be national hero like his grandfather
DAN CASEY harbours a dream of playing for Ireland, one which would see him emulate and honour his late grandfather. Pat Casey performed with distinction for the Irish rugby team on 12 occasions, bagging a memorable try in a victory over England at Twickenham in 1964.
In childhood, Dan played both union and Gaelic codes before opting to play with the round ball at 15, a decision vindicated when Sunderland quickly picked him up and brought him to the Academy of Light in 2013.
The defender never did make the breakthrough on Wearside, later returning to Ireland for spells with Bohemians and Cork City before pursuing an opportunity to play in America with Sacramento Republic.
He joined Motherwell in the midst of a relegation scrap last season and helped Stuart Kettlewell move the team out of trouble.
Left-sided, solid and aggressive, he adapted quickly to the cinch Premiership and helped tighten up a suspect Lanarkshire defence.
Judging by the way he supported and finished a counter-attacking move in last weekend’s victory over Kilmarnock, it seems he has retained his old attacking instincts as a centre on the rugby field.
‘One side of my family is rugby, the other is Gaelic — I don’t know where football came from!’ said the 25-year-old. ‘I went down this path and I am very happy I did.
‘Before I went to England at 15 I had an opportunity to pick. Football was always my first love so it was not really a tough question.’
Judging by his solid and improving form since moving to Motherwell earlier in the year, Casey might soon find himself in with a shout of breaking into Stephen Kenny’s national squad.
‘Listen, I hope so,’ he said. ‘I would love that but I am not getting carried away. It has been a good start to the season but I am a believer that if you do things right on the pitch then everything else will look after itself.
‘It is my dream to play for my country, just as my granddad did a few times. He actually passed away last month. We were going through the old stuff, the programmes and stuff and it was cool. He was a winger and he scored a few tries as well.’
Eager to retain Casey on a longer deal than the short-term contract that carried him to the end of last season, Kettlewell had to wait before landing his man.
‘There were little bits of interest in Dan, a higher level calling at one point,’ said the Fir Park boss. ‘I was okay with that, I stayed in contact with him.
‘It wasn’t that he didn’t want to come to Motherwell but there may have been an opportunity that was a bit more life-changing in terms of the level and the contract on offer.
‘When that wasn’t there, it wasn’t a particularly difficult sell.
‘He’s an excellent leader, a brilliant figure to have in your dressing room. When he speaks, other players listen.
‘The bit I’ve always loved about Dan is his mentality. He doesn’t have any fear, he wants to play on the front foot. He has a real aggression about him. What he’s doing in the penalty area for his goal is the question! But sometimes you have to break rank, take the shackles off and do something different in a game to change the context of it.’
Next up for Motherwell is today’s trip to Tynecastle to face a Hearts side that endured a gruelling trip to Greece for Thursday’s Europa Conference League play-off defeat against PAOK.
Casey may have considered his options over the summer but he came back precisely for challenges such as the one he’ll face this afternoon.
‘There was a bit of interest from a few clubs but I knew what I was going to get here,’ he continued. ‘I think the Scottish league is great and it’s only getting better. You look at the likes of Rangers and Celtic, at what they bring into the league, and teams like Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs are all playing in Europe.
‘The competition is there, you saw Celtic drawing with St Johnstone last weekend. I love this league.’
While Casey dreams of career evolution, he will spend the next few weeks watching a few old rugby friends in action.
Ireland kick off their World Cup against Romania next Saturday before taking on Tonga, South Africa and Scotland in Pool B. Casey reckons they have a shot at glory.
‘They have a chance,’ he added. ‘The two big teams, South Africa and New Zealand, are going to be the tough ones but you never know.’