GAVIN CUMMISKEYtalks to the son of a Kerry football legend who would encourage any young Gaelic player to take the plunge and live the Australian dream, especially in these recessionary times

HE IS home after being away. And there are no regrets apparently. Last Sunday will hurt for a long time to come but the Munster club final defeat to Kilmurry-Ibrickane was not the topic of conversation with David Moran leaving both interviewer and interviewee content to skip over the festering open wound.

No, we sought out Moran to investigate a clear and present danger to Gaelic games. The expansion of the professional Australian Football League (AFL) and its obvious similarities, coupled with some glaring differences, to amateur Gaelic football ensures the grass will always appear greener around the Melbourne suburbs or beach life on Bondi.

We have, however, reached a significant crossroads in the Irish experiment. Marty Clarke is back home. So too Aisake Ó Ailpín. The Aussie scouts are ploughing on regardless.

We all know by now that life in a recession has reduced career options significantly. Such an outlet remains a dream move for the cream of Irish talent. Joining Tommy Walsh at St Kilda to try and earn a contract, like his Kerins O’Rahillys clubmate had already done, seemed a grand plan for Moran.

The Moran family will always be part of the fabric of Kerry football. David’s father, Denis, or ‘Ogie’ is one of the chosen five that won eight All-Ireland medals during the 1970s and 1980s.

Moran was on the cusp of carving his own name into the Kingdom football tablets in 2009. That is until Darragh Ó Sé summoned one more championship campaign out of his ageing bones. Séamus Scanlon rivalled Dermot Earley as the best midfielder in the country. The All Star awards reflecting as much.

Moran, after some encouraging performances in the National League, was confined to the shadow of giants come the summer. “The National League went well and I suppose there was a dip in performance. When you are with Kerry you can’t afford that as somebody else is going to take your place immediately. I was up against Séamus Scanlon and Darragh Ó Sé, you know, so . . . You’d want to be on your toes the whole time.”

Last Thursday Moran returned from St Kilda in Melbourne after a three-week trial without a rookie contract. “Overall, he did very well showing good endurance and he definitely was not out of his depth in our professional environment,” said St Kilda general football manager Matthew Drain.

“David is only 21 years old but showed a great professional attitude and enthusiasm and his potential as a great all-round sportsman is obvious. As we know only a very small number of athletes from GAA successfully make the transition to AFL.”

The obvious benefit of time spent in Australia is they eventually come back as stronger men. Aisake Ó hAilpín, a sibling of another clan rooted in GAA life, came back mid-summer and duly terrorised a few intercounty hurling fullback lines. Tadhg Kennelly is a special case, returning with a ferocious appetite to earn his place in Kerry folklore by eclipsing Graham Canty in the All-Ireland final.

“You really learn a lot about your body, how to push yourself, and be the professional athlete,” Moran explains. “Even if it doesn’t work out for you, it’s a huge experience. You get to see the workings of the club and a different management and their view on things. They really try and develop you mentally and physically. I would definitely encourage any guy going out to the trial just for the training.”

This will not read well as the GAA attempts to maintain a relationship with the AFL, yet deter its youth from leaving these shores, but Moran rules out any supposed problems an Irish kid might face in Australia. Sure, you have to be built on stern foundations to survive but that applies to intercounty football as well.

So, no anti-Irish bias was evident? “They were unbelievably welcoming. It was just like we were Australian, like the rest of the lads. We weren’t signalled out because we were Irish. We were just guys coming over. They appreciated the sacrifice. Well, I wouldn’t call it a sacrifice, but the big step to go over. They knew we had no family over there. They were brilliant even when I was going home and stuff saying ‘best of luck with Kerry’. A lot of the guys found out what was going on with Tommy especially. They knew where he was coming from.”

The International Rules experience, despite all the rancour, has actually broken down some barriers naturally in place, like lack of respect by professionals towards amateurs.

“A lot of the guys in the club had played in the 2006 International Rules and they really enjoyed it – the trip to Ireland and all that.

“A lot of guys had googled Tommy. Youtubed him. They knew what was happening. When they saw him play at such a high level they appreciated him as a good sportsman.”

Burnout remains a problem the GAA have yet to fully solve. Too many taskmasters. Australian sport has no such concern.

“There was no talk of burnout. They train so much harder and because there is no work and no driving your body was able to rest. You are able to work real hard for the training and then go home and sleep or relax. Do what you want to do because you don’t have to go to work.

“There was only one guy pulling out of you. Burnout is not an issue, which I thought was surprising because obviously there is so much talk of it here and it’s only amateur. Over there you have to train so much harder and there is no talk about it. It was never an issue.”

Besides Sunday’s defeat ending what initially promised to be a great period for Kerins O’Rahillys, Moran returns armed with a wealth of practical knowledge.

“Yeah, it was difficult. Obviously all the running I was doing was tough but not only was it really competitive they were like athletes of an Olympic standard, you know? They can play ball too. They had it all, I suppose. That’s what makes it so tough to break into the AFL. They can run and they have the skills to back it up.”

Experience banked. He will finish his degree in UL next September but in the meantime he will be on to Jack O’Connor.

“Yeah, that is top of the agenda now.”

They certainly are not complaining up Strand Road.