Helping Aussie Rules to get small foothold in Galway

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon 

One thing you can say about sport in Galway – be it mainstream sport or not – is that it certainly does not lack choice. If there is one that tickles your fancy, there is a fair chance it can be found somewhere in the Corrib region. No wonder then that Aussie Rules should boast of a small claim on this landscape.

Although the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland (ARFLI) has been up and running for over a decade, the West of Ireland branch has only been in operation about half of this time, according to Galway Magpies President and Coach Shaun Murphy, who hails from Bunbury, just south of Perth.

“It started five years ago when one of the lads who was involved in a team in Dublin moved West and started a team up. He (Ciaran O’Hara) had played for the Dublin Demons and the North Leinster Giants, I think, and he pretty much founded the League 10 years ago,” begins the Australian native.

Based out of the Claddagh, the Magpies train every Wednesday (6:30pm) and play their league games on a fortnightly basis. At present, there are six teams competing from around the country. The others are the South Dublin Swans, Dublin Demons, North Leinster Giants, Belfast Redbacks and Cork’s Leeside Lions.

“Obviously, for the away games the numbers can fluctuate, because of the travel involved, but for the home games you get 18 to 20. We played in Dublin recently and we had 16,” says Murphy, referring to the Galway Magpies 50-40 opening day defeat to the Swans.

However, for Murphy, who also plays junior ‘B’ football with An Spidéal – “I have trouble with the solo and picking the ball up off the ground,” he laughs – the result is not the be-all and end-all. The primary purpose of Aussie Rules team is to provide an opportunity to play for those who love the sport.

“Obviously, towards the end [of the league], some of us take it more seriously than others,” he laughs, “but it basically is all about having fun. Most of the away games you stay over, book a hostel and have a few drinks with the other team.

“We only train once a week and then it is every second weekend that we play. We train in the Claddagh – the Swamp – and we try to make it as fun as possible. It is more about participation than anything else.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.