Clare footballers honoured in Australia

A WORKING holiday abroad provided the three young Clare men with the chance to experience playing Australian Rules football.
Twenty-four-year-old Gerard Murphy from Lissycasey has played as a forward and back at senior level for his home club. Patrick Looney, 21, a forward and Gearoid Meade, 23, a back, have both played senior level for their club, Cooraclare. Looney was a county minor representative and Meade represented the county a U-21 level.
After their arrival in Australia, they learned there was employment available in a grain terminal in the small country town of Beulah in the state of Victoria.
Beulah is a town of 200 people located 100 kilometres from the nearest regional city. The main industry is grain farming and the population of the area is declining.
The lads immediately impressed the locals with their strong work ethic. They also got along well with the young people from the town. It was through these friendships that the Irish boys got invited to come down to pre-season footy training. The boys worked hard at learning the new skills and quickly became addicted to the game.
The Beulah Football Club plays in the Mallee Football League. It fields senior (first) and reserve (second) grade sides in the open age competition, as well as U-16 and U-13 junior boys teams. It is one of the most successful clubs in the district, having won five senior and three reserve premierships in the past decade.
In 2010 they won both grade premierships, with the seniors undefeated during the year. The club has a proud history, being the smallest town in the league and one of the few clubs not to amalgamate with a neighbouring team.
Beulah had a disappointing end to the current season. Both the senior and reserve grade teams made the finals series but did not progress far, failing to win any finals games.
The club’s trophy presentation night and best and fairest player vote count was held on Saturday, September 24 at the clubrooms in Beulah.
The best and fairest player is an award that has votes cast each week for the most valuable players. The vote cards are kept sealed and only counted at the end of the season.
Patrick Looney played only seven of a possible 17 reserve grade games before cementing a regular place in the senior side. In the reserves best and fairest count, Patrick finished in third place, for which he was awarded the team’s most consistent player trophy.
“To poll so well in the voting, in so few games, shows how quickly Patrick adapted to the game. A fantastic effort for someone in his first season,” commented reserves coach, Brad Moore.
Gerard Murphy from Lissycasey played one reserves game and was then promoted to the senior team, where he played the next 17 games.
He was awarded the senior team’s coaches award, a trophy given by the senior coach to the player deemed to be one of the most dedicated and versatile in the team. In presenting the award, coach Scott Smith, was full of praise for Gerard.
“We knew Gerard could run when he turned up for pre-season training and he proved to be the fastest on the training track. His speed and hardness at the ball was a feature of his game,” said Smith.
In accepting his award, Gerard paid tribute to the Beulah team and town for accepting him into their community and for making him and the other boys feel like they were at home.
In his closing speech, to wind up the season, club president Craig Forsyth made special mention of the young Irishmen and their contribution to the club. “The Irish boys fitted into our club well. They were great contributors on and off the field and got along well with everybody. Their commitment to training and learning the new game’s skills and rules was a stand out.”
Mr Forsyth also said Gearóid Meade from Cooraclare was unlucky to be injured early in the season, as his later games showed his potential to figure well in the vote.