Colin O'Riordan discusses Tipperary's 'embarrassment' against Mayo and two-week quarantine in Australia
Tipperary native and Sydney Swans star Colin O'Riordan discusses his flying visit back to Ireland during which he helped the Premier to an unlikely Munster Championship title, and details the strict quarantine measures he faced upon his return to Australia.
Wednesday 10 February 2021 06:10, UK
It has been a whirlwind few months for Colin O'Riordan.
The professional Australian Rules star is back in Sydney, having originally made the move Down Under in 2015. At the time, the Templemore native thought he was bidding farewell to any future prospects of featuring as an intercounty Gaelic footballer.
But fate intervened in 2020.
The delayed GAA Championship meant that Tipperary's winter campaign coincided with the AFL off-season, and O'Riordan was cleared to play.
"It's just the way the year fell, the opportunity arose and it was kind of grab it with both hands," he said the launch of Sports Physio Ireland's new Athletic Development App for GAA club teams, speaking on a Zoom call from Australia on Tuesday.
"If you had told me in January, at the start of the year (2020), that I would be playing in a Munster final, and winning a Munster final and playing in an All-Ireland semi, I'd be looking at you thinking, 'are you for real?' or 'what world are you living in?'
"Now, looking back it's special.
"I had a dream last night I was playing for Tipp again and stuff like that. I am not sure I would have had it if I hadn't played.
"It was a special couple of months.
"And probably 2020 was a shocking year for a lot of people but I look back to the end of it with fond memories anyway.
"Live the good times because the bad times are going to chew you up anyway, so you may as well enjoy the highs while you can."
'We were genuinely embarrassed'
However, despite the highs of the historic Munster final win over Cork, O'Riordan feels regret at how the season ended.
"In our last game we felt like we embarrassed ourselves against Mayo. There is a lot of hurt coming from the group with regard to that. We had such a high against Cork and such a low against Mayo. We were pretty much gone out of the game by half-time," he reflected.
"I just remember coming off the pitch and all I could think of was 'Jesus, we've let down a lot of people here'. We were genuinely embarrassed, that's the only way I could describe it.
"But again, looking back now it was either nine or 11 one-on-ones we missed, and clear-cut goal chances, wasn't as if they were half-chances that went over the bar. Obviously, David Clarke was incredible in goals on the day, and they took their chances, we didn't take ours."
A swift return Down Under
For O'Riordan, he had to quickly park the disappointment as he returned to Australia for the upcoming AFL season.
But it was not a usual trip back to Sydney, as he had to enter a two-week strict quarantine.
"It's next level stuff. I haven't witnessed anything like it before," he explained.
"You literally get on the plane, we got it in Doha. You get off the plane in Australia, and from the second you get off the plane, you're escorted to security. There's no one else in the airport. They literally shut down the airport for your arrival. And that's the nuts and bolts of it.
"You get off the plane and collect your bags. You're escorted by the armed police, there's no one within 100 metres of you in the airport. No one is allowed into the airport. You get your bags, you line up, you're put on a bus.
"You're literally police-escorted from the airport to the hotel. You're walked up to your room by federal police and you're put in your room and told that this is it for 14 days. Your door is closed and that's the last time you're outside, that's the reality of it.
"If they're committing to it at home (in Ireland), that's the level of expertise and the level of discipline you probably have to have.
"That's the reason we can do what we do here. It's strict, there's no doubt about it. It's hard. You can't leave the room. All you want to do is go out and get some air. But you just can't do it. But I think you realise that once you leave the room, and the 14 days are up, that's why we can go cafes, if you want to go to a pub, lads can go there, or whatever. There's a reason it's strict, and most people are abiding by it, and abiding by the rules, for a fairly normal life which is more than the rest of the world can probably say."
Nonetheless, his two weeks in confinement were far from wasted.
"The club actually can bring in equipment for you. So I was lucky that they gave me a watt bike, medicine ball, and a few other bits of equipment. I was lucky enough. They kind of tailored a bit of a programme for my needs," he explained.
"So when you come back to the pitch...I had that conditioning block done."
Another season with Tipp?
While he has no immediate plans to return to Gaelic football, he is reluctant to write off a return at some point in the future.
"I don't think I've closed the book yet, I hope I haven't anyway," he noted.
"But, at the same time, I have an opportunity here. I have only one year left on my contract in Sydney as well and you have to be realistic about that as well.
"You have to be ambitious and think you're going to be here for five more years. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking I really want to succeed at this game and prove people wrong who thought you couldn't do it. You just want to have a real crack at it and I have a real desire to succeed with the club and that's the biggest thing for me. I just want to play over here for as long as I can.
"It's not a case that I'll never put on the Tipp jersey again, but I'll probably give this the best opportunity I can while I'm here."
Colin O'Riordan was speaking at the launch of Sports Physio Ireland's new Athletic Development App for GAA Club Teams.
