Former Tipperary hurling and football player Colin O'Riordan spoke to OTB AM about why he felt 'sick' with football before his move to Sydney Swans.
"It was [to do with the county fighting over his allegiance]. I think it was the summer of 2015 - to be honest with you, I was sick of it. I was sick of football and hurling. I'd probably lost the hunger after the under-21 final and was feeling a bit sorry for myself. I just said I needed a break - there was too much going on and I couldn't hack it. I was just sick.
"The AFL came at a great time for me - I'd had a good year and it gave me a brand new lease of life. It was a new adventure and a new journey for me and was something I was really committed to, because if I was going to come over here then I was going to give it a real shot."
Colin was clear on the reasons behind his move to Australia.
"It was mainly [that everyone wanted a piece of me in Ireland.] The last three games of that year I had lost, and I was probably feeling sorry for myself a little bit. It was probably the fact that I was so sick of losing and needed a month off. I think a lot of people forget that when you're playing GAA then you are an amateur. It is the case that you are going back to work the next day - or in my case, back to college - you do not really want to talk about it and you just want to get on with it.
"But when you don't have chance to go out the next week and actually fix it, and you lose a final like the under-21 final [...] that was hard for me to take there and then."
Colin was not exactly homesick though, and appears to be settling into Antipodean life as easily as his home in Templemore.
"Maybe [I would miss it] in the sunshine, but it's nice here now. It was 23 degrees here today, and the lads are saying it's a tough winter!"
All that and more on this morning's OTB AM live in association with Screwfix.ie, and as usual you can get your comments and thoughts into us on Facebook by following Off The Ball.
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