Darragh Joyce
DOB: 23/04/1997
Height 193cm
Weight: 88kg
Background: Hurling
When St Kilda List Manager, Tony Elshaug, and Pro Scout, Wayne Hughes, insisted that Darragh Joyce spend an extra year in Ireland and enjoy a year at college before pursuing a career in our game, that advice put the hurling star on a path to Linen House Centre.
Joyce tested at last October’s Draft Combine at Etihad Stadium and met with the Saints at the National Draft in Adelaide in November, where the club left a lasting impression on the 19-year-old from Kilkenny in the Emerald Isle.
“I was down in Australia last year down at the National Draft and I met up with Wayne Hughes and Tony Elshaug – they were very good to me,” Joyce told saints.com.au on Friday before returning to Ireland ahead of the pre-season.
“They let me go home for a year, enjoy college and let me go and have fun for a year, deliberate the decision and have a think about it. They just made me feel really comfortable with the way they approached it. I’m delighted to be here at the Saints.”
Video: http://www.saints.com.au/news/2016-09-09/how-joyce-landed-at-st-kilda
Former Kilkenny under-age star, Darragh Joyce, has embarked on a professional career in football in Australia.
Joyce (19) is set to begin his much anticipated career Down Under after signing a two year contract with Melbourne based club, St Kilda. A number of clubs from the AFL had been pursuing the talented Rower-Inistioge clubman for at least three years, and he was close to singing on a few occasions in the past.
However, recently he signed on the dotted line for St Kilda. Joyce captained Kilkenny to an All-Ireland minor hurling championship victory in 2014, and for the past two seasons he has been part of the Rower senior team.
Link: http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/s...-down-under-in-pursuit-of-football-dream.html
Reality has finally sunk in for Darragh Joyce. After returning from Ireland last week, it dawned on the former hurling prodigy that the novelty factor had worn off; this is his life now.
The Kilkenny product and Westmeath Gaelic football star, Ray Connellan, began life at the Saints at the beginning of the pre-season as the club's latest international recruits, joining American Jason Holmes and New Zealand pair Joe Baker-Thomas and Barclay Miller.
After reaching the Christmas break and travelling back to Kilkenny in south-east Ireland for ten days, Joyce has returned to Linen House Centre well aware of the enormity of what he is trying to achieve in a foreign code.
“The first few months were still a bit of a novelty, but since I’ve come back and leaving everyone at home to come back again, it’s sunk in now,” Joyce told saints.com.au on Wednesday afternoon.
“You wake up every morning and realise what you’re doing. It still does get you every morning that you’re waking up and coming to training, but it’s starting to sink in.”
Link: http://www.saints.com.au/news/2017-01-11/reality-sinks-in-for-joyce
Ray Connellan on the left and Darragh Joyce on the right.
DOB: 23/04/1997
Height 193cm
Weight: 88kg
Background: Hurling
When St Kilda List Manager, Tony Elshaug, and Pro Scout, Wayne Hughes, insisted that Darragh Joyce spend an extra year in Ireland and enjoy a year at college before pursuing a career in our game, that advice put the hurling star on a path to Linen House Centre.
Joyce tested at last October’s Draft Combine at Etihad Stadium and met with the Saints at the National Draft in Adelaide in November, where the club left a lasting impression on the 19-year-old from Kilkenny in the Emerald Isle.
“I was down in Australia last year down at the National Draft and I met up with Wayne Hughes and Tony Elshaug – they were very good to me,” Joyce told saints.com.au on Friday before returning to Ireland ahead of the pre-season.
“They let me go home for a year, enjoy college and let me go and have fun for a year, deliberate the decision and have a think about it. They just made me feel really comfortable with the way they approached it. I’m delighted to be here at the Saints.”
Video: http://www.saints.com.au/news/2016-09-09/how-joyce-landed-at-st-kilda
Former Kilkenny under-age star, Darragh Joyce, has embarked on a professional career in football in Australia.
Joyce (19) is set to begin his much anticipated career Down Under after signing a two year contract with Melbourne based club, St Kilda. A number of clubs from the AFL had been pursuing the talented Rower-Inistioge clubman for at least three years, and he was close to singing on a few occasions in the past.
However, recently he signed on the dotted line for St Kilda. Joyce captained Kilkenny to an All-Ireland minor hurling championship victory in 2014, and for the past two seasons he has been part of the Rower senior team.
Link: http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/s...-down-under-in-pursuit-of-football-dream.html
Reality has finally sunk in for Darragh Joyce. After returning from Ireland last week, it dawned on the former hurling prodigy that the novelty factor had worn off; this is his life now.
The Kilkenny product and Westmeath Gaelic football star, Ray Connellan, began life at the Saints at the beginning of the pre-season as the club's latest international recruits, joining American Jason Holmes and New Zealand pair Joe Baker-Thomas and Barclay Miller.
After reaching the Christmas break and travelling back to Kilkenny in south-east Ireland for ten days, Joyce has returned to Linen House Centre well aware of the enormity of what he is trying to achieve in a foreign code.
“The first few months were still a bit of a novelty, but since I’ve come back and leaving everyone at home to come back again, it’s sunk in now,” Joyce told saints.com.au on Wednesday afternoon.
“You wake up every morning and realise what you’re doing. It still does get you every morning that you’re waking up and coming to training, but it’s starting to sink in.”
Link: http://www.saints.com.au/news/2017-01-11/reality-sinks-in-for-joyce
Ray Connellan on the left and Darragh Joyce on the right.
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