One was a burgeoning Hurling champion, the other was one of Gaelic football’s stars on the rise.
Seemingly with the world at their feet in their home country, Darragh Joyce and Ray Connellan made the brave decision to jump ship and head over to a foreign country, to play a foreign sport.
Of course, we’ve heard of this story before, and you need not look any further than trailblazers like Jim Stynes and Tadhg Kennelly, but this story has its own unique touch.
Both Joyce and Connellan played different sports growing up, and came from completely different parts of Ireland.
For Joyce, his sporting life centered around Hurling, whereas Connellan played Gaelic.
Incredibly, they’ve both wound up living in the same Australian city, and play for the same club.
Two of St Kilda’s newest recruits sat down with Aflplayers.com.au to discuss their journey to Australia, settling into life with the Saints and their goals for the future.