Your American Pie! Now Official

[bretigan]

Hi,

Finally! http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/newsfeatures/news/newsarticle/tabid/5586/newsid/86785/default.aspx

Bret

 

[DWil6]

Excellent. Good luck to him. It would be a great thing for all involved if he made a success of his foray into AFL.

 

[Optimax]

You must be very proud Bret.

Derek confirms some of the musings we had in the other thread too

Collingwood’s national recruiting manager Derek Hine told collingwoodfc.com.au that McNamara could develop into a ruck or key forward option.

“We feel that Seamus has scope to potentially play both in the ruck and as a key forward. He is very driven and has impressed everyone at the club with his work ethic, and given Seamus’ experiences at playing elite level sport we feel that he is deserving of the opportunity to forge a career in the AFL.”

This is very promising too

“The results were encouraging enough to invite him out to Australia for a 14 day trial, which was extended out to 21 days due to Seamus’ ability to rapidly pick up all aspects of the game whilst in Melbourne.

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/newsfeatures/news/newsarticle/tabid/5586/newsid/86785/default.aspx

The fact he contacted us as well means he shouldnt be a very large go home risk either.

So good luck and welcome aboard Shae

 

[smiddaz123]

He also played in Germany, so you'd think he is okay with living outside America.

 

[Snag Breac]

It's definitely cead mile failte to anyone called Seamus McNamara - and you can double that if he can play.

 

[collingwill]

Thanks for keeping us informed Bretigan.

i have a couple more questions if you dont mind

is AFL allways something his been interested in bret ?

Why did he pick AFL over his prefered sports at which he was more than capable at ?

im guessing he likes a challenge, all the best to him, go shae.

 

[DaisysHair]

Looks a huge man! Hope this works out for us! Good Luck Shae!

 

[bretigan]

Thanks for keeping us informed Bretigan.

i have a couple more questions if you dont mind

is AFL allways something his been interested in bret ?

Why did he pick AFL over his prefered sports at which he was more than capable at ?

im guessing he likes a challenge, all the best to him, go shae.

Well, I have NO idea why or how he learned about Footy. Of course, I just found out that my home city, has a Footy team that won it all! The Milwaukee Bombers. I am learning myself.

I do know that when I talked to Shae, he said he loved the idea that your sport embrasses all the sports he loves. Soccer was his first true love. He was great at all the sports he played, and in high school, he decided that he needed to devote all of his time to one sport, and he chose basketball. He was recruited by a great coach in Marist, but once Shae got there, a new coach was hired, and that guy never used Shae in the way Shae could have been.

When I played sports with him, when he was younger, he always wanted to play hard, and never wanted me to play it soft. Even considering I am like 18 years older! Same with video hockey. I kept beating him, I kept teaching him and WHAM. He beats me. He never gives up, well, maybe on homework when growing up.

Bret

 

[Markfs]

One thing that I can be sure of..... if he ever does get a game, there will be a heap of publicity coming from the sports stories on US television. An investment of a few thousand to put him on contract, is well worth it...

This is the same thing that the gold coast did with carmichael hunt..... put a guy on contract and get publicity as a minimum.... with a possibility of a good player too - although I doubt that a 24 year old will make it.

 

[Zahki]

Good on him! I wish him all the best in forging his AFL career. He seems like a very confident, and assertive person to send clubs in a sport he's never played his CV, which bodes well for him putting the hard yards in.

 

[Al Scorcho]

Well, I have NO idea why or how he learned about Footy. Of course, I just found out that my home city, has a Footy team that won it all! The Milwaukee Bombers. I am learning myself.

I do know that when I talked to Shae, he said he loved the idea that your sport embrasses all the sports he loves. Soccer was his first true love. He was great at all the sports he played, and in high school, he decided that he needed to devote all of his time to one sport, and he chose basketball. He was recruited by a great coach in Marist, but once Shae got there, a new coach was hired, and that guy never used Shae in the way Shae could have been.

When I played sports with him, when he was younger, he always wanted to play hard, and never wanted me to play it soft. Even considering I am like 18 years older! Same with video hockey. I kept beating him, I kept teaching him and WHAM. He beats me. He never gives up, well, maybe on homework when growing up.

Bret

you'll have to head down to the local team for a run around, regardless of age i am pretty sure they are always looking for more people to get involved over there

on this site, there is an international footy board that might offer you some info, plus the following sites i find to be really good sources of information on footy both in the US and the world over

http://www.worldfootynews.com/
http://www.usfootynews.com/
http://www.usfooty.com/usfooty/
http://www.aussierulesinternational.com/

 

[Al Scorcho]

from the pies website

"His exceptional vertical leap combined with his quick pace makes him an enticing prospect."

not so unlikely that it is 100cm, but still not confirmed

"“Who knows where I will play. Maybe a forward. I don’t even know. The main thing is to play in the AFL and help the team win a championship.”

needs to learn the lingo

“I didn’t understand what ‘Bloke’ meant. I was like, ‘What did he call me?’ That was pretty funny.”

lol


EDIT: also the video on the site of his interview shows some footage of his trail work back during the finals (rucking against crow) and his pick ups off the bounce looked fantastic for a bloke new to the oval ball

 

[4#Didak#4]

I move that Shaes nickname should be Shmac! The closest thing we will get to having Shaq playing for the Pies.

 

[mattys123]

I can really see Seamus being our "Dean Brogan".

Brogan was a professional basketballer who had never played AFL before, and turned into a premiership winning ruckman with Port.

More then anything though, it just adds another exciting factor to next year, will be interesting to watch Seamus and Lachlan Keefe in the VFL ruck next year, and at Victoria Park too.

Can't wait, and welcome to Collingwood Seamus.

 

[DThomas]

Sounds promising from that article. Good luck Shae!

 

[FootyontheBrain]

If anyone has a link to the video of his interview other than the one through BigPond it would be much appreciated.

The biggest thing to happen in the US regarding footy and the AFL can't work out a way for us to follow it over here.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Al Scorcho]

If anyone has a link to the video of his interview other than the one through BigPond it would be much appreciated.

The biggest thing to happen in the US regarding footy and the AFL can't work out a way for us to follow it over here.

Thanks in advance.

someone will get it up on youtube soon enough stay tuned!

 

[TradeDraft]

His Twitter Account:

http://twitter.com/bigdyman

 

[danielnajdek]

all the best shae hope you do well and make it

 

[Old Spice]

Swellegant! Good luck to the big man.

R: McNamara

Em: Lowe, Robbins, Sarandon

 

[Kirby]

Good luck to the young man!

 

[TradeDraft]

Hine saying he has great Work Ethic is the Most Impressive Thing they have said about Shae and also he is Driven

 

[danielnajdek]

^^^ yeah looks like he wants it badly

 

[Invigoration]

What a champ, I'd love to see him make it.

If David Fanning can get a game as a ruckman, Shae is probably a shoe in to win a brownlow

He is an exciting prospect and I'm glad our club is going to these ends in attempts to benefit the club. He'll be well embraced by the Magpie faithful, he should become a bit of a cult hero down at the VFL I reckon.

Thanks for the update Bretigan and congratulations to him.

 

[Mars II]

[youtube]F6ZlswxFHdY[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ZlswxFHdY