IT SEEMS everyone wants to know why Ciaran Byrne wears his socks up.
Midway through our interview at the Carlton Café on Thursday, the affable Irishman is interrupted by Bob Lowrie, the Blues’ runner during the 1979, ’81 and ’82 premierships who Bryne has never met before.
“Ciaran, I don’t like to interrupt and I’m sure you’ve got meetings to go to, but I need to know something. Why do you play with your socks up?” Lowrie asks.
“I literally had that question just a few minutes ago,” Byrne laughs.
In a game dominated by low-sock wearers, Lowrie is intrigued as to why a modern-day AFL footballer would sport the old-fashioned look.
He remembers his time at a Ron Barassi-coached Carlton in the early ‘70s.
Barassi, a stickler for raised socks, would order his players to leave the field if their navy blue socks didn’t meet his strict standards.
“I guess it’s because of Ron Barassi then,” Byrne jokes.
But the real reason?
“It’s something I’ve been doing since my Gaelic football days in Ireland as a kid. It feels comfortable for me but I only do it for games,” Bryne tells Lowrie.
One of the stars in Carlton’s JLT Series win over St Kilda last week, the 23-year-old is clearly raising Blues supporters’ gazes with his unique look and eagerness to take the game on.
His performance – 18 disposals at 100 percent efficiency – drew high praise from his coaches and was validation of the dashing defender’s desire to play a style true to his Gaelic roots.
“That’s (playing on instinct) something I had a chat to ‘Bolts’ (coach Brendon Bolton) about early this pre-season,” Byrne says.
“I want to bring that instinctive Irish play back into my game and he wants me to play with flair and use my speed.
“Obviously the socks are up again this year and I wore the yellow boots last week, so that’s (flair) something I pride my game on.
“I think Aussie players don’t expect you to take the game on as much, but hopefully I can show my Irish dash this season.”
Ciaran Byrne showcases his Irish flair against the Saints last week. (Photo: AFL Media)
One of just a handful of Irishmen in a league dominated by locals, Byrne is reminded of just how far he’s travelled to pursue his dream on a day like today.
It’s 30 degrees and his face is still covered in zinc from the morning training session, while back in his Irish hometown of County Louth, there’s been over 12 feet of snow in the past fortnight.
He admits to bouts of homesickness during his four years at Ikon Park, but signed a two-year contract extension last year and says he feels happier than ever in the land down under.
“The first couple of months were the hardest period for homesickness, and then there was the recovery from the knee reconstruction,” Byrne says.
“The club was pretty good to me. I had to stay here for a couple of months to get the surgery done and all that, but they sent me home to Ireland for Christmas so I got to spend six weeks with friends and family back home.
“But I reached the stage where I really wanted to come back to Melbourne. I’ve made friends for life here and it’s a pretty special place to be. It’s my home away from home and I see myself here for as long as I possibly can.”
Ciaran Byrne has put homesickness and the pain of injury setbacks well and truly behind him. (Photo: AFL Media)
One of those dear friends is teammate Patrick Cripps, who has lived with Byrne since the pair arrived at Carlton in late 2013.
They travelled through Europe together in September and October last year, briefly staying in Byrne’s hometown.
One of the highlights was attending the All-Ireland Final between Dublin and Mayo at Croke Park, with the amateur sport – the game Byrne grew up with – attracting over 90,000 spectators.
Such was the occasion that Caleb Marchbank and former teammate Andrew Gallucci, who were also on the trip, couldn’t get tickets and had to “sit outside the stadium”.
Months later, Cripps returned the favour, with his parents Brad and Kath and brothers Josh and Daniel hosting Byrne in their Perth home for four days.
“The first time I met him (Cripps) was in Arizona on training camp. From that day I just felt like we clicked. We’re both country boys and we have a lot of similarities,” Byrne says.
“I nearly spend all day every day with him. He’s been unreal to me and I’ve got to know his family pretty well and his friends back in Perth, so they nearly feel like a family to me now.
“Also having him come to Ireland just got to show him what I’m missing out on back home – that being my family and friends but also the sport I grew up playing.”
Ciaran Byrne and Patrick Cripps share a special bond. (Photo: AFL Media)
When he needs his Irish fix in Melbourne, Byrne turns to his tight-knit group of compatriots from rival clubs.
“As a group we catch up regularly, maybe once a week. It’s unreal just to share our experiences," he says.
One of the group members is Essendon’s Conor McKenna, who Byrne is extremely close with.
“I love that you’ve mentioned his name. We are best mates,” he says.
“When I was out injured last year and saw how good Conor McKenna was going, I was kind of jealous in a way, but it inspired me to follow in his footsteps this year with Carlton and fly that Irish flag and be as good as he was last year.”
The Irish contingent had a small but significant expansion over the off-season, with Carlton’s own Cillian McDaid welcomed to the fold.
The 20-year-old from Galway is Carlton’s newest Irishman since the departures of Zach Tuohy and Ciaran Sheehan in 2016 and 2017 respectively, and has quickly been taken under Byrne’s wing.
“When he first got here, he stayed with me up until Christmas. It’s pretty special having him on board, because you get to talk about things at home,” Byrne says.
“When I first came out, I had Zach Tuohy and Ciaran Sheehan, so that made me feel a lot more comfortable, so hopefully I can help him adjust and improve his game as much as possible and feel comfortable here in Australia.”
While McDaid is leaning on Byrne as he adjusts to life at Ikon Park, the latter has his own mentor in the form of teammate Sam Docherty.
The rebounding defenders have been trading advice about their positions and knee reconstructions, with Docherty having recently suffered an ACL rupture.
His loss is only making Byrne hungrier to do Carlton’s 2016 John Nicholls Medallist proud in 2018.
“He’s a player I look up to. He sits in all our reviews and gives me feedback on what I need to improve on. He’s an amazing man and he’s not going to miss a beat this year,” Byrne says.
“I want to be that Sam Docherty, take his role and fill that void, but it’s also got to be a team effort.”
As the interview winds up, Byrne turns into serious mode with his next team meeting just minutes away.
He’s desperately doing all he can to play his first-ever season opener, and knows just how far Saturday night’s pre-season clash with Hawthorn will go to achieving that ambition.
He touches the goosebumps on his right arm at the thought of running out on the hallowed MCG turf in his raised socks, surrounded by more than 90,000 screaming fans.
“Obviously the team hasn’t been picked yet, but I’m thinking about Round 1 every day. It gives me goosebumps even when I mention it,” he says.
“Fingers crossed I’ll have done enough for Bolts to pick me. If I can play in Round 1, it’s going to be pretty special.”
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