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.”
Unlike most Irish recruits, Joyce is not transitioning from Gaelic football, instead he is making the switch from a bat and ball sport - the fastest field sport in the world - which has forced him to live and breathe with a Sherrin in his possession.
“I had a ball with me the whole time over Christmas, I just try and have a ball in my hand 24-7; I’m pretty much sleeping with the thing,” Joyce said.
“I try and have the ball in my hand every day because you do have to do a lot more than the Australian’s because you are trying to catch-up at the end of the day.
“Lindsay Gilbee has been really good, helping me with the ball drop. It’s gone to another level, I’m actually catching up with Lindsay straight after this to work on my kicking.”
While St Kilda Assistant Coach, Lindsay Gilbee, has helped develop Joyce’s kicking through one-on-one tuition, the Irishman hasn’t quite mastered the running bounce just yet.
“I went for a bounce at a training session before Christmas and I copped a fair bit of slack for it. It pretty much came up and hit me in the face, but I’ll do it again,” Joyce said.
“In hurling you get the ball and have it on the stick, we like to use our legs, so I’ll try again.”
For Joyce, the ability to share this unique life experience with someone in an identical position in Connellan has helped make the challenging transition as smooth as possible.
“It’s good to bounce ideas off each other and motivate each other. He might run a bit faster than him and I’ll try and catch him or I might do something better than him and vice versa," he said.
"It’s also good to be able to catch-up for a coffee away from the club and talk through how the week has gone."
