Hawthorn was the first club to approach Darragh Joyce about the prospect of switching codes. It started with a brief email three years ago, inviting the hurling star to meet in one of Dublin’s most iconic parks for a kick. It now seems a lifetime ago, but it was in Phoenix Park where the first seeds were sown.

Unlike most Irish recruits, hurling was Joyce’s sport of choice over Gaelic football, but that was due to circumstance rather than the game itself. The newly signed St Kilda international rookie is from the Kilkenny County where Gaelic football is almost non-existent, and where hurling is the heartbeat of society.

Although more than fond of both Irish pastimes, the 19-year-old was practically born and bred with a hurl grasped between his fingers. He began playing the sport with a local club at the age of five before spending the bulk of his secondary school days playing Gaelic football at Good Counsel College in Wexford, an area renowned for football.

“My sporting background is very different from most of the Irish boys playing AFL as my main sport is hurling, the fastest field sport in the world. In my county, Kilkenny, Gaelic football is pretty much non-existent,” Joyce told saints.com.au in his first official interview with the club.

“I was pretty much born with a hurl in my hand and started playing with my local club, The Rower Inistioge when I was five. When I went to secondary school football became very serious for me. In school we had a lot of success in both hurling and football. However football was the most successful out of the both.”

Following a childhood filled with sport, the Australian game emerged on his radar when the Hawks approached him to meet in Phoenix Park. From there, a pathway to Linen House Centre has come via a handful of different combines and various airport terminals scattered across the globe. Firstly in Dublin, then to the Draft Combine in Melbourne in 2015 and at the start of this year he travelled to Florida with the AFL Academy.

“I was first approached by Hawthorn at the age of 16. I received an email asking me would I like to go for a kick in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. From there I got a couple of footys and just kept practising and messing around in the garden because I really enjoyed it,” Joyce said.

“I was lucky enough then to be invited to the AFL Europe combine in Dublin in 2014, where a group of 24 of us were tested. From there I was invited to the National Draft in Melbourne in 2015 by Tadgh Kennelly. Here is where I first made contact with St Kilda.

“From here I then attended the Dublin combine again in December, followed by a trip to the IMG Academy in Florida with the AIS academy. Then I got the opportunity to visit St Kilda for three weeks, and here I am, three years later.”

And while St Kilda had shown considerable interest in Joyce for more than 12 months, he had multiple options. He knew he wanted to pursue this foreign game in this foreign land, but it was the Saints’ insistence that he remained home for an extra year, immerse himself in his study and life, that paved the way to St Kilda.

“When I was at the draft last year, I got a bit of interest from a few clubs but it was the way St Kilda approached me, they made me feel very comfortable and laid out a plan to work with me,” Joyce said.

“They saw me as too young in 2015 and looking back on it now I was. So letting me do a year in college to mature on and off the field really benefitted me. It also made me realise that it is exactly what I want to do.

“The relationships I made with people at the club over the past year made it a very easy decision for me, along with the talented young team growing at the moment. Melbourne is also a pretty easy city to like.”

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Relocating the 17,300 km from Kilkenny to Melbourne will be made easier by the fact Joyce has family members in Melbourne and in other parts of Australia. Another bonus is his mum’s first cousin is former Essendon player Kevin Walsh, providing his family with a living, breathing example of what it is Joyce is chasing.

He’s also familiarised himself with a Sherrin, spending time with former Collingwood Irish recruit Marty Clarke back home, under the guidance of one of the finest exponents of the drop punt in recent times, Saints Development Coach Lindsay Gilbee.

At 194cm and 94kg, he’s similar in size and stature to stalwart Saints defenders Sam Gilbert and Sam Fisher; two players Joyce hopes to emulate when he lands at the club in October ahead of his first pre-season.

“From working with the coaches, they say I am more than likely going to start off in the defence. I look to players like the Saints very own Fisher and Sammy Gilbert and Hawthorn’s Josh Gibson. Their aggressiveness and ability to spoil the ball and make intercept marks is something I want to learn and try to emulate,” Joyce said.

“They all stand out as leaders on the field and from training with Fisher and Gilbert, they are also great mentors in helping me with certain aspects of the game that are new to me and some technical things which I really benefitted from.”

He may only be 19, but for an Irishman, this journey has been a long time coming. We hope those seeds sown in Dublin, blossom under the roof at Etihad Stadium in the years to come.