First, Sean Wight and Jimmy Stynes made their mark. Then, Tadhg Kennelly carried the Irish flag along even further, before Marty Clarke burst onto the scene and then departed as quickly as he arrived. Now, Pearce Hanley and Zach Tuohy are leading a fresh wave of Irishmen in our game. And one of the chasing pack is new Saint, Ray Connellan.

The 22-year-old speedster is one of two new Irish recruits at Linen House Centre, along with Hurling convert Darragh Joyce. They aren’t alone, far from it in fact. A raft of Conor’s – Hawthorn’s Glass and Nash and Essendon’s McKenna – and Carlton’s two Ciaran’s – Byrne and Sheehan have inflated the Irish community inside Melbourne clubs.

While Hanley and Tuohy, who both switched clubs over the off-season to Gold Coast and Geelong respectively, are entrenched in the AFL system and highly rated half-back flankers, the competition between the younger generation to emulate those who have gone before them is driving them forward, according to Connellan.

“That’s definitely a driving motivator for me. If you look at Tadhg Kennelly, you’ve seen what he’s done and he’s set a benchmark I suppose; he won a premiership at Sydney and did very well at Sydney,” Connellan told saints.com.au.

Former Sydney star Tadhg Kennelly performing his famous Irish jig on the premiership dais in 2005.

“Now there’s so many of us here at the same age, Ciaran Byrne, the three Connor’s, obviously Darragh at the same club, so there is that bit of competition because we want to outdo each other, which I think is healthy.

“But it’s the same with anyone; it’s not just the Irish boys. If you see someone do a PB at the club you want to beat that, I think that’s just a sporting environment, everyone is competitive.”

With so many Irishmen now based in Melbourne, and all of a similar age, Connellan admits that he feels settled surrounded by people in a similar situation who are a long way from home and chasing a dream in a foreign code.

“It’s good when you meet them boys, we’ve all got something in common, we all feel settled around each other, we can bounce ideas off each other and see what everyone notices inside their clubs kind of like a sounding board,” Connellan said.

“Before I came over I spoke a lot with Tadhg Kennelly, who is involved with all the Irish boys before they come over. There have been quite a few people you can bounce ideas off so you can get any worries out of your head.”