Latest news with #Tuohy
West Australian
12-06-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Retired Geelong great Zach Tuohy flags shock return to Gaelic football: ‘On the cards'
Retired Geelong great Zach Tuohy is contemplating a shock return to top-level action. However, the premiership hero — who hails from Portlaoise in Ireland — is considering returning home and playing the code he grew up on, Gaelic football. Before being recruited by the AFL, Tuohy was a gun junior Gaelic footballer for Portlaoise, and regularly played in under-age Laois county sides. He admits he was a late-bloomer in the sport but some of his heroics as a teenager caught the eye of AFL selectors in the 2000s. In 2009 he was invited to a four-week trial with Carlton and in 2010 he was selected by the Blues in the rookie draft. Appearing on Channel 7's The Front Bar , Tuohy — who retired from the AFL at the end of last year — revealed a return to his country's domestic code was 'on the cards'. Front Bar funnyman Mick Molloy asked Tuohy if he would have been a legend in Gaelic football if he had stayed in Ireland. The witty Tuohy responded with a grin: 'I still am in a lot of ways.' Molloy: 'Did it ever occur to you when you retired that you could go back and play a season or two (in Ireland)?' It was noted that former Irish AFL players Tadhg Kennelly (Sydney) and Marty Clarke (Collingwood) both played Gaelic footy after their AFL days were over. 'I'd love to, and it was the plan,' Tuohy admitted. 'There's a geographical issue; so much of my life here and how I commit to six months (over there) ... 'But for my home team, Portlaoise, I'm still harbouring ambition to go back and play. 'I have to work out some work stuff and see if we can make it happen. But that's on the cards, if I can.' Head here to watch The Front Bar on-demand and free on 7plus Tuohy is without a doubt one of the greatest Irish players to have made the switch to AFL. While the late, great Jim Stynes won a Brownlow Medal, Tuohy has the record for the most AFL games played by a person who wasn't born in Australia. After playing 120 games for Carlton, Tuohy then played another 168 games for Geelong, including the 2022 premiership. He also represented Ireland four times in the International Rules clashes with Australia between 2011-2017. International Rules is a blend of Australian and Gaelic football and was played annually between the two countries between 1998 and 2006. After some heated battles and bad blood between Australia and Irish, it was then played randomly over the next 11 years and the last series was in 2017. But Tuohy believes there should be a discussion to bring it back because the players 'love it'. 'I think there is an appetite from the players (to bring it back) definitely,' Tuohy said. 'And I think the rise of the W opens up a whole new potential to maybe do one in tandem with the men and the women. 'The players love it ... understand, as a spectacle both codes would argue that their own code is better than the combine code and that's been the criticism. 'But what an amazing opportunity to play for your country ... it's the only chance you get (for AFL players).'
Perth Now
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Retired AFL great in plot to make shock return to action
Retired Geelong great Zach Tuohy is contemplating a shock return to top-level action. However, the premiership hero — who hails from Portlaoise in Ireland — is considering returning home and playing the code he grew up on, Gaelic football. Before being recruited by the AFL, Tuohy was a gun junior Gaelic footballer for Portlaoise, and regularly played in under-age Laois county sides. He admits he was a late-bloomer in the sport but some of his heroics as a teenager caught the eye of AFL selectors in the 2000s. In 2009 he was invited to a four-week trial with Carlton and in 2010 he was selected by the Blues in the rookie draft. Appearing on Channel 7's The Front Bar, Tuohy — who retired from the AFL at the end of last year — revealed a return to his country's domestic code was 'on the cards'. Zach Tuohy on the set of Channel 7's award-winning show The Front Bar. Credit: Seven Front Bar funnyman Mick Molloy asked Tuohy if he would have been a legend in Gaelic football if he had stayed in Ireland. The witty Tuohy responded with a grin: 'I still am in a lot of ways.' Molloy: 'Did it ever occur to you when you retired that you could go back and play a season or two (in Ireland)?' It was noted that former Irish AFL players Tadhg Kennelly (Sydney) and Marty Clarke (Collingwood) both played Gaelic footy after their AFL days were over. 'I'd love to, and it was the plan,' Tuohy admitted. 'There's a geographical issue; so much of my life here and how I commit to six months (over there) ... 'But for my home team, Portlaoise, I'm still harbouring ambition to go back and play. 'I have to work out some work stuff and see if we can make it happen. But that's on the cards, if I can.' Head here to watch The Front Bar on-demand and free on 7plus Tuohy is without a doubt one of the greatest Irish players to have made the switch to AFL. While the late, great Jim Stynes won a Brownlow Medal, Tuohy has the record for the most AFL games played by a person who wasn't born in Australia. After playing 120 games for Carlton, Tuohy then played another 168 games for Geelong, including the 2022 premiership. He also represented Ireland four times in the International Rules clashes with Australia between 2011-2017. International Rules is a blend of Australian and Gaelic football and was played annually between the two countries between 1998 and 2006. After some heated battles and bad blood between Australia and Irish, it was then played randomly over the next 11 years and the last series was in 2017. But Tuohy believes there should be a discussion to bring it back because the players 'love it'. 'I think there is an appetite from the players (to bring it back) definitely,' Tuohy said. 'And I think the rise of the W opens up a whole new potential to maybe do one in tandem with the men and the women. 'The players love it ... understand, as a spectacle both codes would argue that their own code is better than the combine code and that's been the criticism. 'But what an amazing opportunity to play for your country ... it's the only chance you get (for AFL players).'
7NEWS
12-06-2025
- Sport
- 7NEWS
Retired Geelong great Zach Tuohy flags shock return to Gaelic football: ‘On the cards'
Retired Geelong great Zach Tuohy is contemplating a shock return to top-level action. However, the premiership hero — who hails from Portlaoise in Ireland — is considering returning home and playing the code he grew up on, Gaelic football. Before being recruited by the AFL, Tuohy was a gun junior Gaelic footballer for Portlaoise, and regularly played in under-age Laois county sides. He admits he was a late-bloomer in the sport but some of his heroics as a teenager caught the eye of AFL selectors in the 2000s. In 2009 he was invited to a four-week trial with Carlton and in 2010 he was selected by the Blues in the rookie draft. Appearing on Channel 7's The Front Bar, Tuohy — who retired from the AFL at the end of last year — revealed a return to his country's domestic code was 'on the cards'. Front Bar funnyman Mick Molloy asked Tuohy if he would have been a legend in Gaelic football if he had stayed in Ireland. The witty Tuohy responded with a grin: 'I still am in a lot of ways.' Molloy: 'Did it ever occur to you when you retired that you could go back and play a season or two (in Ireland)?' It was noted that former Irish AFL players Tadhg Kennelly (Sydney) and Marty Clarke (Collingwood) both played Gaelic footy after their AFL days were over. 'I'd love to, and it was the plan,' Tuohy admitted. 'There's a geographical issue; so much of my life here and how I commit to six months (over there) ... 'But for my home team, Portlaoise, I'm still harbouring ambition to go back and play. 'I have to work out some work stuff and see if we can make it happen. But that's on the cards, if I can.' Tuohy is without a doubt one of the greatest Irish players to have made the switch to AFL. While the late, great Jim Stynes won a Brownlow Medal, Tuohy has the record for the most AFL games played by a person who wasn't born in Australia. After playing 120 games for Carlton, Tuohy then played another 168 games for Geelong, including the 2022 premiership. He also represented Ireland four times in the International Rules clashes with Australia between 2011-2017. International Rules is a blend of Australian and Gaelic football and was played annually between the two countries between 1998 and 2006. After some heated battles and bad blood between Australia and Irish, it was then played randomly over the next 11 years and the last series was in 2017. But Tuohy believes there should be a discussion to bring it back because the players 'love it'. 'I think there is an appetite from the players (to bring it back) definitely,' Tuohy said. 'And I think the rise of the W opens up a whole new potential to maybe do one in tandem with the men and the women. 'The players love it ... understand, as a spectacle both codes would argue that their own code is better than the combine code and that's been the criticism. 'But what an amazing opportunity to play for your country ... it's the only chance you get (for AFL players).'
Sunday World
07-06-2025
- General
- Sunday World
Irishwoman who died during Edinburgh Half Marathon was a 'bright light', funeral told
'HAPPY MEMORIES' | "I would just like to say to friends and family that whenever you see a rainbow, think of Olivia because she will be flying high.' Mourners gathered at SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in Ennis this morning heard the lasting impact the young nurse had on the lives of those who knew her, leaving all those who met her 'the better for it'. Her family were described as 'the treasures of Olivia's life' during her funeral mass this morning. Ms Tuohy worked as a nurse in the vascular ward of the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, having studied at Queen Margaret University. "Olivia had a short and beautiful life. If I were to tell you all the stories we know about Olivia and those we probably didn't know, it would be like Tom Cruise, it would be Mission Impossible ,' her father, Kieran, said. He told how he was tasked with teaching his daughter how to drive, with the first lesson featuring door slamming, strong words, apologies and a hug and kiss to say that 'tomorrow, there will be no shouting'. "And that's what happened, Olivia passed first go.' Olivia Tuohy, 25. Image: He thanked all those who gathered to pay tribute to his daughter, adding: 'To Olivia and her brother, Stephen, we love you so, so much. Thank you to everybody.' Ms Tuohy's mother, Liz, thanked the medical professionals and fellow runners who helped her daughter on the day of her run in Edinburgh and all those who have supported them in the time since, including the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. "We would not be standing here today without the unwavering love and support from both our families and friends. Your warm words and acts of kindness have given us great support and comfort. For that, we will always, always be truly and deeply grateful,' she said. "When we were travelling up to Dublin to go to Edinburgh, we were near the airport and the next thing, my sister said, 'Oh my God, look at the rainbow.' And there is this big, massive double rainbow, [biggest] that I have ever seen – the widest, biggest. I just remember saying, 'Fly high, baby girl.'' She added: "I would just like to say to friends and family that whenever you see a rainbow, think of Olivia because she will be flying high.' Her brother, Stephen, told mourners how his sister had their dad 'wrapped around her finger' as he recalled a night-out in Vancouver with his family, adding: "One thing I've learned from this is that whenever you're out, even if it's just with your friends and family, if it's just even out for a walk, just take a photo, because you might not have the person sitting beside you right now forever, but you'll have a memory, or you'll have a photo, which is a memory, forever.' Olivia Tuohy was laid to rest in Co Clare today. Photo: News in 90 Seconds - 7th June Her boyfriend Michael, said Ms Tuohy knew that one of his favourite activities was 'talking about you in front of the people we know' as he described her as a 'kind, beautiful, gorgeous soul'. He thanked her for the love she brought into his life, adding: 'We shared something that has been so hard to describe to people because it was so natural and we packed so much in the time we had together, the term I've used is that we left nothing unsaid – and that is true.' He told those gathered that some may have heard him 'sing or shout this at Olivia' as he quoted song lyrics, saying: 'Now, forever and always: 'Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel.'' Mourners heard how their memories of Ms Tuohy are filled with her "kindness, fun, laughter and her determined strength' as a number of symbols of her life were brought to the altar. A football and a hurley represented her love of sport and served as a reminder to those gathered to 'play hard, love fiercely and embrace every moment'. Her nursing uniform, badge and a memory book compiled by her colleagues in the Royal Infirmary were brought to the altar along with a shopping bag to mark her many shopping trips with friends and an Aperol Spritz glass with her name on it to show how Ms Tuohy loved 'having fun, creating time to laugh and being surrounded by friends and family'. Her family were described as 'the treasures of Olivia's life', with a collection of family photos symbolising their importance to her. Read more Mourners heard how the reality that Ms Tuohy was "a positive presence for so many people' that she met throughout her life, having a "profound and lasting impact on so, so many people'. "It feels as though a bright light has been extinguished and yet, that is the reality we face today.' Those gathered heard how all those who met Ms Tuohy were 'the better for it' and she left an 'indelible impression'. Ms Tuohy, who was described as 'a natural carer', used her talents in sport and in caring for others to help and support those around her, leaving a legacy of 'love, care, friendship and so many happy memories'. Tributes have been paid to Olivia as 'a bright and beautiful spirit' whose 'bubbly personality and kind heart will be deeply missed by all who knew her' since her death on May 25. 'Olivia is survived by her heart broken parents Kieran and Liz and her brother Stephen and his partner Laura, her loving partner Michael and his parents Maria-Elena and Steven, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours and her friends both in Ireland and Edinburgh,' her death notice reads.
Irish Independent
07-06-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
‘Whenever you see a rainbow, think of Olivia' – Tributes paid to ‘bright light' Olivia Tuohy (25) who died during Edinburgh Half Marathon
Mourners gathered at SS Peter and Paul Cathedral in Ennis this morning heard the lasting impact the young nurse had on the lives of those who knew her, leaving all those who met her 'the better for it'. Her family were described as 'the treasures of Olivia's life' during her funeral mass this morning. Ms Tuohy worked as a nurse in the vascular ward of the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, having studied at Queen Margaret University. "Olivia had a short and beautiful life. If I were to tell you all the stories we know about Olivia and those we probably didn't know, it would be like Tom Cruise, it would be Mission Impossible,' her father, Kieran, said. He told how he was tasked with teaching his daughter how to drive, with the first lesson featuring door slamming, strong words, apologies and a hug and kiss to say that 'tomorrow, there will be no shouting'. "And that's what happened, Olivia passed first go.' He thanked all those who gathered to pay tribute to his daughter, adding: 'To Olivia and her brother, Stephen, we love you so, so much. Thank you to everybody.' Ms Tuohy's mother, Liz, thanked the medical professional and fellow runners who helped her daughter on the day of her run in Edinburgh and all those who have supported them in the time since, including the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. "We would not be standing here today without the unwavering love and support from both our families and friends. Your warm words and acts of kindness have given us great support and comfort. For that, we will always, always be truly and deeply grateful,' she said. "When we were travelling up to Dublin to go to Edinburgh, we were near the airport and the next thing, my sister said, 'Oh my God, look at the rainbow.' And there is this big, massive double rainbow, [biggest] that I have ever seen – the widest, biggest. I just remember saying, 'Fly high, baby girl.'' She added: "I would just like to say to friends and family that whenever you see a rainbow, think of Olivia because she will be flying high.' Her brother, Stephen, told mourners how his sister had their dad 'wrapped around her finger' as he recalled a night-out in Vancouver with his family, adding: "One thing I've learned from this is that whenever you're out, even if it's just with your friends and family, even take a photo, because you might not have the person sitting beside you right now forever, but you'll have a memory, or you'll have a photo, which is a memory, forever.' Her boyfriend Michael, said Ms Tuohy knew that one of his favourite activities was 'talking about you in front of the people we know' as he described her as a 'kind, beautiful, gorgeous soul'. He thanked her for the love she brought into his life, adding: 'We shared something that has been so hard to describe to people because it was so natural and we packed so much in the time we had together, the term I've used is that we left nothing unsaid – and that is true.' He told those gathered that some may have heard him 'sing or shout this at Olivia' as he quoted song lyrics, saying: 'Now, forever and always: 'Girl, you're my angel, you're my darling angel.'' Mourners heard how their memories of Ms Tuohy are filled with her "kindness, fun, laughter and her determined strength' as a number of symbols of her life were brought to the altar. A football and a hurley represented her love of sport and served as a reminder to those gathered to 'play hard, love fiercely and embrace every moment'. Her nursing uniform, badge and a memory book compiled by her colleagues in the Royal Infirmary were brought to the altar along with a shopping bag to mark her many shopping trips with friends and an Aperol Spritz glass with her name on it to show how Ms Tuohy loved 'having fun, creating time to laugh and being surrounded by friends and family'. Her family were described as 'the treasures of Olivia's life', with a collection of family photos symbolising their importance to her. Mourners heard how the reality that Ms Tuohy was "a positive presence for so many people' that she met throughout her life, having a "profound and lasting impact on so, so many people'. "It feels as though a bright light has been extinguished and yet, that is the reality we face today.' Those gathered heard how all those who met Ms Tuohy were 'the better for it' and she left an 'indelible impression'. Ms Tuohy, who was described as 'a natural carer', used her talents in sport and in caring for others to help and support those around her, leaving a legacy of 'love, care, friendship and so many happy memories'. Tributes have been paid to Olivia as 'a bright and beautiful spirit' whose 'bubbly personality and kind heart will be deeply missed by all who knew her' since her death on May 25. 'Olivia is survived by her heart broken parents Kieran and Liz and her brother Stephen and his partner Laura, her loving partner Michael and his parents Maria-Elena and Steven, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours and her friends both in Ireland and Edinburgh,' her death notice reads.
