The team — who conceivably could be called the ‘Hurl Blacks’ — are playing four Australian states in the hurling section of the 50th Australasia Gaelic Games in Melbourne, which started yesterday and conclude with the final on Saturday.
The locals, who play for Queenstown’s Band of Brothers, are Conleth McLarnon, 31, from County Meath, Niall Quinn, 32, from Co Offaly, and Kieran Moynihan, 31, from Co Cork.
They’re in NZ’s first 15-man hurling team — another NZ team competed in the Melbourne sevens in 2020.
McLarnon says the sport’s "pretty fast, intense, hard-hitting", and is played on a pitch slightly longer and wider than a rugby field.
Players score three points for hitting below the bar, where a goalkeeper’s stationed, and one point for going above the bar.
McLarnon says the locals have been training for seven to eight weeks with various drills, and also training for upcoming Gaelic football comps.
Speaking before flying out, he was expecting NZ to be underdogs up against their Aussie opponents — "they’re all pretty heavy hitters"
Meanwhile, the team’s sponsors include local-based Irishman Declan ‘Diesel’ Malone and his family, and local Morrison’s Irish Pub owner Adam Nagy, who’s sponsored the 22-man squad’s jerseys.
