Zach Tuohy is hitting the road in the coming weeks but he is not packing his bags for a permanent move home… yet.
The Portlaoise club-man and former Laois GAA star is well and truly settled into life as an Aussie Rules star Down Under. Having moved to Carlton in 2010, he quickly established himself as a player to watch in the AFL.
His stint with the Melbourne side has come to an end and Tuohy will join Geelong Cats for the next AFL season. His four-year deal, which was signed to secure a decent future for himself and his family, saw Geelong give up a No.1 draft pick.
That is how much he is valued.
📰 https://t.co/RElDVEg0ma pic.twitter.com/1kJn6Lb1um
— Geelong Cats (@GeelongCats) October 20, 2016
Tuohy took time out of planning for a one-hour skip down the coast to chat with SportsJOE GAA editor Colm Parkinson on the GAA Hour podcast.
Among other things, the 26-year-old shared his daily routine as an Aussie Rules star and what it takes to make it in this game.
“What I have been doing is, you get up you get into the club at around 7am each [weekday] morning.
“It’s a couple hours of training, a couple hours of meetings, then weights and bike-work, [cardio] stuff. You don’t really leave till four or five in the evening. That’s how things kinda run in Carlton. I’m not exactly sure how Geelong do it.
“Look it can be a long day and clearly it can be a stressful job, but I don’t think people want to hear people complaining about his life or job, and the stresses of being a professional athlete. But it is a full day its a full-time job.
“You get a couple days off a week and the rest of the week you spend looking at games or looking at analysis and footage.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/-8ZPNxPcIy/?taken-by=zach2e
Tuohy prefers the full, busy days as opposed to the morning-on, afternoon-off lifestyle of many Premier League players. He says:
“In sport, different clubs run their affairs differently. Certainly in the last year, we spent a lot of the time in the club and in all of those meetings. I do know of clubs that don’t spend a lot of the time [at the training ground].
“It’s a bit of a case [here] of – Get in, earn it, do our work and go spend some time with your family.”
As for the extended Tuohy family at home, the Geelong/Portlaoise man says he will assess his living situation near the end of his contract, in four years time, before making a definitive call.
He does add, however, that he would be “staggered” if he does not get back for a full club season or two in the coming years. If Laois want him in their senior football panel, well, who knows.
Colm Parkinson is joined by Paul Rouse for a heated debate about Sky Sports’ five-year GAA deal and an exclusive chat with AFL star Zach Tuohy on the new GAA Hour.
