Pearce Hanley

[Grimreepah]

Looked a little nervous in his first game and made a few errors. But I'd give him another go considering we are now out of finals contention.

[konstas_87]

Looked a little nervous in his first game and made a few errors. But I'd give him another go considering we are now out of finals contention.

tonight's performance was a poor coaching panel decision, nothing to do with the poor guy's ability/potential.

bringing in an untried experiment for a must-win round 21 game...jeeeez:rolleyes:

[TheBrownDog]

I talked him up too much. Sorry guys. :o

[notting18]

If you compare his game to Begley's output last week, I personally don't think there was much difference. Was a very promising start IMO

[brisbanelioness]

If you compare his game to Begley's output last week, I personally don't think there was much difference. Was a very promising start IMO
I agree, he gave it a real go and will work his butt off to improve. I don't really have a problem with his selection this week or next. The Lions had an impressive record against the Blues and we should have expected another win.

[Lehmo87]

I agree, he gave it a real go and will work his butt off to improve. I don't really have a problem with his selection this week or next. The Lions had an impressive record against the Blues and we should have expected another win.

Pierce did alright for his first game but I am not sure that I would have played him in our final chance to make the finals. Big game for both teams so it was always going to be a tough game for the new fella. Probably should have played in the last two weeks. Better late than never, I suppose.

[Grimreepah]

Link (http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4824&Itemid=39)

Ballaghaderreen man makes AFL debut
The Mayo News
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Edwin McGreal

AFTER making his debut for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL last Saturday, Ballaghaderreen’s Pearce Hanley admits he is thrilled he took the plunge last August to try his hand at Aussie Rules.
“I’m definitely delighted I came out here, I’ve no regrets,” the 19-year-old told The Mayo News yesterday after an solid performance at half-back during the Lions 115-109 defeat to Carlton at The Gabba in Brisbane, which virtually signalled the end of their play-off hopes.
While Hanley and the Lions will be disappointed with the nature of the defeat, blowing a 32-point three-quarter lead, Hanley’s progression to the first team was a bright note on the night.
His achievement in making the cut during his first year is all the more remarkable when you consider that he missed close to three months of the season with a torn hamstring.
He admits he thought that was curtains for first team aspirations this year.
“To be honest I came out here hoping for a (first-team) game this season. I knew that if I put my head down and learned the skills I had the speed and would work in the gym to build strength and I wouldn’t be too far away.
“But I had a big injury setback when I tore my hamstring quite badly and I spent 10-11 weeks out. Coming back after that I thought playing in the reserves for the rest of the season was all I could hope for but I’ve played four reserve games since coming back and been brought into the first team so I’m certainly thrilled with that,” admitted the Mayo minor star of ’05 and ’06.
Performing in front of close to 35,000 fans wouldn’t have been an alien experience to Hanley. What he found most difficult about last Saturday was the pace of the game.
“There definitely were a few nerves but I didn’t let the size of the crowd get to me. The reserves is the level I have become used to playing Aussie Rules at so this was a big step-up for me, the game of the pace is so much quicker than reserves so getting to that pace was the biggest challenge.”
Hanley, who hopes to be picked for Brisbane’s last game of the season away to Sydney Swans on Saturday, already has his sights set on securing his future at the club.
“I’ve a two-year rookie contract and I’m here next year and nothing else has been talked about yet regarding a senior contract so it is up to me to perform and keep making progress and I’m looking forward to doing that.”

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1451/hanleyko4.jpg

[Grimreepah]

Hanley is quite raw and is making a fair few decision making errors. But he was getting more sure of himself as the game went on and was starting to do a few good things as well.

[coyler]

Still playing GAA, He was a substitute on his local Ballaghadreen Senior team Saturday night and help them draw a quarterfinal game 1.12 each. No word yet on how he played but he must have been just off the plane!

[Grimreepah]

Link (http://www.setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Other-sports/2008/09/11/GAA-Hanley-eyes-International-Rules-place/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/gaa/)

Hanley eyes International Rules place
by Brian Murphy
11 September 2008

Former Mayo starlet Pierce Hanley is hoping to be included in Ireland manager Sean Boylan’s squad for the forthcoming International Rules Series.
Hanley, who made his AFL debut with the Brisbane Lions last month, made the switch to the oval ball code in November but is keen to represent his country in next month’s highly-anticipated competition.
"Yes, I’d love to be considered for selection for the International Series games," said Hanley, who is back in Ireland at the moment to playing with his club, Ballaghaderren.
"It’s a great honour to represent your country, and the fact that I now have experience of playing Aussie Rules could be a help in the compromise game.
Hanley got the green light from Brisbane officials to play Gaelic football with his hometown club in the off-season, but has vowed to establish himself in the Lions’ first tam on his return to Australia, having made just two appearances since he made the switch.
"I told them that playing for Ballaghaderren would help to keep me fit while I was back in Ireland, and they okayed that," Hanley said.
"My ambition is to establish myself as a regular on the Premiership team next year.
"I did quite well in the two games I played in, and I can make an additional case for myself by showing up well in pre-season training."

[Lace Out]

Hoping to keep his place in the "Premiership team".

I hope he's right.

[Grimreepah]

The Mayo News (http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4924&Itemid=39)

... the first surprise was sprung by the Ballaghaderreen mentors when they unveiled Pearce Hanley as a sub before the game. It was not long until the services of the man from AFL club Brisbane Lions were required. It took him time to re-adjust. There were moments when he might have been in the thick of the action in Brisbane ... when a big catch was followed by a few steps backwards in anticipation of a free kick, or when he kicked as if it were an oval ball. But in the second half when he got back the feel of his native game, Hanley brought muscle and flair to Ballaghaderreen’s midfield . Watching him spread his influence left you regretting his loss to Mayo football, and the need for some action to counter the haemorrhage of Gaelic stars to the AFL. Hanley was essential to Ballaghaderreen’s recovery...

[Grimreepah]

Link (http://afl.com.au/News/NEWSARTICLE/tabid/208/Default.aspx?newsId=68829)

Colm Begley is the only inclusion out of the eight Irish players currently signed to AFL clubs.

Tadhg Kennelly, Martin Clarke, Kevin Dyas and Setanta O’hAilpin have been ruled out due to injury while Brendan Murphy, Aisake O’hAilpin and Pearce Hanley were unavailable.

I wonder why Hanley was "unavailable".

[Grimreepah]

Link (http://www.advertiser.ie/mayo/article/2758)

Interestingly, Pearce Hanley, despite wearing the No 11 jersey on his back, played centre back on inter-county star, Alan Dillon. Alan did manage to shake off the Aussie rules kid on a few occasions, but had the choke out on several others as Pearse demonstrated his enormous fitness levels by driving the length of the field at every opportunity. On one occasion late in the game Pearse popped a free kick back to his goalkeeper around the 21 yard line. Having taken the return pass from him, he off-loaded to a team mate and within seconds was ahead of the ball carrier at the far end of the field in a scoring position and looking for the ball.

Link (http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5107&Itemid=39)

Once again all eyes were on Pearce Hanley, the star the AFL has pilfered from Mayo. This time Ballaghaderreen chose to install him at centre half-back in a bid, no doubt, to curb the danger that Alan Dillon posed.
Without succeeding in policing Dillon, the Ballaghaderreen man still played a key role in supporting midfield especially in the first half. Their opening goal had its origins in Hanley’s clever pass to James Kilcullen down the left wing.

[Grimreepah]

Link (http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/county-call-1504946.html)

AFL star Pearce Hanley has confirmed that he will play no part in Ballaghaderreen's assault on the Connacht club title after helping his native club to their first county title since 1972.
Hanley returns to Australia this week for pre-season training with the Brisbane Lions where he has been making good progress.

[Grimreepah]

2008 End of Season Review

When Hanley joined the Lions as an international rookie people were immediately comparing him to Begley. Like Begley he was a good athlete (although with a bit more pace) and like Begley he picked up the skills of the oval ball quite quickly. One difference was that Begley was travelling unchartered waters, whereas Hanley had Begley as a mentor when he arrived. And while Begley has a very bubbly personality Hanley tends to be a bit more reserved and circumspect.

It was not expected that Hanley would get any senior games this year especially after he missed about 10 weeks with a couple of hamstring injuries (from round 5 to 14). Upon his return he picked things up very quickly and was starting to find a lot of the ball and provide the team with run. He was also a fairly physical player and didn’t mind a bit of push and shove.

After round 20 he was elevated to the senior list and made his debut in round 21, ironically replacing Begley in the side. He still looked to be coming to terms with the intricacies of the game and he made plenty of mistakes. But in round 22 he found his feet a bit, doing some good things and racking up 17 disposals.

Leigh was keen to explore the Irish experiment, and was very supportive of Hanley, talking him up in the media. But the surprise delistment of Begley by new coach Voss suggests he he may not be so keen on the Irish experiment, and may not cut Hanley any slack for being new to the game. He will continue next year on the rookie list, but with new rules allowing a free elevation to the senior list after round 11, it will be easier for him to get his chance in the seniors.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1070/hanleyss9.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/15ewoq9.jpg