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Turbo-charged O'Connell has come far from a standing start

Karl O'Connell in action for the Monaghan footballers against Kildare in Phase 1 of the All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Finals. 

Karl O'Connell in action for the Monaghan footballers against Kildare in Phase 1 of the All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Finals. 

By John Harrington

Karl O’Connell could hardly have looked like a more natural footballer for Monaghan in their All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final victory over Kildare last weekend.

He scored three classy points from wing-back, and his ability to make well-timed and angled support runs spoke of someone with a great instinct for the game.

That’s why it’s hard to believe that he never even played Gaelic Football until the relatively ripe age of 17.

For most of his teens he focused on other sports. His brother Ciaran was an international 800m runner and Karl followed his lead by also joining the local athletics club Glaslough Harriers.

He specialised in the sprint distances, which won’t come as much of a shock if you’ve witnessed his jet-heeled bursts from defence for Monaghan.

He also dabbled in soccer and rugby, but then at the age of 17 he was persuaded to give Gaelic Football a try by his friend Ronan McNally who played for Tyholland GAA club.

O’Connell lived in Monaghan town so wouldn’t have been previously known to the mentors at Tyholland which is located a few miles out the road.

His first coach was the Tyholland minor team trainer, Dwayne McCarey, who could quickly see that O’Connell was a potential diamond in the rough.

“When we got him he was very raw,” McCarey told GAA.ie. “He wouldn't have known that much about football, but you knew he was just a naturally sporty individual.

“The brother was running for Ireland at the time, so you know that sport was in the family. We got him down to the club and we just worked with him, myself and Eoin McNally.

“Any time he was struggling you'd just take him out of drills and work with him one on one. He had natural ability that was fabulous.

“He had super speed and could jump up in the air higher than the boys who were playing all his lives.

“The main thing was just getting him to kick a ball and time his runs.”

Karl O'Connell (r) wheels away in celebration after scoring a goal on his senior debut for Monaghan against Antrim in the 2012 Ulster SFC. 

Karl O'Connell (r) wheels away in celebration after scoring a goal on his senior debut for Monaghan against Antrim in the 2012 Ulster SFC. 

Tyholland was the perfect club for O’Connell to undergo a crash course in Gaelic Football.

Because they had small playing numbers they had to make the most of what they had, so O’Connell was given the sort of one-on-one tuition he needed to get him up to speed.

“We were a club that played 11-a-side if we had 11, type of thing,” says McCarey.

“So it didn't matter what ability you were with us, you got football.

“We just needed the numbers. And that's kind of why we needed him and why we went after him when we found out he was interested in playing a bit of football.

“We were able to give him a lot of encouragement and a lot of our time because we'd have a training session and you'd be lucky if you had eight or nine lads at it and he'd be one of them.

“So it was no problem giving him one-on-one stuff.”

O’Connell was a quick learner. He absorbed everything his coaches taught him like a sponge, and before long he was more than holding his own with his peers in the club.

“You'd hear a lot at coaching conferences about this 10,000 hours of skill that you have to master before you get good at a sport, but Karl blew that rule out of the water,” says McCarey.

“Once he got the basics of soloing and kicking, he blossomed. He always had speed and he always had the ability to go up in the air and catch a ball.

“His handling was pretty good, whether it was from rugby or whatever, his hands were always good. It was just the solo-running at speed he had to work on.

“He couldn't solo as quickly as he wanted to run, if you know what I mean. So it was about getting him to slow down a wee bit and perfect the solo then.”

Karl O'Connell makes a goal-saving intervention for Ireland against Australia in the 2017 International Rules Series. 

Karl O'Connell makes a goal-saving intervention for Ireland against Australia in the 2017 International Rules Series. 

As apt a pupil as O’Connell was, had you told McCarey in those early days that he’d go on to become a key player for Monaghan he wouldn’t have believed you.

“No, not at that stage, no. Because he just didn't think like a footballer.

“He sort of played like an U-12. He'd just see the ball and run wherever it was. He wasn't able to think about what was actually happening in the game.

“And then, of course, you had an awful lot of people telling him their opinion of football and that kind of confused him too and it was a few years before he was able to think for himself.”

O’Connell’s rapid development was accelerated further when former Monaghan footballer Declan Loughman was appointed Tyholland manager.

He, too, quickly saw the raw talent in O’Connell, and so took him under his wing and pushed him to fully develop his potential.

“Declan was a big name within Monaghan because he would have played county football and was part of a successful 'Blaney team that had won a lot of county titles,” says McCarey.

“So, Declan is someone who would have a lot of respect in Monaghan.

“He knew Karl was talented and he was coming into a senior team where we were struggling for numbers and would be lucky to have four or five subs.

“And when you have someone like Karl who has speed and strength, you had to work with him because he obviously had more potential than other lads who were just on the fringes of the team.

“Declan would have concentrated on him to ensure that he was coming along.

“He would have played a lot of his football as a forward starting off. Full-forward, corner-forward, those positions, then wing-half forward.

“It's only in the last number of the years with the county that he's actually become a defender.”

Monaghan's Karl O'Connell chases down Dublin's Jack McCaffrey in the 2017 All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final. 

Monaghan's Karl O'Connell chases down Dublin's Jack McCaffrey in the 2017 All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final. 

Called up to the Monaghan panel for the 2012 season, O’Connell once again proved he’s a very quick learner.

At the age of 23 and just six years after playing the sport for the first time, he made his inter-county debut in the first round of the Championship against Antrim and promptly scored a goal after just 30 seconds.

In a style that has now become pleasingly familiar for Monaghan fans, he absolutely torched the Antrim defence with a run from deep before making the back of the net bulge.

Since then O’Connell has gone from strength to strength, and his status as one of the best footballers in the country was recognised last year when he made the Ireland International Rules 23-man squad for the tour to Australia.

“That was great, that was fantastic, so it was,” says McCarey.

“For the boys who play with him, to see one of their own players at that level was just fantastic.

“The club really enjoyed that bit of profile so much and hopefully there’s more to come.

“At this stage he's definitely in the running for an All-Star. We'd be hoping that he would get one with the football he's playing at the minute.

“He's probably competing with Jack McCaffrey for that wing-half spot, but at the moment he's probably ahead of McCaffrey with the way he's playing at the minute.

“The next couple of games will be telling.”

At this stage, you wouldn’t doubt O’Connell.