Almanac Book Reviews: ‘Zach Tuohy – The Irish Experiment’ with Catherine Murphy
ZACH TUOHY – The Irish Experiment – with Catherine Murphy
Review by Bob Utber
Put two Irish ex-pats in a room together with a microphone, pen and paper and you come up with a book that goes from pathos, sadness, to frivolity and mayhem.
That’s what you get when you have Tuohy and Murphy in the same room.
The book is all about Tuohy but you can see ingrained in the content the serious and mischievous mind of the Irish colleen.
The Irish Experiment started in the 1980’s with Jim Stynes and Sean Wight becoming integral parts of the Melbourne Football Club. Zac Tuohy has without doubt been the most successful export since in the AFL but beware the influence of Irish colleens in the AFLW now and in the future.
Tuohy’s story is like a Boy’s Own and all he wanted as a young teenager was to play soccer in the English Premier League. He was a great all-round athlete and was also good at the Gaelic football game.
Like most Irish he came from a loving family with dad bending over backwards to support his family. This comes out loud and clear from grandma to dad and mammy (mother) in this book with Zach’s devotion to his family.
What stands out is the loyalty and respect that Tuohy has for his home town club -Portlaoise ‘C’mon the Town’, which he still has. Don’t be surprised to see him back in the green, white and blue in the next few years.
He carried this respect to Carlton but ‘fell out’ with coach Brendan Bolton and the Carlton ‘suited hierarchy’. Loyalty was lost at Princes Park and Geelong snared him for an illustrious career including the 2022 premiership. Geelong was more like Portlaoise he recalls.
His trip as a nineteen year-old from a smallish county town (population 24,000) famous for its sporting prowess and night life is definitely Boys Own.
Leaving Ireland has been the bug-bear of many talented Gaelic footballers wanting to make it in Australian Rules. The love of home has curtailed many a player but Tuohy, like Stynes and Wight before him, stuck with it. His games with the white and green while on AFL ‘leave’ emphasises his loyalty.
What I loved about the book (and it was published in Ireland) was the Irishness with words and sayings from the lips of Tuohy and Murphy that the reader will be delighted with.
Like many Irishmen Touhy has a love-hate relationship with many players initially but loves them all in the end. He is hard not to like.
This book is not so much as kick, mark and goal but the insights of a man who thought he was not good enough even towards the end of his career that makes it different from other footy books.
Catherine Murphy in her first book brings out a great deal of pathos and typical Irish humour to the story of her mate Zach. She has more books ahead of her.
I recommend this book to any lover of sport and also those who have had to move from home to take up a profession or realise there ambition in sport.
Tha c na dheagh leughadh.
Note:
(Citrus Bob is a personal friend of Catherine Murphy)
More stories from Citrus Bob Utber can be read Here.
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About Bob Utber
At 84 years of age Citrus Bob is doing what he has always done since growing up on a small farm at Lang Lang. Talking, watching and writing sport and in recent years writing books. He lives in Mildura with his very considerate wife (Jenny) and a groodle named 'Chloe on Flinders' and can be found at Deakin 27 every day.

really enjoyed reading this review, Bob.
I admit, I am not too aware of Zach’s work in the AFL, however I am a huge fan of Catherine Murphy, whether on News Breakfast, or the ABC tennis podcast, or other projects. Also, she is certainly passionate about rugby union!
The book sounds like it’s another great read …
thanks
Rabbit in the Vineyard