GLAD I STAYED CON HERE

Meath man Nash on persevering with AFL as he gets set for his 100th Hawthorn cap

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THERE is a crossroads in the career of every Irish AFL recruit - and for Conor Nash, it came in 2021.

It was almost five years since the Meath man had first agreed to join Hawthorn and three since his AFL debut.

Having made five appearances in the 2018 season, he jumped to 14 in 2019 but then plummeted to two in 2020 - the Covid-interrupted campaign.

By the end of that year he needed a shoulder operation and at the outset of the 2021 season he was playing for the second team coached by Sam Mitchell, who recognised that Nash needed a change of direction if his career was to catch fire.

So he suggested moving him from half-forward into midfield.

"I said, 'I'm going to have to give that a shot' and within the first two games in midfield I was like, 'Yep, I much prefer this, this suits me'," Nash explained.

"It was a new lease of life and that's what's kept me here since really."