Zach Tuohy’s long and illustrious career in Australia has come to an end as the Laois man went from being a promising young Gaelic footballer to an Australian Football League great.
The Irishman joined Carlton Football Club in 2011, and by 2015 it was clear that he was going to have a long and exciting career in Australia.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, and in 2016, Touhy faces his biggest challenge yet when Brendon Bolton took over the team.
In his new autobiography which is due to be released later this month, the Portloais native didn’t hold back when it came to sharing his feelings on Bolton.
In an extract from his book Zach Tuohy: The Irish Experiment published by the Herald Sun, the multi-talented athlete revealed that his relationship with the coach was what sparked his decision to leave the club in 2016.
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In the beginning, I was desperate to make it work. I found Bolts very intense. It was difficult, in fact almost impossible, to have a casual chat with him about anything unrelated to football… he just couldn’t turn off for a second.
“When we took off from Melbourne, the flight attendants made their way down the aisle with the refreshments trolley, offering tea or coffee, and a biscuit… from memory, the biscuits were those little shortbread tasty morsels. Why do you need to know this? I can explain.
“When we arrived at the hotel, we were called into the team room for a meeting, as soon as the players sat, Bolton began.
“‘I’d like any player who ate one of the biscuits offered to them on the plane to stand up’. Now at this point I’m thinking, is this a joke? Surely it’s a joke. But his tone was serious.
“Players started to stand up. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Mostly I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t one of the ones forced to stand up. It wasn’t like me to miss the opportunity of a biscuit.
“‘Do you think it’s professional to do that? Do you think it’s going to make you a better player?’ Bolts demanded.
“F**k me, it’s a biscuit, I thought… I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing. I got that the guy wanted to set the tone and the standard, but this shit was crazy.
“When we got into the regular season, the level of intensity at meetings made Biscuit-gate light hearted.
“I can confirm that I’ve never, ever dreaded going to work as much as I did when Brendon Bolton was in charge of the club.”
Tuohy left after that season to join the Geelong Cats where he went on to play 168 games for the club, and win The Premiership in 2022.
In 2023 the veteran broke Jim Stynes long-standing record with the most AFL games played by an Irish-born footballer.
