Colin O’Riordan will be ‘forever grateful’ to Sydney Swans for allowing him to fulfil a childhood dream.

O’Riordan exerted a huge influence on Tipperary’s memorable Munster SFC final triumph against Cork last Sunday and has since received permission from his AFL club to line out for the upcoming All-Ireland semi-final clash with Mayo.

“To be honest with you, it was the Munster final to me that was the big one,” he said in a wide-ranging interview with GAA.ie.

“Obviously you want to be there with the lads and all that, but at the same time you grew up playing with Tipp and you realise the year that’s in it with Bloody Sunday and that, and you want to be part of it, that’s the biggest thing.

“When David [Power] came to me and asked ‘what are the chances?’ I said I’d ask and give it a go. They came back to me and said ‘look, we have no objection to you playing in the Munster final,’ and to me that is something I will be forever grateful for.

“I suppose that’s the dream of every kid when you’re starting off playing football at underage - to be there on the big occasion,

“I can’t have anything but good things to say about Sydney. They gave me the opportunity to play here and gave me my chance to make my dreams come true and for that I’ll be forever grateful to them.”

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