AFTER the loss of international players Marty Clarke and Kevin Dyas earlier this year, Collingwood has not given up on overseas players just yet, signing American Seamus McNamara to a two-year international rookie contract.
 
The 24-year-old, who hails from Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin, is a powerful athlete who stands 204 centimetres and weighs 104 kilograms.
 
McNamara trialled with the Magpies in Melbourne back in September, and returned on the weekend to commence pre-season training with the team, after accepting the club’s contract offer.
 
Collingwood’s national recruiting manager Derek Hine told collingwoodfc.com.au that McNamara could develop into a ruck or key forward option.
 
“Seamus comes to the club with a unique skill set, having played basketball at an elite level and participated at a state level in soccer while at school,” Hine said.
 
“He is very driven and has impressed everyone at the club with his work ethic, and given Seamus’ experiences at playing elite level sport we feel that he is deserving of the opportunity to forge a career in the AFL.”

McNamara played four seasons of division one collegiate basketball in the US for Marist University in New York from 2004/05-2007/08, before playing one season of professional basketball in Germany for TSV Dachau Spurs.
 
“Seamus sent the club his CV in the hope of potentially being trialled at an AFL club at the time (director of sports science) David Buttifant was attending a conference in the United States, and we were able to facilitate some testing for Seamus in California.
 
“The results were encouraging enough to invite him out to Australia for a 14-day trial, which was extended out to 21 days due to Seamus’ ability to rapidly pick up all aspects of the game whilst in Melbourne.
 
“It was on the back of his trialling, which encompassed not only the game sense related tuition but also physical and psychological profiling, that we were able to offer Seamus an international rookie position on our list.”