EAMONN Armstrong has two reasons why he hopes St Kilda fans will get behind his hopes of making an AFL debut this year.
"I'm bald," he told AFL.com.au on Tuesday, "but I'm Irish as well, and I think people really respect that Irish lads come over here and give it a crack.
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"Alix Tauru is really loved for his blond hair, I might be loved for having no hair. The crowd can have bald caps, maybe split it half and half [with the Viking hats for Tauru]."
Armstrong, who joined the Saints as a Category B rookie officially last year, is 19, but since he was 12 has had no hair after being diagnosed with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.
The first signs came when he was eight years old and while having a routine haircut the barber noticed some bare patches on his head. Soon after that, most of Armstrong's hair fell out.
For several years it would follow a similar pattern of growing back and then falling out again, before it stopped growing back for good. His eyebrows, Armstrong says, "come and go". The condition came as a shock to him and his family, with no strong history of it in his background.
"At the start I got a lot of weird looks. I was very nervous the first time I went into school and all my hair was gone. That was a tough day because you get all the questions and even sledging when you're playing sport," he said.
"You get people saying you've got cancer, but you learn to grow and deal with it. The early years were probably really tough, but I've gotten used to it.
"When you first lose your hair when you're eight, it's not a great time. I would've been pretty anxious going out in public and meeting new people. I know it's a part of me now, and I don't really care of what people think of me. At the start it was like 'Everyone is looking at me, everyone thinks I'm weird', but that moved on."
Armstrong's sporting aspirations developed through his teenage years, and the speedy (now) 193cm talent starred as a junior at Gaelic level and also represented Ireland's soccer team at underage level. As he became a local prodigy, through this time he also developed a thick skin, finding that having alopecia had also instilled in him a new sense of courage.
"My parents have been really pivotal. At the start it was loads of patches that were bald and there were patches in between, and eventually I thought it was going to look worse if it was patchy so I zipped all the hair off," he said.
"That was a tough decision but my parents supported me through that and said, 'It doesn't matter how you look, it's about the person inside' and that's what I took.
"It's been really good to build that mental resilience and it was probably a reason I came out here as well to put myself out there. You kind of have to when to lose your hair at that age."
After signing with the Saints at the end of 2024, then moving to Australia in July last year after graduating, Armstrong told teammates about the condition upon arriving at the club as part of his introduction. He's already considered a popular, funny member of St Kilda's group, and has also found a benefit of his appearance after four months of the pre-season inches the club closer to the start of its anticipated 2026 campaign.
"It's quite easy to spot me on vision when you're watching it back," he said.
"I've become proud of it that it makes me stand out. It defines me a bit but I'm quite proud of it."
Those helping him develop were part of his initial pull to the AFL.
Armstrong comes from County Meath, where Hawthorn midfielder Conor Nash grew up, and had heard about Zach Tuohy and Mark O'Connor's premiership success with Geelong in 2022, but didn't know any other Irish products before deciding on chasing the AFL dream. His knowledge of the game, in fact, mainly came from his phone.
"A lot of it was scrolling on TikTok and YouTube and seeing highlights of different people, like 'Buddy' Franklin. I saw a lot of Lenny (Hayes, the Saints great and the club's new football boss) and I really loved the way Lenny played just from the TikTok highlights of him smashing blokes," Armstrong said.
"The only opportunities for professional sport back home are soccer or rugby. I felt the skills for Gaelic would transfer to here and you get to move over here and experience the 45-degree days, you get to go to the beach, that's not stuff you have at home. You get to build a professional lifestyle.
"The project St Kilda pitched to me is what they're building now with a good, strong, young group and adding to the list with new boys coming in."
Armstrong has spent this summer developing as a third tall defender, occasionally training on a wing too, with his speed and athleticism shining. He dragged his brother to Gaelic ovals to practice his kicking and ball skills before heading over, as well as finding some YouTube videos for further guidance, and since arriving at Moorabbin has been learning more and more of the fundamentals under development boss Damian Carroll.
Armstrong is also now living with fellow Irish Saint Liam O'Connell and importantly has been added to the group chat with all of the Irish players in the AFL, which has led to a dinner at Nash's.
As he targets an AFL debut this season like countryman O'Connell was able to last year, Armstrong also knows there will be another group he is representing.
"If I can step into that role where I inspire other kids with alopecia to put themselves out there and accept it – it's not great, but you accept it and keep being you – that would be really special," he said.