23 Facts About Zach Tuohy

Zach Tuohy is an Irish former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Zach Tuohy is regarded as one of the greatest Irish players in the history of the AFL, with the highest number of games played of any non-Australian born player.

Zach Tuohy began his sporting career as a Gaelic footballer at the Portlaoise club, and became a regular in underage Laois county sides.

Zach Tuohy won a Leinster Minor Football Championship with them in 2007.

Zach Tuohy represented Ireland in International rules football in the 2011,2013 and 2017 series.

Zach Tuohy scored a goal in the first Test in 2013 at Breffni Park.

Zach Tuohy attracted the attention of Australian rules football recruiters from the Carlton Football Club in the AFL, a club based in the inner city of Melbourne.

Zach Tuohy became the fourth Irish player to spend time on the Carlton list, and was only the second to play a senior game.

Zach Tuohy began the 2010 season playing in Carlton's VFL-affiliate, the Northern Bullants.

Zach Tuohy developed as a tagger, and then as a rebounding half-back.

Zach Tuohy was temporarily elevated to the senior list in place of the injured Luke Mitchell in early 2011, and he made his AFL debut in Round 11 against Port Adelaide, going on to play eleven games for the season.

Over time, Zach Tuohy became noted for his long, accurate kicking, and regularly drifted from the backline to half-forward to kick long goals from beyond the 50m line.

Zach Tuohy had shown a similar aptitude for long-range kicking in Gaelic football, in which he was his county's designated kicker for 45m plus free kicks.

Zach Tuohy had a strong season in 2015, running third in the John Nicholls Medal count, and being selected as the small defender in the 2015 AFL Coaches Association All-Australian team, by polling the most votes of any small defender in the AFL Coaches Association MVP award.

Zach Tuohy played his 100th game in early 2016, becoming only the fifth Irish player in the league to reach that milestone.

On 21 July 2018, Zach Tuohy took a contested mark with 10 seconds of play remaining and then kicked a goal after the siren to secure Geelong a two-point victory against Melbourne.

Zach Tuohy played his 200th game against Richmond on 11 September 2020, becoming just the second-ever Irish AFL player to reach that milestone, being preceded by Jim Stynes.

Zach Tuohy played his 250th game in the 2022 Grand Final, winning his first premiership.

In October 2022, Zach Tuohy signed a new one-year contract extension with Geelong.

In Round 17,2023, Zach Tuohy played his 265th game against North Melbourne, overtaking Jim Stynes with the most AFL games played by an Irish-born footballer.

Zach Tuohy's father Noel was a member of Laois County Council and ran in the 2020 Irish general election.

Zach Tuohy married his partner, Rebecca Price, in Ireland at the end of 2022.

Zach Tuohy is involved in business in Portlaoise, including a coffee shop.