Australian Rules: The former Laois full back Colm Begley survived a tough initiation as he made his Australian football league (AFL) debut for the injury-ravaged Brisbane Lions against the West Coast Eagles at the Gabba on Sunday.

Begley came off the interchange bench to complete the fastest debut of any Irish player in the AFL history after less than nine months in Australia. The teenager was pitted against Michael Braun, the Eagles player with the highest number of possessions from either side, and even spent a short time running with Chris Judd, arguably the AFL's best player.

Begley had just seven possessions, including five kicks and two hand-balls,

The Lions won three consecutive AFL Premierships from 2001 to 2003 and finished runners-up in 2004, but the 2006 team are out of the running for next month's finals and were trounced by 62 points by the table-toppers.

"It hasn't really sunk in that I made my AFL debut," Begley said. "It was a fantastic occasion for me because I never expected to be in the senior team for two years. Before the game I was very nervous about making a big mistake, but it wasn't that bad when I came on and got a few touches.

"There are only two games left for Brisbane this season so it would be nice to play in both of those.

"After having a month out with a thigh injury, my endurance levels are not as good as they could be, so I will keep working hard to improve."