Carlton coach Mick Malthouse said on Wednesday Ciaran Sheehan would be named in the team to play Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, in what he hailed as a "fantastic story" of persistence.

Sheehan came to Australia in 2009 with fellow Irishman Zach Tuohy. While Tuohy was preferred by the Blues and secured a contract and is now a key cog in defence, Sheehan returned to Ireland, where he boasted dual-player status because of his talents in Gaelic football and hurling.

He thrived for county Cork and overcame a knee reconstruction in 2011 to establish himself as one of Ireland's brightest footballing talents. But, as Sheehan recently said on the AFL website, he always wondered what would have happened if he had stayed in Australia.

His impressive performances for Ireland in last year's international rules series were seen by Carlton's director of coaching, Robert Wiley. Once he reiterated his willingness to return to Australia - along with his girlfriend, Amy - the Blues selected him in last year's rookie draft.

Luke Webster, a development coach who also coaches the Blues' VFL team, said Sheehan had an "exceptional" hunger to remedy his lack of tactical knowledge of the game.

"He was really diligent ... he took time out of his own day to sit down [and watch] a quarter of footy here and a quarter of footy there on his own, and obviously went to watch live games once the footy started," he said.

"He did a lot of individual work on his own, going away and reporting back on what he'd seen and asking a lot of questions, which really helped his development.

"His questioning throughout development and team meetings has been really good ... the questions he's been asking have been really pointed, what we want to get from the playing group."

Sheehan impressed at training and in practice matches, and was thrust into Carlton's senior VFL team. He began as a forward but has had the most success as a half-back flanker.

Tuohy and fellow Irishman Pearce Hanley, of the Brisbane Lions, have set the bar high in terms of the way international recruits are judged on their kicking skills. While Webster acknowledged Sheehan was yet to boast the polished disposal of that pair, he was heading in the right direction.

"He's got a very good left-foot kick ... he can kick a long goal, and he's kicked a couple from 50 a couple of times [in the VFL],'' he said.

While there is a vacancy in Carlton's forward line, due to Lachie Henderson's season-ending injury and Jeff Garlett's planned AFL return being aborted, Malthouse said the promotion of the Irishman, known as "Gus", was solely "on the back of good form, really good form".

"In many respects it could even be considered late for him to be playing [his first match] because his form has been very, very solid for a number of weeks," he said.

"It's just one of those things that we make sure we've got it right and bring him in at the right time ... so he's comfortable enough ... and he can come in and play at either end of the ground."