HAWTHORN midfielder Liam Shiels says he’s disappointed he won’t be playing this weekend, the weekend the AFL celebrates the contribution those of different cultures have on Australian football.

Shiels injured his ankle against Brisbane in Round 14, and will remain on the sidelines for at least another 2-3 weeks.

The Hawks midfielder’s heritage lies in Ireland, where his dad was born and raised before holidaying in Australia when he was 21.

It was here that Shiels’ father met his future wife, and decided to make what was a simple holiday destination into the home of his future family.

Ironically, Shiels’ mother also shares a connection to Ireland, with her parents hailing from Rosscommon, a county in Ireland.

He says it would have been an honour to represent his family during Multicultural Round, but given the support he receives from his family for all his matches, he isn’t too fazed by his stint on the sidelines.

“It would have been nice to have been playing and had my family there but that’s just life and that’s footy,” he said.

“My dad and my family love coming to the footy anyway, so they’re always supporting me.”

Upon reflection of his father’s chosen sport, Shiels laughs when he remembers his father actually can’t kick a footy. His dad was always one for soccer and Gaelic.

“He actually doesn’t really know how to kick a footy because he grew up playing soccer and Gaelic but he loves watching it,” Shiels laughed.

Drafted in the 2008 National Draft, it wasn’t long into his time at Hawthorn that Shiels asked his club if he could visit Ireland for his grandmother’s 80^th birthday.

After an honest, and somewhat humorous conversation looking back between the young Hawk and his coach, Alastair Clarkson, Shiels was granted leave for the opening month of the 2009 season.

He says he is grateful to the Club for its understanding and willingness to allow him to venture to his family’s home in Ireland.

“The first year I got drafted here at the end of 2008/start of 2009 I went over to Ireland for my granny’s 80^th birthday,” he recalls.

“It was during the football season, I missed rounds 1-3 or 4.

“At the time, I was still at school and Clarko pretty much told me I wasn’t going to be playing so the Club was great to let me go over there and see my family members over there.

“The Club could have quite easily said ‘no you can’t go we want you around here’ because I would have been playing for Box Hill.

“I was pretty grateful they said I could, it was the first time I’d ever been over there, so it was a great experience.”

Shiels is one of seven Hawthorn players who have multicultural backgrounds - Josh Gibson (West Indies), David Hale (Holland), Alex Woodward (Phillipines), Sam Mitchell (New Zealand), Paul Puopolo (Italy) and Shane Savage (New Zealand).

“It’s a great initiative by the AFL,” he said.

“We celebrate Indigenous Round but it’s great to celebrate the Multicultural Round as well because we’ve got a lot of blokes like Paul Puopolo, Shane Savage, myself and a few others who all have multicultural backgrounds, so it’s really a great initiative that means a lot to me.”