Cammy Devlin: The call up, coming of age and Tim Cahill

You’ve seen and heard the footage by now.

Graham Arnold on the phone to an emotional Cammy Devlin, informing the combative midfielder that he is going to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

You could hear the emotions in his voice, the disbelief and the relief. The moment a dream was realised as the Heart of Midlothian midfielder tried to process what he was hearing.

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“It was a very nerve-wracking and stressful few weeks building up to the date when we knew we were going to find out, or in and around it,” explained Devlin.

“And trying to play for Hearts, but play as well as I can obviously to give myself the best chance to be up for selection.”

Devlin had certainly caught the eye with his club performances and in the most recent Socceroos camp in Brisbane and Auckland, where he made his international debut.

When he received a text message from Graham Arnold asking if he could give him a call in 15 minutes, he wasted no time in responding.

“I think I replied within five seconds and that 15 minutes felt like it went on for days, but when he told me it was just probably the best feeling I've had in my whole life to be honest.

“As you could all hear, not that I knew (the recording) was happening but as you could all hear the emotions came running out and yeah, I think it's pretty fair enough when you get called up for a World Cup, it’s a dream I've had since I first started playing.”


There was a time when that dream may have looked unlikely as injuries struck during stints in the youth teams of Western Sydney Wanderers and Sydney FC.

Devlin had to bide his time, making the breakthrough at Wellington Phoenix and displaying the same tenacity and drive that he is now known for on the pitch week in and week out at Hearts.

“That's when you kind of learn more about yourself and the ones that I think really want it through the tough times, that's when they work harder and come out the other side,” he said.

“Just to be there (Hearts) now living my dream overseas, playing football every weekend and looking back on my journey, it was a difficult one.

“But obviously everything I took, going to Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC was all worth it.”


As Devlin prepares for the biggest stage of all, he is turning to one of Australia’s greatest ever for inspiration.

Tim Cahill has officially joined the squad as the Head of Delegation in camp at the Aspire Academy in Doha, recognised as one of the world’s leading sports academies. 

The midfielder shared his memories of Cahill’s epic volley against the Netherlands in Brazil 2014, and hasn’t been shy about asking questions of the 108-capped, 50-goal scorer.

“I remember sitting on my couch back home with my Dad and my little brother watching it. From what I remember Netherlands that just scored and it was off the kickoff, a long ball from (Ryan) McGowan.

“It's probably no surprise to say that he‘s (Cahill) come up with something like that because so many times he did that for our country and not only for the country but at club level as well.

“He's just a big game player is, how I would like to describe him and I mean obviously coming into camp and seeing him and just having a chat with him is unreal.

"I think someone like me to pick his brain and have that opportunity to have him here and ask him questions, and if I can make myself a better player by listening to him, I'll take every opportunity to do that.

“The first time I met him was yesterday and I was straight up to him to ask him a few questions about what he thinks, and he joined in training yesterday so that was pretty cool to be up alongside him with the boots on.

“A legend for Australian sports so just to be in and around him is super surreal.”