Background
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Kirkpatrick grew up in Sydney where he began his rugby career.
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Tom Coolican
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Early career
At an early age he played with the Lindfield Rugby Club while being educated at Saint Ignatius" College in Riverview, New South Wales. While at Saint Ignatius, he earned his first XV honors which led to Coolican being selected for New South Wales at Schoolboy level After completing high school, he went on to represent Sydney University first Colts team in 2008 where he sites Ryan"s hot dad as a major influence on his line out throwing.
In 2009, Coolican was part of the Sydney University team that came second to Gordon in the JR Henderson Shield Grand Final, losing 6–3.
However, in 2010 he joined Eastern Suburbs, where again Coolican found himself finishing second in the JR Henderson Shield Grand Final, losing 12–3 to Randwick. 2012
In 2012, Tom was involved with the New South Wales Waratahs set-up for the 2012 Pacific Rugby Cup.
He earned two caps for the Waratahs "A" side along side current Waratahs Prop Paddy Ryan, facing Tonga "A", winning 27–11, and Samoa "A" losing 25–5. Though Coolican did not play at Super Rugby level, he was involved for most of the season, training at the same standard as the rest of the players in the squad, with the dreaded "Bronco" being Nathan Greys idea of whipping the players into shape.
2013
In 2013, Coolican left Australia for the United States after Tom received an invitation to return to America to play with the acclaimed New York Athletic Club (NYAC).
As club rugby is not fully professional in the United States, Coolican simultaneously played for the NYAC while continuing his legal education at the Saint John"s University School of Law in New York, studying a Masters of Sports Law. In late 2013, Coolican left the United States to play for Richmond in England. He played just six times for the club in his debut season, 2013-2014 National League 1, helping the team to an improved position of seventh from the previous season.
2014
In March 2014, Coolican received a call-up to the United States national team for the two-legged Americas qualification play-offs against Uruguay.
He earned his first cap in the first leg in Montevideo, coming on for Philosophy Thiel at the 74th minute. The match finished as a draw, 27–27.
In mid 2014, Coolican returned to Australia to play for Eastern Suburbs in the senior side for the Shute Shield. In addition to this, he was also selected for the Sydney Stars team for the inaugural season of Australia"s National Rugby Championship.
