Geelong defender Mark O’Connor returned to his home country of Ireland to help his local Gaelic side Dingle progress in the Kerry Senior Football County Championship, just 14 days after winning the AFL premiership.
The Cats player helped Dingle secure a 10-point win over Dr. Crokes in the quarter-final on Saturday night to advance to the semi-finals.
A slew of Geelong teammates were there to cheer him on from the stands, including Zach Guthrie, Mark Blicavs and Jack Henry.
Brisbane Lions rookie Deividas Uosis also made his way back to Kerry to play, with Dingle manager Padraig Corcoran telling Irish reporters earlier in the week that there would need to be some patience integrating the AFL returnees.
“I suppose the level of expectation, particularly with Mark, is huge. I think we need to remember that, number one, he is coming from playing a full season in the AFL, and then number two, I think he has played one game of football in five or six years,” said Corcoran.
“Mark is a fantastic footballer, as is Deividas, but it’s going to be difficult for those fellas.
Mark O’Connor (left) celebrates the AFL grand final win with Irish teammate Zach Tuohy.Credit:AFL Photos
“They are good footballers but just a note of caution that they haven’t played football in quite a while. The expectation level on them is to hit the ground running, but we have to respect that they have been away from the game for a few years.”
However, O’Connor had an immediate impact and was one of eight scorers for Dingle in the quarter-final victory, in his first competitive Gaelic game back in four years.
O’Connor got the green light from the Cats to travel back home to Ireland over the off-season to take part in the Kerry county senior championship quarter-final.
In 2018, the two-time All-Ireland minor winner apologised to Geelong after playing for Dingle in their quarter-final win without permission, as they were concerned about the risk of injury.
It came after former Essendon player Conor McKenna injured his ankle while training with Ireland for the 2017 International Rules series.
Then in 2020, O’Connor received permission to be part of Kerry All-Ireland bid but was in quarantine for the game. He also missed Dingle’s 2021 campaign after having surgery on his knee, watching from the sidelines.
O’Connor won All-Ireland minor medals in 2014 and 2015 when he was captain and viewed as one of Kerry’s most promising players, before heading to Australia to play for the Cats after being drafted in 2016.
O’Connor was a late replacement in Geelong’s premiership win, coming in for Max Holmes, who had a hamstring injury.
O’Connor and teammate Zach Tuohy became the first Irishmen to win an AFL premiership since Tadhg Kennelly in 2005 with Sydney.
In the premiership celebrations on the ground following the siren, Tuohy draped his Gaelic club Portlaoise’s green and white colours over his shoulders.
He told Fox Footy of the importance of the win to him, his family and the small town in the South Midlands of Ireland from which he hails.
“I know it [premiership] means a lot to my family especially, even more than me,” Tuohy said.
“We talked and it feels a bit like it’s full circle. I’ve got a Portlaoise flag, which is where I started. It hasn’t sunk in.”
A series of AFL contracted Irish players have returned home during their off seasons, including Geelong’s Tuohy, Hawthorn’s Conor Nash and Sydney’s Colin O’Riordan.
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