IN ONE OF his first AFL training sessions, Mark O’Connor dithered with the ball a second too long during a practice match. The Kerry minor All-Ireland winner was programmed to look up and scan inside before delivering a pinpoint kick pass.
Sensible on one field, silly on another.
In a new world with different rules. The 19-year-old’s 80kg frame was rocked to its core as 105kg Harry Taylor steamrolled him with a tackle. There had always been an expectation that transitioning to the top of a professional sport would be a significant jump, but this was on another level. He was gasping for air in a place where the oxygen was thin.
The Dingle club man enjoyed a rapid rise in Australia predominately thanks to his running ability. Knee issues haunted his Gaelic football career and exposure to an elite medical environment was a significant reason for his move in the first place.
O’Connor played the 2015 minor All-Ireland final severely inhibited, unable to jump off one leg during it or walk downstairs after.
Twelve months later, the dreaded infamous AFL pre-season loomed. He was desperate to be ready. Determined. Running was out of the question, working hard was not.
In the bowling alley turned gym that is West Kerry Fitness, O’Connor undertook daily Wattbike sessions, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. When he landed he was flying fit, though the was only ever going to get him so far. All gas, no might.
Fast forward to September 2022. Geelong were on their way to a sensational Grand Final victory and O’Connor was in the heart of it. In the centre of the MCG, Sydney’s James Rowbottom took off and looked to deliver a kick inside 50.
He looked a moment too long. The Kerry native hunted him down from 20 metres and launched into him with a textbook tackle. Making himself at home on the nation’s biggest stage.
“The entire team’s performance was the stuff you dream of,” he recalls with a lingering sense of disbelief.
“It is the flow state they talk about in psychology and you always aspire for.
“I mean, everything. It was all fairytale stuff. Joel (Selwood) kicking his goal and retiring after having that game as a Premiership-winning captain. If it was in a movie you’d say it is cringy and not true. Zach’s 250th game, him with the Portlaoise flag afterwards. There was so much that went into it.”
O’Connor played 22 games in 2022 and nearly missed out on the final. He spent the week on standby as a medical sub, with midfielder Max Holmes facing a late fitness test that he ultimately failed.
It meant a nervous week of preparation, build-up and parades without ever knowing if he was going to play.
“I kind of had a strong feeling. I also knew if I was playing Brandon (Parfitt) who is a close friend of mine was going to be the medical sub. When I found out, he was in a hotel room across the hall from me.
“I didn’t know if he knew. We had both made promises to each other that if one of us found out we’d tell the other. Anyway, I got the call. I just walked across the hall and gave him a big hug. See, only the 23 who are named for the final get a medal, no one else on the list does which is a disgrace in my opinion.
“I was delighted for him and he came on and kicked a goal. It just worked out incredible. It was emotional when I went across to him. He was one of the lads who came to Dingle a couple of years ago with me and we’re very close.”
He is talking from his home parish of Dingle, where he is busy preparing for a county championship quarter-final on Saturday night. With the club’s blessing, O’Connor will play in Austin Stack Park cheered on by a travelling Geelong contingent.
In his local town sits a pub, Hannie Agnes’s. On the wall is a signed Tadhg Kennelly jersey. That was his first modest AFL encounter, a tangible reminder of the sporting world beyond the kingdom. When the prospect of AFL trials in DCU first arose, he was lukewarm. Athletic tests on hardwood floors with his knees? Nightmare fuel.
Gradually, he progressed and found himself visiting Geelong. Gratefully. Six seasons later, he is a Premiership champion with 88 games under his belt.
Trace the progression from there to here; at first glance, it looks like continued growth. Debut in his rookie year, promoted to the leadership group in year three, play in a Grand Final the following year and win it last month.
If only it was so simple. This season was far from seamless. At times it was miserable.
“I was having a poor enough season for most of it, just middle of the road. I lost a bit of competitive edge there at the start of the year. I was happy to go along with the wins.
“When there was a tough game, it was almost like ‘cope onto yourself and get your act together.’ I felt like I wasn’t pushing any boundaries or myself for a while, to be honest.
“It was… I don’t know. I just existed for a while.”
The 25-year-old is easy company. Open, thoughtful, strikingly attentive. Most pay due consideration to what they are doing; Mark O’Connor is equally conscious of why he does it.
The one that got away for Kerry? Perhaps. Another possibility is that he was the one who was unable to get there at all. Knee pain haunted his final years in the green and gold. In 2016, Eamonn Fitzmaurice included him on the matchday squad for their Munster championship semi-final against Clare. During the warm-up, his knee buckled and his day was done.
When the offer from Geelong came, all he saw was upside. A professional environment with full-time physios.
There was a simple joy in just being able to train, something that was unthinkable towards the end in Ireland. He was assured of academic opportunity and a different lifestyle.
That faith provided clarity that carried him through the last few years. In 2022, it became blurry.
After completing a successful pre-season, a knee injury kept him on the sideline for the opening three weeks. He returned to the team but something was missing. For the first time, the questions became overwhelming.
“I suppose motivation was shaky early on. I was questioning everything. I was saying to my mother this morning, I think I just broke it down too much in my head.
“At the end of the day, we are kicking a bag of air through some big sticks and most of the time it is not even me kicking it. That probably hindered my motivation.
“I didn’t know what I was doing with myself. I was probably only there for the lads at that stage, they were very happy to see them winning and going well. That was the whole existing thing.”
It came to a head against Adelaide. He can still recall that game at the GMHBA Stadium. A 42-point victory. The Cats were comfortable all day. He wasn’t.
“I wasn’t getting involved and I didn’t care which is not like me. I remember Tom Stewart was having a stormer and I felt like I was just watching. A spectator. We were winning, it was grand but if you are not taking pride in your own performance, you probably shouldn’t be in the team.
“I remember thinking after the game, honestly if I carry on like this I shouldn’t be in the team. In fairness to the coaches, they were just waiting for it to click into gear. That didn’t come back until I was the medical sub. I didn’t feel like I was in the zone.
“In that game, I remember I came off with 15 minutes to go and we were going to win. I just said, ‘you lads can go back on. Get your possessions, get your stats.’ I actually sat out the rest of that game. Looking back now, that is a regret. I’ll take something out of it.
“At the time… you look around and see people really changing lives, nurses and doctors, the likes. They spend their time really helping people. Saving lives doing things like that and you wonder… I don’t know. Could you be doing something productive for people?
“Just the value of sport I suppose. Where I was spending my time. What I would regret and wouldn’t.”
He relied on the people around him and together they worked things through. It is clear to him now what sport really means. The game might be small. What people extract from it is nevertheless monumental.
“You want purpose in anything you do. That is where the questions were at the start of the year. Actually, having seen the events in the last few weeks and what it actually means to people, that is the value of sport.
“I probably disregarded that; it means the world to people. It changes lives. Doing parades, you look down at kids with tears in their eyes, then you look up and the adults are crying too. You just see what it actually means to people.
“Your team-mates and friends overjoyed. All of it. If there is not meaning in that, there is meaning in nothing.
“It is an association for a lot of people. It is not what I described earlier with the ball; it is what people attach to it. That is what I used to love about sport when I was playing at home and you see the people who come to support you, what they get out of it.
“They attach themselves to the win and you can share it with them. That is why it was so special to have my brother out for the final.”
Today means a great deal too. In 2018, he played for Dingle against Austin Stacks without permission from Geelong and was reprimanded. In 2020, he was free to play for Kerry in the championship but they were shocked by Cork while he was still in quarantine.
It was a similar story in 2021. He had surgery on his knee and watched from the sideline as their campaign came to an end.
Finally, O’Connor has his chance. He is determined to enjoy it.
“Last year I could have played for Dingle and I needed surgery. I thought I was ok with that. It was a long season, I was pretty tired. Then I watched the game, we lost and I felt terrible. I’ve been thinking about that ever since.
“I am very much looking forward to it, but I don’t know how it will go. I’m just glad I get to play.”