THERE WAS A winning start to the 2019 AFL season for an Irish player this morning with Kerry’s Mark O’Connor part of the Geeling Cats side that defeated Collingwood.
The Round 1 tie saw O’Connor part of a Geelong side that claimed a 72-65 victory in the MCG against Collingwood, who lost out last September in the 2018 Grand Final.
The Cats trailed 33-22 at half-time but they rallied with late goals from Charlie Constable and Tom Hawkins sealing the deal for a Geelong side that included four new debutants.
A rousing edition of the @GeelongCats song 👏#AFLPiesCats pic.twitter.com/najxIU3SoP
— 7AFL (@7AFL) March 22, 2019
Dingle native O’Connor played in the back line in what was only his 8th AFL appearance. He had finished the 2018 campaign strongly, lining out for Geelong in their last four outings and saw game time in the loss to Melbourne in the first elimination final of the 2018 final series.
22-year-old O’Connor first signed for Geelong in October 2016 after catching the eye during the AFL Draft Combine and made his full AFL debut for the club in May 2017.
The 2015 All-Ireland minor winning captain did line out for his club Dingle in the Kerry county senior championship last September after the close of the AFL season but did not subsequently play as Geelong stated they could not permit it as it was ‘a breach to his contract’.
O’Connor’s team-mate Zach Tuohy missed today’s game for Geelong as he closes in on a comeback from a knee injury and thus ended a remarkable record of 138 consecutive AFL games.
There will be four other Irish players in action over the weekend in Round 1 fixtures with Meath’s Conor Nash in action tomorrow for Hawthorn against Adelaide Crows.
On Sunday, Mayo’s Pearce Hanley will line out for Gold Coast Suns against a St Kilda team that includes Kilkenny’s Darragh Joyce, while Tyrone’s Conor McKenna will play for Essendon against GWS Giants.
Murray Kinsella and Andy Dunne dissect Ireland’s disappointing Six Nations campaign, and discuss the pros and cons of rugby’s new law proposals in the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly:
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