Retired #45: Conor McKenna ☘️ - Returning to the AFL to play with Brisbane - 17/11

[MiguelM]

Really - how much do Gaelic players earn? I was under the impression he was always coming back.

It is an amateur sport.

Was only a matter of time before he came back.

 

[BomberFan355]

Whether he chooses to come back to Essendon, who knows. Although he did leave his car at the Hangar at the time.

 

[Vander18]

Great talent but question his motivations and his resilience.

Is it just about the $$$? Clearly AFL isn’t his great sporting passion, Gaelic is.

Left us once due to homesickness…a few years on good coin and maybe that happens again…I’m big on having people at the club who want to be here.

 

[dank420_]

a few years on good coin and maybe that happens again…

Probably highlighted by the fact we couldn't travel. I can't imagine being essentially trapped here helped.

 

[JT_the_Man]

We just need to tell him we’ll hold his car ransom if he doesn’t sign with us. Simples.

 

[Beerfish]

Sounds like James Kelly

James Kelly

Age

41

Ht

183cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.8

5star

K

12.3

5star

HB

10.5

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

5.6

5star

MG

273.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

20.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

11.2

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

6.8

5star

is the link to Geelong.

 

[Vindicater]

He will end up at Geelong and the rich will get richer.

 

[Eleven 38]

Yer there definitely issues with free agency.

Top 4 clubs shouldn't be picking up top tier players as free agents unless they lose a top tier free agent of the same value. Not that mckenna is one of those. But I don't think Cameron Daniher or Lynch should have been able to move to top 4 clubs unless they also lost a free agent.

 

[Vander18]

He will end up at Geelong and the rich will get richer.

If he wanted to be at Essendon and we wanted him then feel like it would just happen…..the fact other teams are being discussed suggests to
me that one or both parties aren't interested in reuniting.

 

[Darealrath]

Geelong or Sydney I reckon.

He was one of my favourites so I'd actually really struggle to see him in another club's colours, though would wish him all the best.

 

[yodellinhank]

Great talent but question his motivations and his resilience.

Is it just about the $$$? Clearly AFL isn’t his great sporting passion, Gaelic is.

Left us once due to homesickness…a few years on good coin and maybe that happens again…I’m big on having people at the club who want to be here.

I'd be rapt if we could get a compensation pick somehow.

 

[Taylor]

Essendon could have forced a trade if this was last season.

 

[BigPond101]

Wasnt he the guy who complained 24/7 about how much he didnt want to be here and wanted to be playing in Ireland with his mates and basically hated AFL and was only here for money $$ ??

I know we are desperate to have an international game and attract foreign players but maybe this is one the AFL should just say "yeah nah it's sweet, stay in Ireland"

 

[Nifft]

I wouldn't mind him back if he was committed to playing AFL. He knows what it takes to be successful, and he obviously yearns for success, and we don't have many playing for us that have been successful at the top level.

Unfortunately though we're unlikely to see success in the short term, so if he comes to us it's more likely to be just for the dollars. If he wants to play finals and have a chance to win a premiership then you'd think he'd choose a club like Geelong.

 

[JayJ20]

I’m not really interested from a list build perspective. We have a lot of options at HB. I’d rather continue developing D’Ambrosio. I do think he is an upgrade on Hind, but we’re not premiership contenders so I’m not too fussed.

 

[Beerfish]

Wasnt he the guy who complained 24/7 about how much he didnt want to be here and wanted to be playing in Ireland with his mates and basically hated AFL and was only here for money $$ ??

No?

 

[DapperDon]

Wasnt he the guy who complained 24/7 about how much he didnt want to be here and wanted to be playing in Ireland with his mates and basically hated AFL and was only here for money $$ ??

I know we are desperate to have an international game and attract foreign players but maybe this is one the AFL should just say "yeah nah it's sweet, stay in Ireland"

hahaha wtf?

 

[cAsEy_18]

Wasnt he the guy who complained 24/7 about how much he didnt want to be here and wanted to be playing in Ireland with his mates and basically hated AFL and was only here for money $$ ??

I know we are desperate to have an international game and attract foreign players but maybe this is one the AFL should just say "yeah nah it's sweet, stay in Ireland"

Yeah not sure where you’ve got… really any of that from haha

 

[TheGrizz]

Essendon could have forced a trade if this was last season.

Analogous somewhat to the Liam Jones scenario (i think McKenna technically retired at the end of 2020).

I think we would need to apply for compensation but Carlton got some so?

 

[Taylor]

Analogous somewhat to the Liam Jones scenario (i think McKenna technically retired at the end of 2020).

I think we would need to apply for compensation but Carlton got some so?

Did McKenna retire based off not wanting to comply with AFL requirements? I think Jones is a different circumstance, as he was contracted with Carlton for this season.

I don't think McKenna will qualify as a free agent because of that too.

 

[P Money]

You'd think Essendon have stayed in contact with him over the last couple of years, and that if he wanted to come back to us and we wanted him it would just be a done deal. The fact that it's reported there are a few clubs in the running suggests to me that he's not going to don the sash. I'd be shocked if we were to get any compo for him - retired off his own steam a couple of years ago, not really analogous to the Liam Jones

19

Liam Jones

Age

34

Ht

199cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.4

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.9

3star

M

4.3

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

134.5

2star

D

7.6

2star

K

6.1

3star

HB

1.4

1star

M

4.1

4star

T

1.4

2star

MG

116.3

2star

D

9.4

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

2.0

2star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.2

4star

situation at all I wouldn't think

 

[P Money]

I'd also suggest that McKenna is the type of guy that has a real drive for success. Strong desire to go back home and win the cup for his county, which he achieved. I don't think he'd be keen to come back to a basket case club with no real signs of any kind of success for at least the next 2-3 years.

 

[citizen-erased]

Did McKenna retire based off not wanting to comply with AFL requirements? I think Jones is a different circumstance, as he was contracted with Carlton for this season.

I don't think McKenna will qualify as a free agent because of that too.

id argue we have a more legitimate case for compensation.
Our guy was likely happy to comply with AFL rules, but had his issues with homesickness and the impact of covid compounded by some poor external commentary.

Technically McKenna came out of contract in 2021, not this year, so slightly different, but we did lose 2 years of him plus the ability to extend that contract (or even trade him to said suitors).

Personally I don't think the blues should get compensation. But feels wrong if they do and we don't when Jones retired because he didn't want to comply with the AFL code at the time.

 

[TheGrizz]

Did McKenna retire based off not wanting to comply with AFL requirements? I think Jones is a different circumstance, as he was contracted with Carlton for this season.

I don't think McKenna will qualify as a free agent because of that too.

I think the media fiasco with his false positive test (which was a disgrace), being in the bubble and not being able to travel internationally freely, and the fact we had a bunch of good players leave meant he lost the passion to play.

I just checked and he was OOC at the end of 2021, so it may not be as analogous as I thought.

 

[Ants]

I’m not really interested from a list build perspective. We have a lot of options at HB. I’d rather continue developing D’Ambrosio. I do think he is an upgrade on Hind, but we’re not premiership contenders so I’m not too fussed.

He’s 26, and proven as an elite HBF we could get for free. We’d be idiots to not take him. If that makes Hind depth who cares? (other than Hind of course!)

And Mass can play forward if McKenna comes back.

Did McKenna retire based off not wanting to comply with AFL requirements? I think Jones is a different circumstance, as he was contracted with Carlton for this season.

I don't think McKenna will qualify as a free agent because of that too.

McKenna left because unprecedented travel restrictions meant he couldn’t see his family. The AFL and media exacerbated the issues with travel. He was contracted and we’d have him back in a second, matching any offer other clubs make.

That would be my pitch for compensation if he goes elsewhere.

McKenna isn’t a DFA, but could use the Preseason supplemental scheme.