Retired #45: Conor McKenna - Calls time on his AFL career, returning home to Ireland

[Beerfish]

Sending them to the shops with a long list!

 

[Schnitzengruben]

Was that in English? I legitimately don't know.

 

[citizen-erased]

Well, he was a forward then

 

[an unbiased carlton man]

Was that in English? I legitimately don't know.

that's Gaelic - I dated an Irish girl that could speak it fluently. Not that the Belfast accent is much easier to understand

 

[Zach Package]

Can hardly blame him for wanting to go back. Talking to someone that knows the game pretty well but lives here he was that gun junior sportsman ‘next Judd’ prototype. He could dominate that league for the next decade

 

[D Mitchell]

Do you know how other Irish lads have gone after returning from the AFL to play for their county?

Just wondering if they are considered to be better or worse than they might otherwise have been.

Too specific for me, Darealrath. I know that Setanta Og O'hAilpin continued to play at All Ireland level, i e inter county, with his brother Sean (don't know how to put the fada over the 'a'). It would stand to reason that they'd pick up a bit from professional sport. Going back a bit, though, County level players worked hard on their fitness. Amateur, many had nominal jobs and were more than semi professional. Pity about Conor. I thought he'd do alright, that pace ! Please don't see this as anti Essendon, Bernie Collins suffered the same at Footscray, but the pity he went to a club that was in disarray. Not many footballers from Ireland persevere.

 

[JimStynes]

McKenna has be tearing it up since he went home. He finished with 2 goals and 2 points in his last game which is very good scoring in Gaelic football. He also received man of the match. Seems like he's made the right move so far but I suspect he will want to go back at some stage. I think his family have a bit of money about them so money might not be the main motivator.

 

[Haychh]

Home is where my heart is says Red Hand star Conor McKenna

CONOR McKenna happily turned his back on AFL money and swapped Melbourne sunshine for cold nights at Garvaghy so he could replace homesickness and nagging unhappiness with the joy of being among his family and playing the sport that excites and inspires him.

www.irishnews.com

Interesting read. Glad he's back in a good headspace

 

[jmoo wan]

Home is where my heart is says Red Hand star Conor McKenna

CONOR McKenna happily turned his back on AFL money and swapped Melbourne sunshine for cold nights at Garvaghy so he could replace homesickness and nagging unhappiness with the joy of being among his family and playing the sport that excites and inspires him.

www.irishnews.com

Interesting read. Glad he's back in a good headspace

“CONOR McKenna happily turned his back on AFL money and swapped Melbourne sunshine for cold nights at Garvaghy”

probably the first player ever who left melbourne’s famous sunshine for colder climes?

 

[JimStynes]

Home is where my heart is says Red Hand star Conor McKenna

CONOR McKenna happily turned his back on AFL money and swapped Melbourne sunshine for cold nights at Garvaghy so he could replace homesickness and nagging unhappiness with the joy of being among his family and playing the sport that excites and inspires him.

www.irishnews.com

Interesting read. Glad he's back in a good headspace

I don’t think people who haven’t been brought up playing GAA will understand this. It means so much to Irish people to grow up playing for the parish you have grown up in. Then the elite are lucky enough to play for their county team. Conor McKenna could have won 10 premierships and it would never have meant anywhere near what winning a C grade medal for his Irish club would have meant.

 

[TheFrenchCut]

Dominating

 

[D Mitchell]

Thankyou for that clip, tfc. The skill level is impressive. Red Hand as a name for a GAA club is a surprise, whets my curiosity. Lámh Dhearg looks a lot better.

 

[Atavistic]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/ga...e-need-conor-mckenna-inside-and-out-1.4393663

From play and marks alone, he is responsible for converting or giving the final pass for 61 per cent of Tyrone's scores. A goal machine and a pass master, the challenge for Tyrone is how they can best exploit both attributes as the Ulster championship’s blanket defences await.

After only two games back, he's the pass master.

 

[EnolaGay]

Who said Essington can’t develop players?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Andronicus]

We need a feeder club relationship going with edendork.

 

[Loonerty]

No Cookies | Herald Sun

Breaking News from Melbourne and Victoria | Herald Sun

t.co

Anyone able to get info from this? Something about returning to Essendon part time?

 

[Lore]

“I don’t think it’s totally done,” McKenna told reporters this week.

“There’s a thing in the AFL where you can get a mid-season draft so you can actually get drafted in June and go out from June until September. It’s only really a two or three-month thing.

“I do think the possibility may be there in three or four years with Gaelic, the way they’re talking about a split season.

“If Tyrone was out and the club was out of the championship and there was a possibility of going over (to the AFL) for two or three months, it’s not something I’d close the door on.”

GUN FOR HIRE: Conor McKenna floats unique AFL comeback plans

The retired Essendon player has shed light on how he could return from Gaelic football for a second stint in Australia.

7news.com.au

 

[Lore]

He probably didn't realise but he'd be a free agent once he's been retired for a year.. can do a Mumford

 

[RearNaked]

He probably didn't realise but he'd be a free agent once he's been retired for a year.. can do a Mumford

Snort the fattest line know to man ?

 

[Lore]

Snort the fattest line know to man ?

Could do that as well I suppose

 

[Hamez]

Does McKenna only want to play from June-September go home and continue to be picked up mid season?

 

[JT_the_Man]

That could be fun.

 

[Howard Moon]

We have a million kids here who grow up dreaming of playing AFL, would do anything for it... Then you get this Conor McKenna bloke who thinks he can just turn it on and off like a tap.... Yeh it's ok, I'll come back play for 6 months...

Pls

 

[yodellinhank]

We have a million kids here who grow up dreaming of playing AFL, would do anything for it... Then you get this Conor McKenna bloke who thinks he can just turn it on and off like a tap.... Yeh it's ok, I'll come back play for 6 months...

Pls

A FIFO footballer, training in an amateur environment, with no real knowledge of the current gameplan or competition. Would be totally unprofessional and a recipe for further ridicule of our club.

So when does he start back up again?

 

[Howard Moon]

A FIFO footballer, training in an amateur environment, with no real knowledge of the current gameplan or competition. Would be totally unprofessional and a recipe for further ridicule of our club.

So when does he start back up again?

Once they make the McKenna Sox for the junior squadron membership