Irish in the AFL - 2023 Review

The 2023 AFL season was not as exceptional as the previous year for the Irish contingent. The 2022 season saw Geelong's Zach Tuohy and Mark O'Connor join Tadhg Kennelly as AFL Premiership winners and increase the number of Irish players with a premiership medal from 1 to 3.

The 2023 season did see 10 Irish men make an AFL appearance and culminated in the Brisbane Lions, with 3 Irish players on their list, making it all the way to the Grand Final only to be defeated by 10 points in an entertaining affair by a phenomenal Collingwood side.

Only 1 of Brisbane's 3 Irish players played in the Grand Final with a returning Conor McKenna fitting straight back in at AFL level despite a 2 year hiatus playing GAA for Tyrone, winning an All-Ireland in 2021. McKenna's signature was incredibly sought after considering his performances for Essendon from 2015 to 2020 but ultimately he decided to go for the Brisbane Lions who he believed would give him the greatest chance to follow in Tadhg Kennelly's footsteps and win both a Sam Maguire title and a Premiership Cup. McKenna played in all 26 of Brisbane Lions games in 2023 kicking 7 goals including a beauty against Carlton in the semi final.

The downside of this success for the Brisbane Lions was that the game time for the other two Irishmen was restricted. Kilkenny's Darragh Joyce played a total of 5 games, all consecutive from Round 2 to Round 6. Joyce performed well in these games as a Key Defender marking the oppositions Key Forward but unfortunately for him the return of some experienced players in defence meant he lost his place. Dublin's James Madden had another very quiet season adding two more games to the two he played in 2022.

Given Geelong's success in 2022 many were expecting another strong year from the Cats. However they followed up their premiership success with a 12th place finish, well outside the playoffs. Kerry's Mark O'Connor played 22 games in 2023 and notched up his 100th AFL appearance which only about 15% of players ever manage to achieve. Geelong have an ageing side which many critics point to as the reason for their underperformance but their 34 year old Irish AFL veteran Zach Tuohy, 270 games and counting, from Laois showed no signs of slowing playing 20 games in 2023 and kicking 6 goals.

The big story out of the GAA in late 2022 was that 2 time GAA Young Player of the Year, Mayo's Oisín Mullin had signed for Geelong Cats in the AFL. Given the esteem he was held in, it surprised no-one in Ireland but everyone in Australia, that he made his AFL debut after only 5 games in the new code (including 2 practice matches). Mullin showed his raw pace and athleticism during the 6 senior AFL games he played however having been caught 'holding the ball' on a couple of occasions showed he still had some learning to do on the rules of the game.

Undoubtedly the best Irish player in the AFL in the 2023 season was Meath's Conor Nash. Although Hawthorn finished 16th on the ladder they are a young and developing team under head coach Sam Mitchell. It was Mitchell's promotion from VFL head coach that Nash's AFL career turned. Previous coaches continued to play the 6 ft 6 Nash as a Key Forward or Key Defender given his size but his move into the midfield is where Nash thrived in 2022 and 2023. In his 23 games he averaged 24 disposals per game along with 4.8 tackles including the below hit against the Adelaide Crows.

Irish players moving to the AFL have typically played in defence with the role of a Fullback or Halfback being quite similar to those positions in Gaelic Football. For most of his career to date Derry's Callum Brown fell into this category. However in 2023 the GWS Giants player moved into the forward line and was breathtaking! Brown kicked 19 Goals in 19 Games including 7 in his last 5 as he cemented his place in the GWS forward line as another threat besides Toby Greene and Jesse Hogan.

An Irish born player who rarely gets a mention on these lists is Tyrone's Aidan Corr. The 6 ft 5 North Melbourne key defender has never played GAA at any level for his county...as he moved to Australia with his family from the loch shore village of Brocagh when he was 3 years old. At 29 Corr is a veteran defender and has played in a Grand Final loss for GWS against Richmond in 2019. Corr had a good 2023 season playing 19 games and averaging 5.6 spoils per game despite the Kangaroo's finishing 17th.

The final player on the list is Cork's Mark Keane who played 5 consecutive games for the Adelaide Crows towards the end of the season from Round 20 to Round 24. At 6ft 4 Keane plays generally as a Key Defender and across his 6 games averaged 3.2 Intercept Marks per game which puts him in the 'elite' category across the AFL at this statistic. After such a strong end to the 2023 season Keane will be hoping for even more game time in 2024.

For more detailed player analysis see Player Profiles at IrishintheAFL.com