Irish footy boss demands compensation from AFL for raiding the country of its best young talent
Fuming Irish football officials are calling for compensation from the AFL after several fresh poaching raids to bring their best talent to Australia.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) faces growing challenges as young Irish players increasingly migrate to the AFL.
Currently, 13 Irish players are contracted with AFL teams. This number peaked at 18 before the pandemic but dropped due to recruitment freezes and salary cap reductions.
Kerry GAA Chairman Patrick O’Sullivan has urged the organisation to implement measures to compensate clubs and counties for the loss of emerging talent to the AFL.
O’Sullivan revealed that seven young Kerry players had recently been approached by AFL scouts which was putting a strain on local Irish clubs.
‘Representatives of AFL clubs are constantly floating around Kerry minor and under-20 teams,’ he said.
Conor McKenna celebrates his Irish heritage after winning the 2024 AFL premiership with the Brisbane Lions
‘Procedure will have to be put in place where players cannot be taken without contributing to the club and counties who give so much to the development of these players.’
Kerry, a traditional powerhouse in Gaelic football, has already lost key players like Mark O’Connor, a Premiership winner with Geelong.
O’Connor is one of two Kerry natives to win an AFL Premiership, following Tadhg Kennelly, who achieved the feat with Sydney in 2005.
The problem is not isolated to Kerry.
‘We in Kerry aren’t the only county suffering from this issue,’ O’Sullivan stated.
‘There are players from other counties choosing to emigrate as well. We will be calling on the GAA to form a committee to look into this matter.’
The AFL’s interest in Irish talent, known as the ‘Irish Experiment,’ began in the 1980s.
Melbourne legend Ron Barassi first identified the similarities between Gaelic football and Australian Rules Football.
Geelong star Zach Tuohy celebrates winning the 2022 AFL premiership with Geelong draped in a Portlaoise flag, a small town in the South Midlands of Ireland that he hails from
The experiment gained traction with players like Jim Stynes, a Brownlow Medallist in 1991, and more recently, Zach Tuohy, who set the V/AFL games record for an Irish player with 288 appearances.
The AFL Women’s competition (AFLW) has also drawn heavily on Irish talent. There are now 33 Irish players competing in the AFLW, adding a distinctive Gaelic flair to the league.
O’Sullivan highlighted the financial lure of professional sport as a significant factor.
‘They come selling a professional sport to our younger players. It is hard for young players not to look at a professional career in sport,’ he said.
Kerry’s concern extends beyond individual player losses.
‘If our younger players keep emigrating to Australia, the outlook for Kerry senior teams going forward will not be a good one,’ O’Sullivan warned.
‘Kerry players are at the heart and soul of our county, and we have to figure out a method of retaining and keeping our players at home in Ireland.’
The GAA is also exploring ways to revive the International Rules Series, a hybrid game blending Gaelic and Australian football rules.
The series, which last took place in 2017, has been a platform for fostering relations between the GAA and the AFL.
