In the early hours of this morning when Tyrone's Conor McKenna lined out in front of no fewer than 100,000 AFL fans in Melbourne's famed MCG, he had the opportunity to rival one of Ireland's greatest sporting success stories.
Having enjoyed anything but a conventional career between the intersections of GAA and AFL, this weekend saw the Tyrone native attempt to become only the second-ever player to lift both the Sam Maguire and secure an elusive AFL Premiership.
To contextualise the difficulty of such a feat, the Australian Football League has seen its 18 teams provide 12 different Grand Final winners since 2000. In comparison, the All-Ireland Football Championship has delivered just seven winners from its 34 competitors in the same period.
It is Tadhg Kennelly's victory on both these stages that has etched his name into Irish sporting royalty.
The Listowel native began his professional sporting career with a move to Australia in 2001, where he quickly emerged as a staple for the Sydney Swans. Enjoying an abundance of early success, Kennelly would go on to win the most coveted prize in Australian sport in 2005 - an AFL Premiership.
While Kennelly's true potential may have always been closer to Bondi Beach than Ballybunion, during a hiatus from the AFL Kennelly graced Croke Park with his presence for the 2009 season, cruising to both an NFL and All-Ireland Football title that same season and simultaneously becoming the first player to win Ireland and Australia's most elusive medals.
27 March 2010; Sydney Swans' Tadhg Kennelly in action during the game. Australian Football League Premiership, Round 1, Sydney Swans v St. Kilda, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia. Picture credit: Jenny Evans / SPORTSFILE
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McKenna equals outstanding Irish sporting achievement
Conor McKenna's career has taken a more complicated shape.
McKenna first made the move Down Under in 2014, before debuting for Essendon in 2015. McKenna went on to make 79 appearances for the club and remained with them until the outbreak of Covid-19 when a positive covid-19 test left McKenna front and centre of an intense controversy - a controversy which prompted his retirement from the league.
Upon his return to Ireland McKenna quickly slotted back into the covid stunted Tyrone senior footballing squad. McKenna featured for Tyrone in the surreal 2020 winter Championship. Less than a year later, he and Tyrone stormed to Croke Park - climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand for the first time in 13 years.
Now, McKenna has the opportunity to emulate Kennelly's success as he lines out in his second AFL Grand Final with the Brisbane Lions where a win would see him become the second-ever player to win both country's top titles.
Despite original plans to remain in Tyrone, McKenna returned to Queensland in 2023, signing a contract with the Brisbane Lions before qualifying for both this year and last year's Grand Final. Even contributing this outrageous assist in their preliminary final vs Geelong.
The assist from Conor McKenna 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/i6SP2qsebL
— Thomas Niblock (@thomasniblock) September 21, 2024
So far this season McKenna has lined out for the Lions 17 times, making an average of 13.6 disposals and 288 metres across each of the games.
The Lions named their matchday squad for the game on Thursday. McKenna will start with Kilkenny man Darragh Joyce named as an emergency sub.
Speaking ahead of the game, McKenna revealed his motivation to get his hands on a Premiership.
That would be pretty amazing, but I've only been here two years.
To get the win for the boys that have been here 10 years, when they were getting wooden spoons, for them it’d be unbelievable.
The Tyrone native and co. delivered a 60 point hammering of their rivals Sydney Swans in a convincing win making up for their disappointing defeat at the same stage to Collingwood 12 months ago.
The Eglish man's blisterring pace was on show again and he finished with 3 disposals (3 kicks), 3 marks and gained 35 metres.
The match itself started with Sydney kicking the opening two goals to take a 13-2 lead but the Lions roared back and from then on took control and never looked back finishing with a convincing 120-60 victory.
As McKenna joins Kennelly in the royalties of Irish sport, not only will has he become the second-ever player to win both the AFL Grand Final and the All-Ireland final, but he's also only the third-ever Irish player to win an AFL Premiership.
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