Newly appointed Kerry GAA manager Jack O’Connor has been handed a golden ticket following the news that former Kerry minor and U20 star Stefan Okunbor has left his AFL side Geelong Cats to return to the Kingdom.
Okunbor won an All-Ireland minor title back in 2016, and was also named the Munster U20 Player of the Year in 2018 under the stewardship of Jack O’Connor.
The 22-year-old Na Gaeil club man primarily togged out in the full-back line for his GAA inter-county teams, while also playing as a defender in the AFL, and no doubt will now be hoping to make a big contribution to the Kerry defence in 2022.
Category B Rookie Stefan Okunbor has returned to Ireland after three years with the club 💙🇮🇪 Good luck Stef.
READ 📘: https://t.co/mBQJfmXs7c pic.twitter.com/CG7nYbkBa0— Geelong Cats (@GeelongCats) September 29, 2021
Speaking about Okunbor’s contribution to his AFL side, Geelong’s general manager of football Simon Lloyd said, “Stefan showed great desire and commitment to become a better player.
“He was limited by injury and the lack of games through the shutdown. He is now back in Ireland, and we hope he can enjoy a successful GAA career.”
The young Tralee man featured 17 times in the VFL over the course of three seasons with Geelong, a club which also features fellow Kerry native Mark O’Connor.
Good story about the last time he played club football. Went home Christmas 2019 and Geelong said he was allowed to play the 7side tournament if he played in goals. He did in fairness, but also scored seven goals.
— Maurice Brosnan (@m_brosnan) September 29, 2021
Kerry's full-back line has long been seen as one of the weak links of their team and O'Connor will hope that Okunbor can pick up where he left off three years ago and fill the missing link for his team.
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