The 4 youngsters marked for AFL?

[MayoBuck]

Oisín Mullin and Frank Irwin from Mayo were due to fly out for trials in September or October but that's been postponed indefinitely. From a selfish point of view, it's one upside of the whole pandemic

Can't see Pearse Hanley moving home at this stage however.

[rosnarun]

Oisín Mullin and Frank Irwin from Mayo were due to fly out for trials in September or October but that's been postponed indefinitely. From a selfish point of view, it's one upside of the whole pandemic

Can't see Pearse Hanley moving home at this stage however.

id much prefer to see mullen stay that hanley return .

[Angelo]

Pearce Hanley retiring from the AFL with immeadiate effect.

Very interesting.......

Where would he likely play for Mayo?

As a half forward?

[GetOverTheBar]

Shocking news actually, didn't think he would call time on the AFL - he is one of the few that do 'make it'.

At 31, he's ripe to go back to Mayo but maybe the body just has taken too much?

Mayo ones will be delighted if he comes back. Could they tempt Andy Moran back for one last hurrah......?

[Tubberman]

He has setup his own business out there (a gym - the Oz branch of Andy's The Movement   )
No intention of coming back at this stage I'd say. He was the best minor I saw playing for Mayo, you'd have to think if we had him from 2012 - 2017 we'd have come back with at least 1, probably more.
He came back and played with Ballagh for Championship a good few years ago now, and tbh he was rusty, he wouldn't be able to go straight back in now even if he did come back.

[imtommygunn]

The injuries etc from aussie rules seem to really mount up. At that age I suspect it would be a bit tough for him coming back. They seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

I don't think Tommy Walsh has remembered how to kick a round ball yet lol. (Still some ball winner though)

[Rossfan]

At 31, he's ripe to go back to Mayo but maybe the body just has taken too much?

Mayo ones will be delighted if he comes back. Could they tempt Andy Moran back for one last hurrah......?

.
Nothing like a youth policy! Ciaran McD as well while ye're at it

[GetOverTheBar]

At 31, he's ripe to go back to Mayo but maybe the body just has taken too much?

Mayo ones will be delighted if he comes back. Could they tempt Andy Moran back for one last hurrah......?

.
Nothing like a youth policy! Ciaran McD as well while ye're at it

Andy Moran walks onto all but about 2 county starting 15s....even now.

[Cunny Funt]

At 31, he's ripe to go back to Mayo but maybe the body just has taken too much?

Mayo ones will be delighted if he comes back. Could they tempt Andy Moran back for one last hurrah......?

.
Nothing like a youth policy! Ciaran McD as well while ye're at it

Andy Moran walks onto all but about 2 county starting 15s....even now.

He was sub a lot more than a starter in his final year with Mayo, one of the reasons why he hung the county boots up.

As for Hanley injuries took its toll I'm surprised he wasn't forced to retire sooner.

[GetOverTheBar]

At 31, he's ripe to go back to Mayo but maybe the body just has taken too much?

Mayo ones will be delighted if he comes back. Could they tempt Andy Moran back for one last hurrah......?

.
Nothing like a youth policy! Ciaran McD as well while ye're at it

Andy Moran walks onto all but about 2 county starting 15s....even now.

He was sub a lot more than a starter in his final year with Mayo, one of the reasons why he hung the county boots up.

As for Hanley injuries took its toll I'm surprised he wasn't forced to retire sooner.

Yeah I'd say so and he was one of the 'runners' too. AFL is a brutal sport. Not everybodys cup of tea skill wise but physically what they can do is nearly unparalleled.

[Angelo]

I'd still say Mayo will be making advances to get him back, still have a a year or two in him you'd imagine but it depends how the body is.

Presumably he's had someone looking after the business for him anyway while he was playing AFL so I'd be surprised if the moneymen in Mayo GAA aren't trying to put something together to get him to give it a go next year.

[rosnarun]

I'd still say Mayo will be making advances to get him back, still have a a year or two in him you'd imagine but it depends how the body is.

Presumably he's had someone looking after the business for him anyway while he was playing AFL so I'd be surprised if the moneymen in Mayo GAA aren't trying to put something together to get him to give it a go next year.

I cant see nor expect him to come back . its not like he ever proved himself as a footballer before he Left  to the extent Tommy Walsh did. and it took him years to readjust
and may's record of ~Reintegrating   exiles is not promising. Cian for a start but also Alan Murphy  and Gavin Duffy )I fell im forgetting some one)

[Angelo]

I'd still say Mayo will be making advances to get him back, still have a a year or two in him you'd imagine but it depends how the body is.

Presumably he's had someone looking after the business for him anyway while he was playing AFL so I'd be surprised if the moneymen in Mayo GAA aren't trying to put something together to get him to give it a go next year.

I cant see nor expect him to come back . its not like he ever proved himself as a footballer before he Left  to the extent Tommy Walsh did. and it took him years to readjust
and may's record of ~Reintegrating   exiles is not promising. Cian for a start but also Alan Murphy  and Gavin Duffy )I fell im forgetting some one)

Tommy Walsh was done as an AFL player before he came back, did he ever even feature much over there in any case? Now the same could be said for Hanley as it looks like injuries have possibly caught up with him.

But generally the only two cases we have of proven AFL players coming back who were in decent shape have panned out very well - Marty Clarke and Tadhg Kennelly were both very successful in their short returns.

Very few players actually make who go over there.

The only established GAA lads over there at the minute seem Tuohy, McKenna and O'Connor. Think Glass and the lad from Meath might be starting to feature a bit now too but that's it. Before that you had Kennelly and Clarke, is there actually many others in the past 15 years who have made a good fist of a career over there?

[Angelo]

Looking at some statistics there, very few Irish lads make it over the 50 appearance mark over there.

I think Tuohy and McKenna are the only ones with over 50 appearances there currently active. O'Connor will probably get there shortly after and the year or two will probably decide if Glass or Nash make it. Most guys just don't make it so I think with these guys it might just be that their bodies have broken down or maybe they just don't deliver on underage promise for whatever reason. It happens plenty of underage stars that never take a flight to Australia - Coney and Ronan O'Neill would be a couple of obvious examples from Tyrone.

So effectively you have 5 GAA players currently active now, 3 are established and two are kind of hitting make or break territory.

If you thrive over there and come back fit and healthy I don't see why they wouldn't take back to gaelic football like a duck to water. The problem is a lot of lads come back broken, some just don't hack it over there and don't deliver and some do come back and become key players for their county like McKaigue and Caolan Mooney.

Guys like Walsh and Kevin Dyas suffered terrible injuries over there and probably explains why they never had the right impact. Dyas was as good an underage talent as I've seen in the past 20 years and could have achieved so much more if not for injuries.

[Never beat the deeler]

Looking at some statistics there, very few Irish lads make it over the 50 appearance mark over there.

I think Tuohy and McKenna are the only ones with over 50 appearances there currently active. O'Connor will probably get there shortly after and the year or two will probably decide if Glass or Nash make it. Most guys just don't make it so I think with these guys it might just be that their bodies have broken down or maybe they just don't deliver on underage promise for whatever reason. It happens plenty of underage stars that never take a flight to Australia - Coney and Ronan O'Neill would be a couple of obvious examples from Tyrone.

So effectively you have 5 GAA players currently active now, 3 are established and two are kind of hitting make or break territory.

If you thrive over there and come back fit and healthy I don't see why they wouldn't take back to gaelic football like a duck to water. The problem is a lot of lads come back broken, some just don't hack it over there and don't deliver and some do come back and become key players for their county like McKaigue and Caolan Mooney.

Guys like Walsh and Kevin Dyas suffered terrible injuries over there and probably explains why they never had the right impact. Dyas was as good an underage talent as I've seen in the past 20 years and could have achieved so much more if not for injuries.

Agreed, it is difficult, mainly due to the lateness of players taking up the game, trying to learn running patterns etc. That's why a lot of Irish players play half back, its quite similar to wing back in gaelic football - mark your man when you don't have the ball, bomb up the wing and support when you do.
It feels like there are more Irish players now than ever - Glass, Nash and O'Connor (you may have missed him) have been in the best lineup for Hawks and Sydney this year and each have a chance to break the 50 games mark (it should be noted that just above 30% of AFL players to play a single game reach 50, stats from end of 2017).

In the past 15 years, you could add Setanta O'Hailpin, Begley, Ciraran Byrne.

It is true, though that there's a high attrition rate. Kyle Coney is one I often think about - won a minor AI and was highly rated in GAA before coming over to Sydney. Was only here a couple of years afaicr but don't think he had much run since he went back home at all.
Cian Hanley can't train due to his knee (I think) issues.