'Mark the Shark' has gone from "not knowing how to kick the ball" to an ever-present defender in three years.

Former Kerry footballer Mark O'Connor has won high praise from his Aussie Rules head coach.

Keeping Kerry’s most talented young players at home and preventing further footballers from signing AFL contracts represents a “huge challenge” for the county board, according to chairman Tim Murphy.

Rising Australian Rules star Conor Nash believes AFL clubs should pay ‘compensation’ to the GAA clubs they recruit from.

Kerry is losing another emerging talent with confirmation that Munster U-20 Player of the Year, Stefan Okunbor is set to join Geelong Cats on a two-year Rookie contract.

O'Riordan impressed Sydney’s staff with the determination he approached his rehab with and was presented with a two-year contract extension at the end of last year.

Joe Kernan has lambasted the performances of referees Maurice Deegan and Matt Stevic in today’s International Rules second test.

His future with the Geelong Cats looks more than secure but Zach Tuohy retains the ambition of wearing a senior Laois jersey for the first time.

It won't be long now before Mark O’Connor swaps Dingle for Geelong again. 

Joe Kernan has admitted that the long-term future of the International Rules series remains uncertain, but the Ireland manager believes the concept remains popular among players and can flourish if arrangements are tweaked.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Kerry defender Killian Young has revealed his deep frustration with the ongoing targeting of the county’s best young players by Australian Rules clubs.

This Thursday evening Castleknock play in their first senior football semi-final. Formed in 1998, they truly are the nouveau riche of Dublin GAA. Their story is a heartening one, their defiance to make their presence felt in west Dublin all the more impressive with the mammoth St Brigid’s for company.

Kerry starlet Mark O’Connor says Geelong’s similarity with his native Dingle was the main reason he inked a deal with the AFL club over other suitors.

Kerry starlet Mark O’Connor is ready to put his childhood dreams of All-Ireland glory in the green and gold to one side in a bid to become a professional sportsman in Australia.

Hawthorn’s three-time AFL Premiership captain Luke Hodge will lead the Australian team in the international rules Test against Ireland.

Australia 56 Ireland 46

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Ireland coach Paul Earley has applauded Australia for demonstrating their faith in the International Rules concept after naming what he regards as their best squad ever.

While most Kerry people are dreaming of All-Ireland glory this weekend, Pádraig Lucey is targeting a shot at an AFL career earned by a stint on reality TV.

Tyrone minor manager Mickey Donnelly has given his blessing to star player Conor McKenna’s dream of a professional career in Aussie Rules football — but he still hopes the exciting teenager can be persuaded to commit to the Red Hands.

Wednesday morning in a café in Portlaoise and Gordon Matthews, general manager for Rugby League Ireland, is responding to a query as to why people in this country should pay heed to the code’s World Cup which starts tomorrow and sees Ireland taking on Fiji, England and Australia in the obligatory group of death.

Angry with themselves, angry with what they claim to be exaggerated reports about their time off in Dromoland Castle and frustrated by their inability to make their greater physicality count.

Former Kerry ace Tommy Walsh has been given an 11th-hour opportunity to play a role for high-flying Sydney Swans in the AFL’s finals’ series, earning a recall for tomorrow’s clash against Geelong.

FORMER Young Footballer of the Year Tommy Walsh is enjoying life with his new AFL club Sydney Swans as preparations crank up ahead of the new season.

SIX years after Australian captain Chris Johnson and Co. dragged the International Rules series into the mire there, Ireland return to the stadium previously known as the Telstra Dome.

French raider Dunaden enhanced his Emirates Melbourne Cup claims with victory in the Centrebet Geelong Cup.

AN 11-year-old boy who allegedly called another player a “nigger” during a junior Aussie Rules match in Geelong will face a tribunal hearing today.

PEARCE HANLEY had a career high 30 disposals but it was another losing effort by Brisbane as they lost to a James Podsiadly-inspired Geelong, 133-104.

As the AFL season gets underway this weekend, former Young Footballer of the Year Tommy Walsh edges closer and closer to his St Kilda League debut. Joe Callaghan met him in Melbourne.

AUSTRALIA’S Garrick Ibbotson is praying for good weather at Croke Park tomorrow to help Australia finish off Ireland and regain the International Rules series title.

LEIGHTON GLYNN insists Ireland are ready for Australia’s biggest hits and won’t view it as an ‘affront to their manhood’ when slung to the ground.

THE green and gold malaise that was the story of the Championship weekend wasn’t merely limited to the borders of the Kingdom.

HOT on the heels of the heroics of Sean Óg and Aisake for the Cork hurlers last weekend, the Australian arm of the O hAilpín sporting dynasty continues to make headlines in the AFL.

FOUR Dublin footballers were allegedly informed that they would be dropped from Pat Gilroy’s panel for this weekend’s NFL tie against Mayo if they attended Ricky Nixon’s AFL trial camp in Meath yesterday.