Croke Park must be more proactive to halt player drain

I found myself searching sports channels on Saturday morning trying to catch a glimpse of Dingle’s Mark O’Connor making his AFL debut for the Geelong Cats against Essendon.

I didn’t realise there would be two other former Gaelic footballers in the same game, with Laois native Zach Touhy and Tyrone’s Conor McKenna also playing.

Mark O’Connor has long been on the radar in his native county since catching the eye in the development squad structure. He then progressed to Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne where he won Hogan Cups before being one of the standout players in Kerry’s All-Ireland MFC winning team. Needless to say he had Kerry fans salivating at the prospect of what he could do in a senior jersey for the next decade or so as he reached his prime. He was everything you would look for in a top-level footballer. Two-footed, great hands, and had the wheels to get all over the field. He was one of the rare talents that only come around every so often.