Jack O'Connor wants compo from AFL for departing stars

O'Connor described Dingle's Mark O'Connor as a player who 'would have been another Brian Fenton'

Kerry Manager Jack O'Connor at the RTÉ Sport Awards. Pic: ©INPHO/Nick Elliott

All-Ireland winning Kerry manager Jack O'Connor says AFL teams should be forced to compensate GAA clubs for the 'free hit' of recruiting their players.

Describing Dingle's Mark O'Connor as a player who 'would have been another Brian Fenton' and who would have inspired Kerry to more All-Ireland wins than they managed, O'Connor said losing him to Geelong was a giant blow.

Kerrymen Rob Monahan, Cillian Burke and Ben Murphy are also contracted to AFL clubs for 2026.

Speaking to Newstalk's Off the Ball in a pre-recorded interview that aired ahead of this evening's challenge match win over Kildare, O'Connor took aim at the AFL.

Asked about the recruitment of Kerry's players, O'Connor said: "It's aggravating, to be honest, particularly for the clubs. My two lads play with a club in Mid Kerry, Milltown, and they won the intermediate two years ago and Cillian Burke basically was an integral part of that and he's gone.

"So I think their loss to the clubs, as much as to the county, is aggravating. You saw how good Ben Murphy was this year with Austin Stacks. He's only touching the tip of the iceberg because that man, there's huge improvement in him.

"Obviously Mark O'Connor and Rob Monahan as well...Rob was a very promising player but Mark O'Connor, I had him as a minor in 2014 and 2015. In my mind, Mark O'Connor would have been another Brian Fenton if he had stayed around the place.

"And I think Kerry would have won more All-Irelands, no question in my mind, (they) would have won more All-Irelands if Mark O'Connor had stayed in Ireland."

O'Connor, who has guided Kerry to five All-Ireland senior wins, said GAA clubs deserve compensation for losing the players, arguing that this would make life more difficult for the AFL sides.

"I do feel that the AFL are getting away with...they're getting away light here, I think the clubs should be compensated," he said. "I don't know how it would work or what mechanism you could use but (there's) no question in my mind after all the work that's been put into these players by the clubs, at underage and whatever, they should be compensated - and compensated well.

"At the moment it's a free hit for the AFL. They're getting these players for nothing, for next to nothing, giving them a rookie contract. They have nothing to lose. I think it should be made a bit more difficult for them and that means, in my head, there should be a mechanism found whereby they compensate the clubs for the loss of these players."