Worryingly for GAA, Kobe McDonald may be first to actually want to play AFL

'Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.'

STARBOY: Kobe McDonald of Mayo celebrates Mayo's victory. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

From Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat to Mark Twain, the above quote has been attributed to many.

The Stone Roses’ lead singer Ian Brown paraphrased it when the band parted ways for a second time in 2017: “Don’t be sad it’s over; be happy that it happened.” 

The sense of gratitude in Mayo these last five days has been overwhelming. A steady flow of locals have visited Knock’s basilica to pray their thanks. 

As Bank of Ireland reported an upsurge in spending in the county, churches’ candle donations and other offerings are undoubtedly doing a fair trade too.

Kobe McDonald may have played for Mayo for the very last time but if supporters know this time last week what he was contributing to they would have reconciled it.

And many still will. Some may have favoured Geelong for Oisín Mullin and possibly Brisbane Lions for Pearce Hanley but St Kilda will be their AFL team of choice. It’s not as if their 60-year wait for a Premiership is something Mayo people can’t row in behind.

St Kilda’s willingness to allow McDonald play for Mayo having signed a three-year rookie deal last autumn was applauded by Andy Moran. 

“St Kilda are very, very sound,” he said last December. “They want him to train. They want him to play. They want him to play football.” 

And they do seem to care – their head of talent and acquisition Graeme Allan was in Croke Park last Sunday.

It’s 12 years since we met Tommy Walsh in the Melbourne suburb, two weeks before he returned to Ireland having started with St Kilda on the back of an All-Ireland victory like McDonald and then finishing up with Sydney Swans.

“When things are going well, you’re on top of the world but because it’s not just a sport you’re playing, but your profession, there are lows,” he said.

Like McDonald, St Kilda had tracked Walsh for quite some time. And, as much as news of his departure was confirmed at the start of last November, the truth is the McDonald family had made the decision long before he put pen to paper.

The Sheeran ball has been almost as familiar to McDonald as an O’Neills one this last while. He has been working on his skills for years. He has regularly met up with his older brother Jordan to thump the oval ball.

Mayo’s Jordan Flynn and Kobe McDonald after the game. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

There was never any question that he wasn’t going. There was never any question that he might be persuaded to stay. 

If his signature on a contract didn’t, then the words he wrote on the band on his left wrist for the semi-final and final “one chance” established that.

Last weekend, McDonald spoke on The Sunday Game night show about wanting to play for Mayo “since I was knee high”. 

Aspirations to pursue an AFL career came early in his teens. That mightn’t sound outlandish but for a kid of McDonald’s undoubted talent there was clear intent.

Worryingly for the GAA, McDonald may be the first of his generation to actually want to play Australian Rules. A professional sports career and the lifestyle had been the nuggets. Now it’s the game. 

Tadhg Kennelly, for all his success, was an outlier but teenagers have had the likes of Hanley, Mullin, Zach Tuohy and Mark O’Connor to model. If they can see them, they can be them.

The report in Australia this week that the GAA are looking to limit numbers moving to the AFL was timely. Croke Park know they can’t and won’t stop their best young Gaelic footballers leaving. Neither do they expect compensation for clubs or counties.

At the same time, how agents approach players and the treatments of the families of players are matters the GAA’s leadership would like to see improved. 

Kobe McDonald celebrates at the homecoming. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

McDonald, whose parents Ciarán and Karen will join him in Melbourne, is an exception for every McDonald there is a scare story.

In their negotiations with the AFL, the GAA are also exploring look at a cap of players per county. Until such time as conditions improve, the men’s International Rules series, which the Australians are understood to be keen to revive, will remain in cold storage.

The last game took place in 2017. But who’s to say the AFL won’t be able to follow the AFLW’s example this weekend and host their own Ireland v Australia game in the coming years?

In August, there are loose plans for the Irish cohort of AFL players to meet up and welcome McDonald to his new world. 

In St Kilda, the 18-year-old will have Cork’s and Ballincollig’s Liam O’Connell and Eamon Armstrong of Meath for company but there’s a genuine determination among the ex-pats across the premiership to embrace him with opening arms.

Game recognises game and in the Crossmolina starlet, the would-be young Gaelic footballer of the year for 2026, there is plenty. And from the iconic status he has enjoyed these last few months to starting over as a rookie, the difference will be stark.

Nevertheless, he seems to be fully aware of what he is getting himself into: “I'm sure a lot of Australians probably don't give me a chance,” he said last Monday. “I like being the underdog,” he insisted. 

Give him time. He will bite.