‘It’s a no-brainer’: Why Irishmen flourish in the AFL
Ahead of Thursday’s clash with Collingwood, Adelaide defender Mark Keane has opened up on his journey from a small town in Ireland to the AFL finals.
Adelaide’s Irishman Mark Keane calls it a “no-brainer”.
“You can take the best Gaelic football players and put a Sherrin in front of them,” Keane said.
“I think it’s a no-brainer because you’re going to get a player effectively for free, you don’t have to take them through the draft.”
Not that Keane knew what a Sherrin was when AFL scouts circled him in County Cork in 2017.
He didn’t even know what Australian Rules football was.
“In 2017, if you asked me what AFL was, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you,” Keane said.
“Now to do it week-in, week-out, it’s pretty crazy.”
Keane is among a batch of Irishmen set to make an imprint on the AFL finals.
The Crows defender is among what he terms an Irish brotherhood including countrymen Mark O’Connor and Oisin Mullen, both at Geelong, Connor Nash (Hawthorn), Conor McKenna and Darragh Joyce, both at Brisbane, and Callum Brown (GWS).
For Keane, it’s literally a far cry from his home town of Mitchelstown in the north of County Cork.
“There’s about three or four thousand people in my home town, so we’re a very tight-knit community,” he said.
“Back home in Ireland, people are starting to understand what AFL is now. Especially in my home town, they follow it week-in, week-out.
“I think they have become the best Adelaide Crows fans in the world in my home town, they know exactly what it is now.”
Keane played hurling and Gaelic football in Mitchelstown before representing his county in the latter sport at under-20 level, when AFL scouts noticed him in late 2017.
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“At the start of 2018, I got invited to the AFL combine in Dublin,” he said.
“And then four players from 40 get brought to America and that is where it starts, the exposure to AFL, because you meet the Australians, you meet the recruiters.
“And I gained interest from that.”
Keane was flown to Australia for further trials.
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“I had never been to Australia, it was a long flight over,” he said.
“After the combine, then we went to Collingwood and Geelong, went to St Kilda and Essendon.
“There were a few clubs to go on trial and thankfully Collingwood took a punt on me and picked me and I was very grateful for that.”
The first AFL game Keane ever saw was the 2018 grand final. He was among the 100,022-strong crowd who watched West Coast pip Collingwood by five points.
“It was a cool first game to ever witness, it was a great week,” he said.
Keane joined the Magpies as a category B rookie – each AFL club is allowed three such players whose wages aren’t included in the salary cap.
He made his AFL debut in round nine 2020, his only game at the elite level that year, and played four more the next year.
But Keane admitted: “When I was at Collingwood, my heart wasn’t there.”
It was back home in Ireland.
Keane left the Pies in January 2022 despite being contracted that season.
But Adelaide came calling – and so did the appeal of the AFL to Keane, who joined the Crows in January 2023 as a pre-season supplemental selection.
The Irishman spent most of the year gaining fitness before playing the last five matches of the season.
Keane featured in 21 games in 2024. Then, despite being contracted for 2025, the Magpies tried to lure him back to Melbourne.
But Keane stayed in Adelaide, signing a contract extension with the Crows to the end of 2028.
“I came back to Australia to play footy and it’s working here in Adelaide,” he said.
“I didn’t want to have any distractions and Adelaide allows me to go about my business quietly and get after footy rather than falling in to the Irish folk in Melbourne.
“I am still able to go to Melbourne, it’s only 50 minutes away on a flight. They (the Crows) have supported me if I ever wanted to go to Melbourne and meet the Irish and refuel and recharge there.”
Keane has been a stunning success this season, playing every game and earning rave reviews – and a spot in the extended All Australian squad, though missing selection in the final ceremonial team.
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“I was very happy with last year and thankfully I took another step forward in this year,” he said.
“It’s just knowing the game a bit more and buying into the game a lot more.”
Keane’s feats have come despite admitting to many late nights staying up to watch Gaelic football and hurling telecasts.
“I watch it all the time. It’s at night-time at the weekends so sometimes I don’t get to sleep until late, but it’s definitely worth staying up for,” he said.
“I do get homesick.
“Missing my friends and family and playing Gaelic football and hurling are probably the biggest ones; and seeing my team back home playing and making grand finals.”
The Crows granted him an early release to Ireland with one home-and-away game remaining last season: Keane went home and played Gaelic football.
And the 25-year-old was adamant he played with and against Irishmen who would flourish in the AFL.
“It’s probably not up to the Irish players,” Keane said.
“It’s up to the clubs to definitely take a chance on some Irish players because you can obviously reap the rewards.
“A few clubs have never tried it. But I highly recommend for clubs to give Irish guys a chance; it’s up to the clubs to go and recruit them.”
A GUIDE TO THE FIRST AFL QUALIFYING FINAL BETWEEN ADELAIDE AND COLLINGWOOD:
* When: Thursday, 7.40pm AEST
* Where: Adelaide Oval
* The form:
Adelaide: A club-record 18 wins was rewarded with a first minor premiership since 2017, the last time they reached the finals. Enter the playoffs on a nine-match winning streak.
Collingwood: Finished fourth with 16 wins and seven losses. The Pies were either first or second from rounds six to 21 but then lost five of seven games entering the finals.
* Head-to-head
Overall: Played: 52. Adelaide 16 wins, 35 losses, 1 draw
In finals: Played: 3. Adelaide 0 wins, Collingwood 3 wins
Last time: Round 24, 2025: Adelaide 9.5 (59) bt Collingwood 8.8 (56) at Adelaide Oval
Last final: Semi-final, 2009: Collingwood 12.11 (83) bt Adelaide 11.12 (78) at the MCG
* Key players:
Nick Daicos (Collingwood). The Brownlow medal favourite averages more than 30 disposals a game this season, and almost 32 a game against the Crows. A freakish package of skill, tenacity and game-breaking brilliance.
Riley Thilthorpe (Adelaide): Has booted a career-best 55 goals and is the only non-midfielder in the competition’s top-10 for goal assists, with 21. An amazing mark with vice-like hands but also superb at ground-level for a big man.
Jamie Elliott (Collingwood). Aged 33, is enjoying his best goal-kicking season with 53 majors. Despite standing only 1.77m tall, is dangerous in the air, boasts uncanny goal sense and is renowned for accuracy when shooting at goal.
Jordan Dawson (Adelaide). The skipper was voted by his playing cohort as the league’s best captain this season. A big-moment performer renowned for silky foot skills but also thrives in the contest – only three players have recorded more tackles this year.
* The stat: The Crows snapped an 11-game winless streak to the Magpies dating back to 2016 with their round 24 win, but are yet to defeat Collingwood in a final.
-with AAP
