fitz
Fanatical Member
Red sky at night get off my land
Posts: 1,719
|
Post by fitz on Dec 19, 2016 20:28:32 GMT
Thanks be to God we are at the end of November and only a month to go before football begins shaking off the cobwebs and gentles us back with Mc Grath Cup action. This thread is becoming tiresome - good luck to Mark and any other who go, lets get our house in order and focus on what we can control and cherish the players we have at our disposal - local injuries and immigration have cost us more than the Ozzies and is still the biggest risk going forward. Make sure anybody who goes fully appreciates the risks and what they are leaving behind and lets get on with working with those who stay. I want to rip that Sam Maguire from the tentacles of those city slickers - I want more, I want the minors to do whats never been done before and win four in a row in the last year of the u18 grade and yes I want Kerry to emmulate the class of 75 and win the treble (will take junior to go one better). Cant wait................ Bring on the pillage...
|
|
|
Post by kerrygold on Jan 5, 2017 11:01:32 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Sons of Pitches on Apr 13, 2017 15:32:31 GMT
I see Mark has been picked on the reserve team for this weekend's reserve game.
Must be making good progress over there.
|
|
|
Post by givehimaball on Apr 13, 2017 20:07:23 GMT
I see Mark has been picked on the reserve team for this weekend's reserve game. Must be making good progress over there. This is the first round of the VFL(which is the reserve team) competition. He has played in all of the reserve team's pre-season games and has gotten a significant amount of game time in all of them. He's playing in the backs so unlikely to ever be among the big scorers - one stat I did see was he did have the 4th highest number of marks in one game a few weeks back. As you said he seems to be making decent progress, especially for a lad who hadn't ever played a game of Aussie rules 6 months ago.
|
|
|
Post by inforthebreaks on Apr 15, 2017 8:33:30 GMT
|
|
|
Post by kerryfanatic619 on May 2, 2017 13:16:45 GMT
Clearly Mark is a big loss to his club with them struggling big time in the Club Championship and facing a difficult tough remaining couple of games in order to maintain their Senior status
|
|
|
Post by Annascaultilidie on May 11, 2017 6:26:38 GMT
Reports on the Twitter that the lad has been promoted to the senior squad and is debuting this weekend against Essendon.
Amazing progress if true.
|
|
|
Post by kerrysam11 on May 11, 2017 7:53:14 GMT
|
|
|
Post by onlykerry on May 11, 2017 9:06:44 GMT
GEELONG rookie Mark O’Connor has been upgraded to the club’s senior list and will make his AFL debut this weekend.
The 20-year-old Irishman has impressed in the VFL recently and will add some much-needed speed to the Cats’ line-up for Saturday night’s clash with Essendon.
A Gaelic football star with Kerry throughout his teenage years, O’Connor joined the Cats in October last year, and was listed as a ‘Category B’ rookie under the AFL’s rules for promoting talent from non-Australian Rules backgrounds.
But his development since, and the news that teenager Brandan Parfitt was placed on the long-term injury list, has warranted his call-up to the senior list.
|
|
|
Post by onlykerry on May 11, 2017 9:07:50 GMT
Phenominal progress but that line about Brandan Parfitt is a stark reminder that Aussie rules is a tough game.
|
|
|
Post by givehimaball on May 11, 2017 10:01:22 GMT
Some footage of his performance in the last game and a short interview. As they say in the video, this would be his 7th game of Aussie Rules, which is crazy fast progress. The "highlights" video reminds me why Aussie Rules leaves me (and I's imagine a lot of others cold) as it seems to resolve so much about the physicality side of things - also I can't help wincing at the Aussie Rules tackling - the whole swallowing up a player in possession seems decidedly unfair to my eyes. Mark spoke well in the interview and it's clear that even he is surprised at the call-up. One thing to remember is that this call-up is because someone on the first team got injured - he may only get very limited game time - however even if he only gets very limited game time and is back to the reserves the following week, it's clear that the club see something in him. He was named among the bests (best performers) in 2 out of the 4 regular season VFL games he has played. www.geelongcats.com.au/video/2017-05-11/mark-oconnor-press-conferencewww.geelongcats.com.au/video/2017-05-11/mark-oconnor-highlights
|
|
|
Post by Annascaultilidie on May 11, 2017 10:40:35 GMT
Some footage of his performance in the last game and a short interview. As they say in the video, this would be his 7th game of Aussie Rules, which is crazy fast progress. The "highlights" video reminds me why Aussie Rules leaves me (and I's imagine a lot of others cold) as it seems to resolve so much about the physicality side of things - also I can't help wincing at the Aussie Rules tackling - the whole swallowing up a player in possession seems decidedly unfair to my eyes. Mark spoke well in the interview and it's clear that even he is surprised at the call-up. One thing to remember is that this call-up is because someone on the first team got injured - he may only get very limited game time - however even if he only gets very limited game time and is back to the reserves the following week, it's clear that the club see something in him. He was named among the bests (best performers) in 2 out of the 4 regular season VFL games he has played. www.geelongcats.com.au/video/2017-05-11/mark-oconnor-press-conferencewww.geelongcats.com.au/video/2017-05-11/mark-oconnor-highlightsHe looks like a lad who might have spent an evening or two back in Carraig with Rugba i Chorcha Dhuibhne such is his ease with tackling.
|
|
inchperfect
Senior Member
No longer active member.
Posts: 272
|
Post by inchperfect on May 11, 2017 11:22:47 GMT
Last thing we want is this guy doing well. It will encourage Clifford and more to go down too.
|
|
|
Post by Annascaultilidie on May 11, 2017 12:26:06 GMT
Last thing we want is this guy doing well. I know where you are coming from but this is a nasty and unkind thought to have.
|
|
inchperfect
Senior Member
No longer active member.
Posts: 272
|
Post by inchperfect on May 11, 2017 12:58:17 GMT
Last thing we want is this guy doing well. I know where you are coming from but this is a nasty and unkind thought to have. I understand why you would care about how he gets on if you knew him or his family personally. I only care about Kerry football, and the future of Kerry football, and he's not in it. Nasty I know but to me it's just moving on and focusing on what we have right now.
|
|
|
Post by Annascaultilidie on May 11, 2017 13:02:19 GMT
I know where you are coming from but this is a nasty and unkind thought to have. I understand why you would care about how he gets on if you knew him or his family personally. I only care about Kerry football, and the future of Kerry football, and he's not in it. Nasty I know but to me it's just moving on and focusing on what we have right now. I don't know him or his family personally, no.
|
|
|
Post by Mickmack on May 11, 2017 18:59:08 GMT
'It's extremely overwhelming' - Surprise for Kerry youngster at Aussie Rules breakthrough
Mark O’Connor will make his bow at the MCG on Saturday.
KERRY’S MARK O’CONNOR was caught by surprise when told that he was set to make his AFL debut for Geelong this Saturday, after playing just six Aussie Rules games.
O’Connor has made rapid progress in a sport that he only started playing full-time when moving to Australia last November.
Now the 2015 All-Ireland minor winning captain has been named at half-forward for Saturday’s Round 8 AFL game against Essendon at the MCG in Melbourne.
But he didn’t think Geelong coach Chris Scott was serious when the news was broken to him. “It was just sprung upon me this week,” O’Connor told the Geelong club website. “I wasn’t even sure if he was being serious to be honest. I was doing a bit of hand-balling this morning with Corey Enright and he told me that Chris Scott wanted to do some edits with me. “I rocked into the room and he pretty much just told me that I’d be playing at the weekend. I kind of laughed it off and then he said that he was serious!”
O’Connor’s parents and brothers flew out to Geelong last month to see the Dingle native make his VFL debut for the club’s reserve side. They wont make it over for his AFL debut with O’Connor ringing home in the early hours of this morning to share the good news.
“They can’t make it over unfortunately. I rang them at five o’clock this morning back home.
“He (O’Connor’s father) was a bit groggy when he answered but when I told him the news, he was pretty up and about. “It’s unfortunate that they can’t make it over but hopefully there’ll be plenty more opportunities.” O’Connor had targeted an AFL debut in his first season but admitted to The42 last month that target was ‘very ambitious’. However after just six games – two pre season and four in the VFL – he is now set to make his debut on the biggest stage in Aussie Rules.
“It’s extremely overwhelming,” stated O’Connor today. “It was quite unexpected to be honest. I didn’t expect to make the jump so quickly and I’m very happy to have done so. “I never expected it to be so soon. I was kind of hoping that I would do it this year and I thought I was pushing it at that. To get the shout this early on, I’m thrilled. “It’s just pretty much to play my role and give it my all and be a good team-mate to everyone else and that’s what I plan on doing.”
O’Connor paid tribute to Tadgh Kennelly for his role in assisting him in the transition from Gaelic football to Aussie Rules and how he was inspired by the impact by Dublin’s Jim Stynes.
“I read Jim Stynes book and I’ve heard a lot about Jim Stynes back home, even when I was a young fella. I saw his documentary as well and he’s a very inspiring character.
“Tadgh Kennelly of course, he’s responsible for ultimately bringing me over to Australia so he was a big idol of mine. I really respected what he did and hopefully I can try and emulate something similar to those guys.”
|
|
|
Post by Mickmack on May 11, 2017 19:00:14 GMT
Time to let go of Mark O'Connor now and wish him all the best.
|
|
|
Post by kerrygold on May 12, 2017 7:54:34 GMT
|
|
|
Post by kerryforliam on May 12, 2017 8:17:53 GMT
I know where you are coming from but this is a nasty and unkind thought to have. I understand why you would care about how he gets on if you knew him or his family personally. I only care about Kerry football, and the future of Kerry football, and he's not in it. Nasty I know but to me it's just moving on and focusing on what we have right now. Ah ye should be thrilled to bits for young lads who get an opportunity to go and play professional football in Australia.
|
|
|
Post by tman59 on May 15, 2017 16:01:09 GMT
Delighted for Mark and his family glorious achievement. I'm sure he will be back playing with KY in the future .
|
|
|
Post by southward on May 15, 2017 21:47:32 GMT
Delighted for Mark and his family glorious achievement. I'm sure he will be back playing with KY in the future . Hope you're right but I see no reason to believe it. It's more likely that if and when he comes back home, he'll be either crocked or just finished with top-level sport.
|
|
|
Post by tman59 on May 15, 2017 22:39:49 GMT
I hope they able to keep him fit the same way that they made him fit. I wonder how his injuries are holding up over there?
|
|
|
Post by Ballyfireside on May 16, 2017 22:29:21 GMT
How did Mark get on in his debut game?
|
|
|
Post by onlykerry on May 17, 2017 11:01:44 GMT
How did Mark get on in his debut game? They lost - currently on a losing streak. Team well beaten on the day but Mark did ok according to reports.
|
|
kerryexile
Fanatical Member
Whether you believe that you can, or that you can't, you are right anyway.
Posts: 1,124
|
Post by kerryexile on May 20, 2017 23:14:53 GMT
Just wondering why none of you people who believe that a young fella should be allowed follow his dreams have not responded to Thomas's article in the Indo about Kennelly creaming the best young players to play in Australia???
|
|
|
Post by Ballyfireside on May 20, 2017 23:46:42 GMT
Just wondering why none of you people who believe that a young fella should be allowed follow his dreams have not responded to Thomas's article in the Indo about Kennelly creaming the best young players to play in Australia??? I responded in Indo but Denis O'Brien removes my comments because I like to think for myself.
|
|
|
Post by yourholiness on May 21, 2017 1:17:42 GMT
I have to say I have no time for kinelly's half arsed justification of his M.O. . What is happening is wrong and he is sufficiently schooled in the culture of the GAA to know that . Mark O Connor didn't arrive fully formed . Thousands of hours of volunteerism moulded his talent and in full understanding of this the Australian Rules poaching brigade come sniffing. I am a dub and I do t relish facing Clifford and his contemporaries but this sickens me .
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 21, 2017 6:17:43 GMT
|
|
|
Post by southward on May 21, 2017 9:05:50 GMT
tbh, I think Mark is being poorly advised if he's getting involved in the debate here. A young fella finding his feet in a new life doesn't need this sort of controversy; not much he can do to stop it but he could at least stay out of it himself.
|
|