A RED LETTER DAY IN SLIGO..
NORTH MELBOURNE have confirmed the signature of Sligo teenager Red Óg Murphy.
The deal brings the number of players signed by AFL clubs in the off-season to seven.
Murphy joins Derry duo Anton Tohill (Collingwood) and Callum Brown (GWS), Cork’s Mark Keane (Collingwood), Dublin’s James Madden (Brisbane) and Kerry’s Stefan Okunbor (Geelong) as the GAA newbies that will decamp to Australia in the coming weeks.
An underage star who scored 11 points in Sligo’s All-ireland U20 quarterfinal defeat by a Derry side that included Tohill and Brown earlier this year, Murphy impressed on trial with the Arden Street outfit in August.
While news of the deal broke prior to the weekend, the Roos coaching staff wanted to hold off on announcing it until after Murphy had played for Curry in the
Sligo intermediate final replay, which they lost by three points to Shamrock Gaels on Saturday.
“Red was invited to Arden Street and we were really happy with his ability and character,” said North’s general manager of football, Cameron Joyce.
“Our recruiters, and in particular our pro scout Nick Byrne, have stayed in touch with him and his family over the past few months and we are really happy to have signed him as a Category B rookie on our list.
“We did a variety of tests with Red and he was exceptional. We feel that he has the right foundations to enable him to have a real crack at playing in the AFL and we will give him every chance.”