McKenna on rise Down Under
Former Tyrone starlet could have been preparing to face Dublin this weekend but he tells Alan Waldron he has no regrets about his AFL switch
THREE years ago Mickey Harte pleaded with the then 18-year-old Conor McKenna to postpone his planned move to Australia and throw his lot in with the Tyrone seniors for 12 months. But the rising star held firm and proceeded to chase a professional sporting career on the other side of the world.
As his superb season with Essendon heads towards an exciting finale, McKenna is convinced he made the right decision, even if there have been some tough times along the way.
The 21-year-old knew this campaign would be make or break for his AFL ambitions, and as he prepares for his 17 th successive senior game on Sunday, and his 32nd in total, it’s obvious what side of the ledger his 2017 already falls on.
“The third or fourth year tends to be massive for players out here, so to play 16 games in a row now has been brilliant,” McKenna told the Irish
Independent.
“To be in the team every week is great for the confidence. If you’re in for two games and then out again it can be very difficult mentally.”
Only seven GAA converts have played more AFL games than the Eglish man, whose blistering speed lends itself to viral highlight reels, as evidenced by his stunning goal against Pearce Hanley’s Gold Coast Suns last weekend.
COOLLY
A running half-back, not too dissimilar in style to Hanley, McKenna stormed down the right flank, taking four bounces at full throttle, before coolly slotting home from a tight angle.
How Harte would love to have the Essendon player’s athleticism –which sees him hit top speeds of around 34kmph in games – and attacking talents as part of his arsenal as he attempts to halt the Dubs’ march towards a third successive All-Ireland final on Sunday.
His Tyrone gear may be washed and ready to go but when McKenna sits down to cheer on the Red Hands from 17,000km away, he is hoping he will already have something to celebrate.
Just under 12 hours before David Coldrick throws the ball above the heads of the Dublin and Tyrone midfielders, McKenna’s Essendon side host Fremantle in their final regulation game of the season knowing that victory will almost certainly clinch a top-eight finish and a spot in the AFL finals – and bring some much-needed good news to Bombers fans.
Essendon finished bottom of the 18team competition last season, yet another low point following the fallout from the 2012 supplements saga that saw the club embroiled in a complex legal battle and a number of their players serve lengthy bans.
McKenna, who arrived at the club in 2014 after captaining the Tyrone minors to an agonising All-Ireland final defeat to Mayo the previous September, is desperate to give the Essendon supporters something to celebrate. “It’s been a tough few years for the club obviously, so it’s great for the fans that they have something to cheer for now. Thankfully, it’s all in our own hands now so if we win on Sunday that should clinch our spot in the finals.” While some of Ireland’s exports have developed hybrid accents, the regularity that his answers starting with ‘ach ay’ suggests there’s no danger of that happening to the Tyrone man. That’s not to say he isn’t feeling settled these days; the bouts of homesickness he went through during his first few months in Melbourne have yet to make a reappearance.
However, football is often the catalyst for such feelings, and the prospect of Tyrone reaching a first All-Ireland final in nine years this weekend is naturally going to stir up that pot of emotion.
Seeing so many former minor teammates claim an U-21 All-Ireland in 2015 was particularly tough to watch from afar.
“I haven’t really struggled with homesickness too much since the early days,” McKenna explained. “There are obviously still times when you’d be missing family and friends.
“It is a little bit tough to watch (the seniors). It was very hard to see the U-21s win the All-Ireland in 2015 too. I would have played with a lot of those lads at underage level.”
However, having eight other young Irish men with similar professional ambitions in and around Melbourne helps to keep any feelings of isolation at bay.
Last weekend, for instance, McKenna watched the drawn game between Kerry and Mayo with Carlton’s Louth defender Ciaran Byrne and Westmeath’s Ray Connellan, who is with St Kilda, at The Quiet Man, a traditional Irish watering hole just a stone’s throw from Melbourne’s famous Flemington Racecourse.
“It’s a great help having so many other young Irish lads around Melbourne. We meet up every week or two to just chat away, have a pint, and watch a match or whatever. Having that network is great.”
The drink culture at home has been in the spotlight of late, and McKenna feels the GAA could learn a thing or two from the AFL’s attitude to alcohol.
“At home you might be on a drinking ban for two or three months and you end up going half-mad then when you can go out as you think it could be another couple of months before you can go out again.
“It doesn’t make sense. Out here, you can have a couple of drinks every few weeks. Nothing crazy, just a few pints to take the edge off. The level you’re training at, it doesn’t really affect you.”
On the field, another goal on McKenna’s radar, once this AFL campaign concludes, is representing Ireland in November’s two-Test international rules series in Australia.
CONTESTED
It would be particularly special for the Eglish man, who hails from the same club as the late Cormac McAnallen, the former Tyrone star whose name adorns the trophy that is contested between the two countries.
“It’s something I’d love to do. It’s obviously the best chance I’d have of representing my country. I haven’t heard anything yet so I’ll just have to wait and see.
“It would be very special, Cormac obviously being from the same club. I was only seven or eight when he died but he made such a big impression on the club and on Tyrone.”
McKenna insists that returning to play for Tyrone’s seniors also remains high on his bucket list, along with a lofty ambition to emulate the remarkable double feat achieved by Tadhg Kennelly.
“I’m still thinking about returning one day, I just don’t know when. Ideally I’d like to do what Tadhg Kennelly did and win a Premiership out here and go home and win an All-Ireland in Croke Park, that would be unbelievable,” he said.
He may dream of representing Tyrone on the inter-county stage down the line, but for now Harte and the Red Hand men will just have to make do without him.
Their loss, it appears, is Essendon’s gain.