Mark The Shark
O’CONNOR ON AFL LIFE WITH THE GEELONG CATS
IT has been a fairytale twelve months for Dingle’s Mark O’Connor. In fact, it’s not going too far to say that it’s the stuff that dreams are made of.
At the start of the 2019 AFL season, the former Kerry minor was still basically a seven-game rookie for the Geelong Cats, having made his senior debut for the club against the Essendon Bombers in the eighth round of the 2017 campaign.
However, what followed last year was the ultimate breakthrough for ‘Mark The Shark’, who was a virtual ever-present (making 23 Premiership appearances and only missing two games through injury) in a season that saw the Cats top the table but end up missing out on a place in the Grand Final by their Premliminary Final defeat to Richmond.
During the course of a succession of eye-catching defensive performances that earned rave reviews from team mates, opponents and media pundits alike, the 2015 All-Ireland-winning minor captain for the Kingdom signed a new long-term contract with Geelong to take him through to 2022.
If that wasn’t enough for O’Connor to digest over the Christmas and New Year period, fast forward to March and the club’s 2020 season launch where the 23-year-old was included in their seven-strong leadership group for the year ahead, along with his Irish colleague, the experienced Zach Tuohy of Laois.
Riding the crest of a wave... on the other side of the world... in a professional sport... it doesn’t get much better than that... then enter Covid-19...
“It’s been great alright. It just all came together a bit for me in the last year,” he said.
“This has been my fourth pre-season but, before last season started, I was just feeling more confident in myself. That was the difference.
“I knew that if I got my chance in round one, I was confident that I would be able to hold my place after that. I just made it a big goal to keep my spot in the team and, thankfully, I did.”
Of course, the 2020 campaign was halted after just one series of matches in mid-March. O’Connor scored a goal in his side’s opener, but it wasn’t a happy outing for the Cats who were well beaten (105-73) in Sydney by the GWS Giants.
“That was a big disappointment, but there are still sixteen more games to be played. There’s always a positive in that there is a chance in the next game to back it up. GWS were actually very good on the night,” he added.
That opening AFL weekend that managed to survive the cull of sporting activity as the Coronavirus began its reign of terror throughout the world, witnessed huge viewing figures as sports fans looked for their fix before they ran out of supplies. They were watching in Dingle too.
“Yeah, I have a few friends at home who, before the restrictions came into place, would get together in a house and take a peak at our games. When we get back again, we will be one of the few live sports going. The NRL is up and running since last weekend, and their viewing numbers are well up, so they are pretty happy with that. It will be interesting to see how it goes.”
The defeat in Sydney took place in front of an empty stadium. That will be the norm for the foreseeable future but, in an admission that should be noted by every other sportsman, his first taste of behind-closed-doors action was not palatable to the Dingle man.
“It actually affected me far more than I thought it would,” he stressed.
“I thought once you got going and the ball was bouncing, it would be back to normal. But you see when a goal is kicked, it’s a bit of a buzz kill. There is not the same energy with no fans in the stadium.
“To be honest, it feels like an intense training session rather than a game. It’s something that we are going to have to get used to.
“The NRL have been using noise in the background to try and simulate a real game. Hopefully, the AFL might do something similar. Like I said, I thought it would be easy to focus, but there is certainly better energy for everybody when there is a crowd.”
Aussie Rules professionals returned to socially distant training on Monday, May 18 and resumed full contact training one week later. All return-to-play protocols are working well, according to O’Connor, and the season will re-commence on next Thursday, June 11.
“Yeah, we’re back in training, pretty happy with the whole thing. Rustiness is the only real fear you would have, to be honest. It’s hard enough to get back into the groove straight away. We had a couple of contact sessions now too, it’s going fairly well. No complaints at all.
“For our main training now, there is
full-blown contact. But, with regard to Covid-19, we are split into six groups of six to eight players per group. All the groups have our own changing rooms. When the guys come out onto the track, it’s all fine, full-blown contact, no restrictions.
“We have our own water bottles to carry out. There is no swapping. In terms of the football training, it’s pretty similar to before. We keep the same groups then for our weights training, and we do them all at different times, so that all the groups are not working out together.”
What about testing?
“We got tested before coming back, and not one AFL player has tested positive for the virus, which is absolutely great news for us and the game going forward,” said the 23-year-old.
“We are tested now twice a week, and I have to say that it’s pretty uncomfortable. They stick a swab down your throat a bit, and a swab to the back of your nose. Thankfully, it only lasts for a few seconds!
“There would be big ramifications if anybody was to test positive, like the player being put into a two-week quarantine, and then testing all the players that he would have been in contact with. But it wouldn’t shut down the whole system.”
As of the figures on Monday afternoon, Australia, for such a large country, has only recorded 7,193 cases of Covid-19, with just 103 deaths. So, what’s the secret?
“I’m no expert on the Coronavirus, that’s for sure. We have definitely been less impacted in Australia than was first expected. Construction has kept going for instance. I have a few friends out here involved in that, and they’ve been able to keep working.
“I’ve no idea of the secret. Maybe because Australia is so far away from everywhere else! A lot of the country is not densely populated either, apart from Sydney and Melbourne. I think Sydney had it bad at one point but is doing better now,” said O’Connor.
Like every other sporting organisation, the AFL has been hit extremely hard by the Covid-19 Lockdown measures that had to be introduced to safeguard public health.
The league had to take out 600 million dollars worth of loans to keep the game alive, while the international recruitment programme has been stopped for the rest of the year, and there are murmurings of squad lists having to be reduced going forward.
Players have also had to contend with pay cuts of 50% of their salaries. While somebody like Tadhg Kennelly has been stood down as assistant coach of the Sydney Swans, with no guarantee whatsoever of a potential future return to his job.
“Yeah, we’re on a 50% cut at the minute. But lots of people have lost their jobs. Anybody hired by a club to try and give them that little extra 1% has been stood down.
“That’s the sad part of it all. Hopefully,
everything will come back to some form of normality, sooner rather than later.
“It could also potentially be a blow for young Irish fellas trying to get out here. But I guess some other people might be rejoicing at that! They want to keep the best gaelic footballers at home in Ireland, and there’s no harm in that too. It’s clear now that the opportunities might not be as good as they once were, post-Pandemic,” admitted O’Connor.
‘Mark the Shark’ – where did that come from? Surely, it’s not just because ‘Shark’ rhymes with ‘Mark’!
“Ha ha! Honestly, I think that’s it to be honest. It just rhymes! They love nicknames out here. I think Zach Tuohy might have been involved in it. It’s all we could come up with!”
Mark O’Connor is now in his second week of contact training. There is only one date in the diary that is encircled on his calendar. Friday, June 12 – at home to Hawthorn in Round Two of the 2020 AFL season. He simply cannot wait.
“Yeah, I am looking forward to that. It feels like months ago now since we played Round One. There will be a bit of rustiness for everybody but it’s just great to be getting ready to be competitive again.”
Competitive. Focused. Driven. Determined. That’s Mark O’Connor in a nutshell. Doing himself, his family, his club and his county proud in the colours of the Geelong Cats.