McKenna can match historic Kennelly in AFL final

Tyrone man Conor McKenna has the chance in the early hours of Saturday morning to become only the second All-Ireland Senior Football medallist to also play in a winning Australian Football Rules Grand Final team.

Kerry man Tadhg Kennelly helped Sydney Swans clinch the 2005 AFL showpiece before winning the Sam Maguire Cup with his native county four years later.

A brilliant underage gaelic football career in Tyrone led Eglish native McKenna to be snapped up by AFL club Essendon in late 2014.

He spent six seasons at the Melbourne-based club before returning home to help Tyrone land the 2021 All-Ireland title, scoring two goals in the dramatic semi-final win over Kerry before setting up Darren McCurry's decisive major in the final against Mayo.

But after Tyrone's disappointing defence of the All-Ireland title in 2022, McKenna opted to return Down Under and signed for Brisbane Lions.

Now, he stands on the brink of emulating Kennelly with - appropriately - the Swans their opposition in Saturday's big game.

McKenna came close to matching the Kerryman's feat last year when he played in the Lions team that lost narrowly to Collingwood in the Grand Final.

The Tyrone man's 2024 campaign has been hindered by injury and after fighting his way back to fitness, he has been employed in a substitute's role in Brisbane's last three games.

“I’d rather be playing (in the 22) but that’s my role at the moment,” McKenna, 28, told news.com.au earlier this week.

“If I’m selected to play this week, I’d love to play from the start but if not, I’ll be the sub again and come on and have an impact like I’ve had for the past three weeks."

That impact included a superb kick pass which set up team-mate Logan Morris' final-quarter goal in last weekend's 10-point win over Geelong at the MCG.

Oscar McInerney's misfortune in dislocating a shoulder last week led to McKenna's introduction and with McInerney ruled out for this weekend, the Tyrone man again looks certain to see action.

Despite playing mainly as a forward during his gaelic football career, McKenna has largely operated as a half-back during his time in the AFL but his impact sub brief in recent matches has been as an attacker and he seems to be revelling in the more offensive role.

“I’ve talked to ‘Fages’ (Lions coach Chris Fagan) about playing forward this year, and you can do more stuff like that in the forward line,” said McKenna of the part he played in Morris' goal last weekend.

“There’s less risk than doing it in defence, so it’s something I want to keep working on. It’s something I can have an impact with when I come on."

The prospect of McKenna playing in a Grand Final winning team seemed over in late 2020 when the Tyrone man returned home after finding himself embroiled in a controversy the previous June after his testing positive for Covid-19 led to the postponement of one of Essendon's fixtures.

He received a one-match ban for breaching Covid-19 protocols and within three months was back home in Ireland with his AFL career seemingly finished.

But four years later, McKenna could join Kennelly in an exclusive club and with his AFL career looking set to continue given the year that's left on his Lions contract.