Tomás Ó Sé Highlights Most Frustrating Aspect Of AFL Teams Poaching GAA Talent

Mayo GAA has been left stunned over the past few days, with the news that hugely exciting young prospect Kobe McDonald will join AFL side St. Kilda next summer, after the conclusion of his Leaving Cert.

Touted by many as the future of the inter-county team, 17-year-old McDonald announced his arrival as a senior contender with some superb performances for Crossmolina Deel Rovers in this summer's Mayo SFC.

However, he will be Down Under before he gets a chance to truly make his mark on the Mayo senior team.

He is the latest of many Irish stars to make the move to Australia, but the age at which he will move to Melbourne is the most eyebrow-raising element.

It is also one that raises huge concern for Kerry legend Tomás Ó Sé.

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Kerry U20 manager Tomás Ó Sé, speaking on Morning Ireland on Tuesday, reacted to the news that Kobe McDonald will be plying his trade in the AFL, not the GAA, from 2026.

"If it was my own son, you'd tell him to go," Ó Sé said when asked if one could begrudge young players taking these opportunities.

"It's an opportunity they'll never get again, you've the lifestyle, you've the weather, it's a professional sport. It's what they dream of doing, they're good enough to do it. It's difficult because you'd never, ever wish ill on any young lad going out."

However, Ó Sé fears that the GAA are becoming "sitting ducks" when it comes to these moves.

McDonald had not been linked with a move to Australia in the media before a bombshell report in Saturday's Irish Examiner revealed an announcement was imminent. It followed under 48 hours later.

The sneakiness of these moves being "tapped up" is something that does not sit right with Ó Sé, by comparison with the other dominant sports of rugby and soccer in Ireland.

It happens all over. Ben O'Connor is a player with Munster at the moment and an extremely good hurler with Cork. He's a loss to Cork hurling.

But rugby is in the community everywhere in Ireland. Soccer is in the community everywhere in Ireland. Golf is in the community, basketball, they're all part of what we are on a daily basis.

I just feel that Aussie Rules, the way they come in, it leaves a bad taste. I hate the way it's done. Nobody ever knows they're here tapping up players. They do it quietly, clubs are not told, counties are not told.

I would like some rule being put in place that it's done more formally than it is. What's happening here is that you're hearing it and then, next thing, the deal is done. That's the first time you're hearing about it, and the clubs or the counties don't even get a chance to discuss anything, they're just left out of it.

It leaves a sour taste, even though everyone wants the lad to do well, everyone wishes them well.

I'm a Kerryman...there's an amount of lads [gone from Kerry]. Kerry can soak it up. They won an All-Ireland this year without the lads. But there's other counties that can't soak it up as much, and if they lose their big talent it is an issue.

Kerry's Ben Murphy is another who has made a sudden move to the AFL in recent weeks.

18-year-old Murphy is a star who Tomás Ó Sé would surely have hoped to utilise in the coming years with the Kerry U20s.

However, as GAA strength and conditioning improves and players continue to thrive in Australia, this is a problem Ó Sé thinks is going nowhere anytime soon.

The other point...10 or 15 years ago, it wasn't so much of an issue. There weren't as many young players being poached, I would say.

But our young lads are trained in developing squads, they're specimens. They're physically ready to go at 18 years of age. Ben Murphy is as big a man as you'd see and he's ready to rock right now. I think that's what the Australians see.

I think it is an issue for the GAA because it won't stop now. Australia will see the fact, 'Right, these young lads are ready, they're prime picking, we don't have to do anything, because they're an amateur sport over in Ireland.'

I don't think there is anything you can actually do, to be honest with you. If a young lad is going to go, you're not going to stop them.

Kerry and Mayo's GAA rivals will certainly be taking heed of the manner in which Kobe McDonald and Ben Murphy have been snapped up by the lure of the AFL.

They will both be great losses to Gaelic football, and one can only hope we might see them return to these shores some day.