After losing all three of their games this season, Conor McKenna’s winless Brisbane Lions are in crisis mode as the team deals with the aftermath of a post-season trip to the United States.
Due to reports that a player’s partner saw the unintentional upload of WhatsApp messages to his iCloud, which infuriated the partners of other teammates and is thought to have already ended one relationship, the Lions are threatening a media boycott today.
Conor McKenna, the Tyrone Sam Maguire winner, signed with the Lions through the end of the 2025 season, but he was not present in any of the WhatsApp photos, nor is there any indication that he was involved.
Brisbane football manager Danny Daly stated that there were “no crisis meetings over the weekend,” but he acknowledged that he had conversations with co-captains Harris Andrews and Lachie Neale to find out if there was discord within the struggling squad.
Daly stated, “There are some issues that we don’t need to be aware of.”
“Our players are on leave for an end-of-season trip, and whatever happened there wasn’t significant enough for the football club to be aware of.
“We don’t need to address any policies or anything they did outside of it.
“We’ll leave it there as the issues are personal in nature.”
Greg Swann, the chief executive of the Brisbane Lions, angrily denied that the team’s dismal start to the season was a result of the November trip to America. In their opening two losses of the season, the Lions surrendered leads of 46 points (against Carlton at home) and 25 points (against Fremantle away).
If the inquiry is, “Is there a rift within the group?,” No, there isn’t, Swann remarked.
It’s all nonsense. The group is not divided. By the way, this occurred in November. It’s not the cause of our poor performance.
By the way, we’re not that bad. Simply put, some of our nice guys aren’t playing their best.
As for a rift within the group, we questioned all of the leaders once more today, and they all responded, “No, there’s nothing in it at all.”
McKenna, an Eglish player, pulled his hamstring during a pre-season intraclub match in the first week of February. However, he recovered in time, so the Lions decided to be cautious and left him out of the matchday squad for Friday, March 8’s opening round loss at home against Carlton at the Gabba.
A fortnight ago, McKenna was back in the starting lineup for the Lions’ away loss to the Fremantle Dockers. However, he left the game in the fourth quarter due to a recurrence of the same problematic hamstring injury.
He is anticipated to miss three more games; his potential return is scheduled for the Lions’ round six match against Geelong at home.
With Zach Tuohy’s unfortunate hamstring injury, the AFL’s traditional Easter Monday blockbuster match between Geelong and Hawthorn, which was scheduled to feature a fab four of Irish players, was reduced to an amazing trio with Mark O’Connor, Oisin Mullin, and Conor Nash competing in front of 67,020 spectators at the MCG.
Lightning and pouring rain delayed the start of the fourth quarter by forty minutes, but Geelong prevailed 70-106 to record their third straight victory of the season.
The resurgent Cats, written off with an ageing roster in the preseason after missing the playoffs the previous season, have found their spark again and, based on their current play, look certain to make it to September’s final football game.
Kerry tagger Mark O’Connor played all four quarters and finished with a total of nine disposals (3 kicks and 6 handballs) in the game after signing a two-year contract extension last week. A vital part of Geelong’s formidable back six is the Dingle man.
Oisin Mullin, the speedster for Mayo, had one of his best games in his brief career in the second quarter after coming off the substitute bench. Mullin was allowed to participate in Geelong’s attacks with his lightning speed. As a winger, he was not hesitant to accurately kick and handpass the ball to open up opportunities for Geelong’s forwards to put pressure on Hawthorn’s defence.
One aspect of Geelong’s performance was their accurate kicking. The Cats forward line, led by Tom Hawkins, who scored four goals in his 350th senior game, tended to take their chances rather than kicking goals from behind when they went inside their forward 50-meter arc.
Conversely, Conor Nash of Meath has made a name for himself as one of the AFL’s best midfield players. With his match total of 24 disposals (11 kicks and 13 handballs), 3 marks, and 9 tackles, the bearded former Keegan Cup winner was named as one of Hawthorn’s best players.
The game looked to be over as a contest with Geelong leading 36 points (6 goals) at the half, but the Hawks turned the tables in the second term, scoring five goals to one.
Early in the third quarter, they cut the deficit to five points, but Geelong responded with six goals to establish what looked to be an insurmountable lead. But Hawthorn’s refusal to give up and their ability to cut their deficit to 20 points during the extraordinary rain delay turned the tide once more.
Finally, Geelong held firm to take the points, moving Hawthorn, who had lost, to second place on the ladder.
Carlton crushed North Melbourne 81-137 at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne on Good Friday. Aidan Corr, who was born in Tyrone, ended up with 10 disposals (5 kicks and 5 handballs) for the Kangaroos, who are currently in third place and are desperate to win the season.
Mark Keane played for the Adelaide Crows on Good Friday as well, playing in their 69-34 loss to Fremantle at Optus Stadium in Perth.
The Cork dual star’s 26 disposal total from the game (19 kicks and 7 handballs) and 11 marks earned him the title of one of the Crows’ best players. In one of his best performances as a member of the Adelaide defence, Keane also picked up 427 metres.
AFL legend David King has accused the fourth-bottom club, the Crows, of “playing safe footy that is easy to defeat” in reference to the team’s lack of success this season. The Crows controversially missed out on finals football in their final home and away game of the previous season.
Callum Brown, the standout Irish player in the AFL this season and a former Derry underage football player, had the week off due to Greater Western Sydney’s round three bye.
In the Blue Mountains, the Limavady Wolfhounds player visited young AFL players. Since moving to the AFL in 2021, Brown has visited the Faulconbridge club frequently.
I believe I’ve been to Blue Mountains for four years, so I recognise a lot of people. Seeing the younger ones grow is always positive,” he remarked.
Brown’s best advice to the kids was to pay close attention to their coaches at all times.
“All they want is the best for you… Most importantly, they want to watch you develop both as a person and as a football player,” he stated.
“Play the game with your friends, have fun, and persevere.”
GWS, who are currently atop the ladder, have won all three of their games this year, marking their best-ever AFL season start. After scoring a career-high five goals in the Giants’ season opener against Collingwood at home last month, Brown dominated the opposition and won an LED television as a reward.
Pre-season, Brown told the Irish News that the Giants could finish the season unbeaten. Now, he has shamelessly set his sights on becoming the fourth Irish player to win an AFL Premiership, following Tadhg Kennelly, Zach Tuohy, and Mark O’Connor.
Brown asserted, “It’s never too early to believe you can win the premiership.” “We can certainly pull it off.
We’ll succeed this year if we maintain our qualities and follow the plan that Coach Adam Kingsley has set for us.
In other news, despite rumours of a change to a more “punitive” model, AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon has told all 18 clubs that the league’s contentious Illicit Drugs Policy will remain in place.
The competition has recently been completely upended by MP Andrew Wilkie’s statements in Parliament, which cited a former doctor for the Melbourne Football Club who claimed that teams had purposefully taken advantage of the league’s three-strike policy with AFL approval.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Jonathan Jonathan 
AONDONA BARTHELOMEW