TYRONE All-Ireland-winner Conor McKenna has earned a new two-year contract with Aussie Rules outfit Brisbane Lions.
With a knack for hitting the ground running and making things happen, Eglish native McKenna has been in superb form since he returned to the AFL with the Queensland club. After a spell with Essendon from 2015 to 2020, naturally athletic McKenna came home to Ireland and helped Tyrone recapture the Sam Maguire in his second season of inter-county football.
After that 2021 success he decided he had unfinished business in the AFL and returned Down Under, this time to the Bombers, last year on a one-year deal which is now set to be extended.
McKenna has been an ever-present for the Lions this season and his pace has proved invaluable at half-back as the Brisbane side sustained their push for a top two finish.
McKenna’s trademark driving runs have created scoring opportunities for Brisbane's powerful forward line. Last weekend the Lions shaded a nail-biter with Freemantle and their 77-74 win means they have moved level on points with Melbourne and Port Adelaide (eight points behind leaders Collingwood who are well clear on 64). The top eight teams in the 18-team division progress to the finals series next month.
The news that McKenna is set to extend his stay in Australia will be a blow for his club Eglish and to Tyrone supporters who may have held out hope that the hard-working half-forward could return to the GAA. Management duo Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher had their new term ratified by the Tyrone County Board on Monday night and McKenna, who was brought into his county’s senior set-up by Mickey Harte, was a key performer in the team that won the Sam Maguire in 2021.
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After missing the Ulster Championship opener, McKenna returned to the team for the semi-final against Donegal and was at centre half-forward for the Anglo-Celt decider against Monaghan. He played a vital role in creating the scores that saw the Red Hands seal a one-point win.
That season’s All-Ireland series reverted to the traditional format due to Covid and Tyrone’s semi-final against Kerry was delayed due to an outbreak of the virus in the Ulster champions’ camp.
After two postponements the game went ahead and it was an extra-time goal from McKenna (his second of the game) that proved to be the vital breakthrough for Tyrone.
In the decider against Mayo, McKenna broke clear of the Westerners defence and played a perfectly-weighted pass across the face of the goal for Darren McCurry to gleefully palm the ball into the back of the net. Tyrone never looked back but the Sam Maguire crown weighed heavily on the champions’ heads the following season and the Red Hands bowed out of the Championship after a six-point loss to bitter rivals Armagh.
After taking time to reflect, McKenna decided that his sporting future lay back in Australia.
His return to the AFL has been a successful one and it is understood that the 27-year-old has now committed to playing with the oval ball for the next two seasons.
