Aussie Rules club St Kilda have vowed to be patient with Kobe McDonald after the Mayo-born forward met up with his new teammates in Melbourne for the first time on Friday last to officially begin his Australian adventure. The 18-year-old, who has been given the No. 42 jersey, signed a contract with the Saints last year, but stayed in Ireland to sit his Leaving Cert and help Mayo win the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 1951. Now McDonald, a Category B Rookie, will try to make an impact in the AFL. St Kilda stressed they will resist putting too much pressure on their new recruit.
GAA-AFL TALKS
Talks have taken place again between the GAA and the AFL over the resurrection of the international rules series. The GAA has made it clear to its Australian counterparts there will be no resumption of the series, last played in 2017, unless there are some concessions over the continued recruitment of young Irish players to the AFL. Last week Mayo star Kobe McDonald last week left for St Kilda last week. The 18 year-old had agreed a three-year contract earlier in the year, but stayed home to sit the Leaving Certificate and then went on to help Mayo win Sam for first time since 1951. Over 40 Irish women are currently playing Aussie Rules, but only 14 Irish men are currently playing in Australia.
LIAM O’NEILL, 70
The death occurred last week of former GAA president Liam O’Neill, 70. The Laois native served as the Association's 37th President from 2012 to 2015, having previously given distinguished service to his club, county and province over a long administrative career.
TWO-POINTERS
FOR WOMEN
After watching a low-scoring All-Ireland ladies senior football final between Galway and Kerry, two former All-Ireland winners Bríd Stack and Hannah Tyrrell reckon Ladies GAA should bring the two-point arc in closer to the goal for games. The new 40-meter two-point arc was introduced for men in 2025 and for women this year, but it has not become a mainstay in the ladies’ game in the same way that it has in the men’s.
Former Cork star Stack said: ‘‘Obviously the two-point arch in its first year in the Ladies game and there are going to be tweaks. There is obviously going to be a review again after this year, but the chance of kicking a two-pointer is not a threat at this point in the ladies game. I think we have probably only seen six or seven two-pointers in the women’s game in the championship so it’s not a massive threat. We need to bring the arch in a little bit closer to goal and then it would become a real threat.
Speaking on RTE’s “Sunday Game” program, Dublin’s Hannah Tyrrell was in agreement with Stack about the impact that moving in the arc would have on the game. Tyrrell said: ‘‘I would be in favor of moving the two-point line. Currently it’s not the threat that we see in the men’s game which makes it so exciting in that regard.’’ Even though the women use a smaller size 4 football, most women simply cannot kick a football as long as a man can.
Meanwhile Ryan O’Donoghue, Man of the Match in Mayo’s All-Ireland win over Kerry, is fulsome in his praise for the two-pointers. He said: ‘‘It's all about the data. We have dived into the numbers, that’s the way the game is going, and we know that if you take 10 two-point shots and get your scoring rate up to 70 per cent or so, that’s far better than doing the same with one-point attempts. We are now nearly at the stage where one-pointers from a little bit inside the arc are a waste of time.’’
ROVERS DEFEND
CUP AT ST. PAT’S
On Sunday next Shamrock Roves will defend the FAI Cup they won last November when the travel to Inchicore to play South Dublin rivals St Patrick’s Athletic in the third round. Rovers have held the upper hand in recent league games against St Pat’s, but this is surely a great opportunity for the Saints to get a win over The Hoops in the tight Richmond Park. Kerry FC pulled off a major shock in the second round when they beat Shelbourne in Tralee; now the first division club travel to Showgrounds on Saturday night to try and beat the Bit o’ Red for the second year in-a-row. Kerry have climbed into the play-off spots for the First Division and former Irish star Roy Keane was in Tralee last week to watch Kerry beat his old club Cobh Ramblers. [See also Page 27 for soccer news.]
5TH CLASSIC FOR
AVIVA STADIUM
Aer Lingus College Football Classic returns to Dublin this summer taking centre stage at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 29. The matchup will see the TCU Horned Frogs face the UNC Tar Heels in what promises to be another unforgettable chapter for the event. Now entering its fifth consecutive year as the NCAA’s prestigious Week zero opener, the Aer Lingus College Football Classic has firmly established Dublin as the European home of college football, welcoming world-class teams, passionate travelling fans and an incredible atmosphere to the city each year. This will also be the only NCAA game or NFL game played in Ireland in 2026. TCU arrives in Dublin following a strong season, capped by victory in the 2025 Alamo Bowl, while UNC begins an exciting new era under legendary head coach Bill Belichick. Both programmes boast rich sporting traditions and have produced some of the biggest names in American football and beyond, setting the stage for an unmissable opening weekend to the college football season.
O’CONNOR STAYS
Jack O’Connor is definitely staying on as Kerry manager for another year. The Dromid Pearses clubman has another year left on his term and he confirmed last week that will complete his term,, which will see him take charge for a sixth year, his longest ever term in the position. The O Se brother Tomás and Marc will also continue as under 20 and minor managers respectively. Meanwhile, John Griffin is likely to stay at the helm of the Kerry senior hurlers for another season.
CHARLTONS WON’T
SELL JACK’S MEDAL
The family of the late Jack Charlton have said they will not sell Big Jack’s World Cup-winning medal from 1966 despite a possible tax bill to keep it within their family. Charlton, who died in June 2000 at the age of 85, was a key player along side his brother Bobby on England’s 1966 team that won the Jules Rimet trophy for the first time, and managed the Republic of Ireland to the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.
The medal is currently in the possession of Charlton’s widow, Pat. Big Jack’s son John Charlton said: ‘‘When my dad passed away, my mother and my sister were sorting out his affairs to decide how much we would have to pay on inheritance tax and all these kind of things, getting all his different investments together and everything else. When they came to the medal, the people here in England said that they were looking at around £200,000 for me to get the medal. Now, either his estate could pay it, or I could pay it. But if it was given to me, it would really be coming from me.’’ The situation poses a problem for Jack's surviving family who are determined to keep the winning medal within the family, even if Charlton's former club, Leeds United, were to come in to buy it. ‘‘I have no intention of selling the medal,’’ added John.
