McKenna outlines task ahead as Roarty jets off to Collingwood
Conor McKenna has outlined just what challenges Finnbarr Roarty faces as he looks to transition to full-time professional football in the AFL.
Donegal were rocked earlier this week with the news that 2025 Young Footballer of the Year is heading off to Collingwood after putting pen to paper on a two-year rookie deal.
The Glenties native was scheduled to fly out this morning, Thursday, to join up with his new teammates ahead of pre-season in Australia.
Tyrone native McKenna has enjoyed considerable success since making the switch Down Under, playing 149 games with Essendon and Brisbane Lions and winning two Premierships with the Queensland club in the space of three years.
McKenna was recruited by Essendon ahead of the 2015 season after being spotted in Tyrone. He has since become one of the most successful Irish players to make the move to Australian Rules football.
A growing number of Irish players are now involved in the AFL, including Geelong pair Oisin Mullin and Mark O'Connor, St Kilda's Liam O'Connell and Kobe McDonald, Hawthorn's Conor Nash, GWS' Callum Brown and Adelaide's Mark Keane.
Essendon added Offaly’s Cillian Bourke to their ranks last year, while Brisbane brought in Kerry’s Ben Murphy after their 2025 premiership success.
Roarty is the latest high-profile GAA arrival and speaking on the Off the Ball podcast, McKenna acknowledged the concerns within the GAA about losing talented players but said the chance to become a professional athlete was difficult to turn down.
"I understand where people are coming from,” said McKenna, who won an All-Ireland with the Red Hands in 2021, in between his two spells in Oz.
“They're taking the best talent away from the GAA. But it's an amateur sport, and you're getting offered a professional contract at 18 years of age.
“When I got offered the contract, I said I'd go. If I didn't like it, I'd come home. It was that simple.
"The opportunities it’s given me have been unbelievable. I would advise any young fellow or girl to take the opportunity.
"The reality is most players come home after two years, and at 18 you're still, although, like, probably Kobe's an exception.
“He has made it in Gaelic at senior level but most players haven't played senior football before they go."
McKenna also compared the demands placed on players in both codes, suggesting the GAA schedule was more difficult to manage because of the limited time off.
"I probably didn't deal well with all the (GAA) training. That doesn't suit me. The five nights a week, no break to the season. Obviously, in the AFL you have your season; you have two months of an off-season, and no one can contact you," he said.
"We won the All-Ireland with Tyrone and the following week I had a game for my club. I felt like I needed a break.
“Stuff like that - I couldn't do that for five years and I don't understand how players do it”.
He added: "Between working, training and playing at home, It's harder to be a GAA player than an AFL player. That's what I struggled with as well, the no time off.
“I still can’t grasp the concept: we won the biggest game you can win on a Saturday and then, on the Tuesday night, three days later, we were back training with the club."
The issue of compensation for GAA clubs losing players to the AFL has also come under scrutiny, with the Kerry County Board calling for a procedure to be established.
McKenna believes AFL clubs should make payments to the Irish clubs that develop the players they recruit.
"The thing I think the AFL should do is that every club should get a payment for a contract. If a player signs a contract, you get $10,000.
“Is it a big thing? Probably not. But I don't see any other way to police it.
"It's the money side of it. Money talks. If AFL was amateur, there'd be no one going over. That's the truth of it."
Pressed on the biggest transition to be made heading Down Under, McKenna said: “People are asking me, ‘will Kobe make it’? “It’s impossible to tell.
“They take the best young players over, some make it, some don’t. For me, the thing that held me back most was the homesickness. That, more than the game itself, was probably what initially held me back most.
“Over here, at home, everyone is telling you you’re the best player in the country, you’re brilliant.
“When you go over there, no one really cares about any of that. You have to fight hard to get on the team”.