As we approach the start of the 2024 AFL season in March now seems like a perfect time to explain the main stories going into the season and what to expect from our Irish players in the league.
How will the Irish players fare in 2024?
There are currently ten Irish players listed on AFL senior lists with six of those plying their trade for Geelong Cats and Brisbane Lions. The 2024 season will likely pick up where 2023 ended for most of the Irish recruits with Hawthon’s Conor Nash, Brisbane’s Conor McKenna and GWS Giants’ Callum Brown likely to remain the three stand out performers. Nash’s ball winning ability along with tough tackling will see him continue to excel in the midfield. McKenna’s run and carry off half back will always create havoc among opposing defences.While Brown is appearing to go from strength to strength as a complete forward and expect him to kick plenty of goals in 2024. The Geelong Cat’s pair of Mark O’Connor and Zach Tuohy along with North Melbourne’s Aidan Corr will remain consistent starters in their teams and will each play crucial roles in their teams success. Adelaide Crows’ Mark Keane finished 2023 strongly and hopefully he will be able to push on and lock down a place as a Key Defender for the 2024 season. A full pre-season for Geelong’s Oisín Mullin will be valuable as he hones the skills of the game and he could certainly become a consistent starter for the Cat’s this year. Finally the Brisbane Lions pair of Darragh Joyce and James Madden are in precarious positions unfortunately. Given the strength of the Lion’s squad both players might only see game time if suspensions and injuries rule out a number of defenders.
Can Collingwood eclipse Essendon and Carlton?
Collingwood’s success over the last couple of years can be explained by a couple of key moments. Firstly the appointment of Craig McCrae was a master stroke following the 10 year tenure of Nathan Buckley which ended in a run of poor results. The second is the drafting of Nick Daicos, son of Peter Daicos, the Macedonian Marvel. Daicos has had two incredible seasons which have seen him win the AFL Rising Star and become a contender for the Brownlow Medal, as the league's Best and Fairest. With a team boasting the talent of the Daico’s brothers, Darcy Moore, Jordan De Goey & Scott Pendlebury they will be hard to dismiss in 2024 and remain many commentators favourites for back to back Premierships. This would see them sit atop of the all time winners list on 17 ahead of Essendon and Carlton who have remained stuck on 16 titles and both show very few signs of ending that drought.
Rugby League’s Vegas bet has left the AFL as the only show in town
The National Rugby League (NRL) will kick off their 2024 season in Las Vegas in a bid to introduce the US market to the game. However in doing so they have left their heartland of Sydney and Brisbane open for the AFL to capitalise on. As such the AFL have decided to hold an “Opening Round” with four matches in NSW & QLD while their cross-code rivals are overseas with big crowds expected in the SCG and the Gabba to watch the Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions respectively. The real upside for the AFL is the opportunity for the two newest teams in the league, the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns, to host two massive games against titans of the game Collingwood and Richmond. Time will tell if the NRL venture to Vegas has been a success but in the short term AFL will be the real winners.
Can Dimma turn around the Gold Coast Suns?
The biggest managerial story going into the 2024 season is Damien Hardwick taking over at the Gold Coast Suns. This comes only months after the three time premiership winning coach stepped away from Richmond claiming that “it just all became a little bit too much”. His European summer trip seems to have left him revitalized and he will certainly need that energy when it comes to coaching at the Suns. Going into their 14th year in the AFL the Suns have yet to finish in the Top 8, in fact, their highest ever finish came in 2014 and 2022 when they finished 12th. Despite receiving priority picks in the draft and having a wealth of young talent including Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson & Ben King they are hampered by their location. With most of playing talent in the AFL coming from Melbourne / Victoria key players recruited by the Gold Coast often don’t stay long e.g. Tom Lynch, Steven May and Dion Prestia. ‘Dimma’ will be hoping to keep hold of his key players and will be aiming to play in the Finals series sooner rather than later.
Brodie Grundy - luckless or just overpaid?
Perhaps the biggest trade story in the off season was the recruitment of Brodie Grundy by the Sydney Swans. The two time All-Australian ruckman signed a 7 year contract for Collingwood in 2020 which was believed to have been close to $1m per season. After only 3 years into his contract Grundy was deemed surplus to requirements at the Magpies.. He was picked up by the Melbourne Demons in 2023 in what seemed a highly unusual recruit given they already had a 6 time All-Australian ruckman, Max Gawn, on their list. Unsurprisingly this gamble didn’t pay off for Grundy or the Demons! The Sydney Swans move appears a more sensible one with Grundy guaranteed to be the number 1 ruckman. Hopefully the Grundy move works out for both parties but either way Collingwood will have learnt a harsh lesson as they continue to pay about 30% of his salary right up until 2027.
For more information on Irish players in the AFL please visit https://www.irishintheafl.com/player-profiles
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