Copyright irishmirror
Oisín Mullin scored his second ever AFL goal but, with fellow Irishman Mark O'Connor, felt the pain of a Grand Final defeat as their Geelong Cats were comprehensively beaten 122-75 by the Brisbane Lions. O'Connor, who was a Premiership winner three years ago, is one of only four Irishmen, along with former teammate Zach Tuohy, fellow Kerryman Tadhg Kennelly and Conor McKenna, to have won the flag. He did so in 2022 alongside Tuohy, who retired last year. The 28-year-old former Kerry starlet started his third final - a record for an Irishman - while 25-year-old Mullin, Mayo's two-time Young Footballer of the Year , started as an interchange player but came into the action early in the first quarter. Watched by a crowd of just over 100,000 at the MCG, holders Brisbane emerged victorious after a contest that ebbed one way and then the other, and after the rivals were locked together on 66 points each at half-time. However the Lions raced into a 19-point lead by the end of the third quarter after Charlie Cameron scored three goals and there was no way back for the Cats against a club that claimed a fifth Grand final victory over the last quarter of a century.
