McKenna writing latest chapter in eclectic sporting story

In another life, Conor McKenna's focus would be on the Curragh this Saturday rather than the legendary Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The MCG will welcome over 100,000 spectators for the 2026 AGL Grand Final with McKenna’s Brisbane Lions hoping for their sixth Premiership and their third on the trot as they come up against surprise packet Freemantle. Quirkily, their other three titles came in a three-in-a-row run from 2001 to 2003.

The game will begin at 5.30am Irish time, a few hours before the gates at the Kildare racing venue will even open. Sporting worlds apart, but one of the two holds the heart of McKenna more than any other.

The Eglish man is already one of Ireland’s greatest AFL exports and he also helped Tyrone to an unexpected Sam Maguire success in 2021 – but his first love was, is and always will be horses.

His grandfather Malachy trained them, as did his father Pat. His cousin Liam McKenna is a jockey on the circuit. McKenna himself has dabbled in the ownership side, Cuban Grey and Battle Borne two in the McKenna Racing binder. When he won the AFL’s goal of the season at the Brownlow Medal awards earlier this week, he said the prizemoney might go towards another horse.

The 30-year-old dreamed of being a jockey in his younger days and while he did take the saddle in a few amateur races, he was deemed too heavy for it to be a realistic proposition.

So other sports got their turn.

In 2013, Mickey Harte added him to the Tyrone senior panel weeks after he had nearly led the county to the All-Ireland minor title. McKenna, Frank Burns and Cathal McShane would all go on to make a big impact as the Red Hands lifted Sam eight years later, while Mayo minor winners Stephen Coen, Diarmuid O’Connor, Conor Loftus, Michael Plunkett and Matthew Ruane would have to wait an excruciating 13 years to do likewise.

Then there was AFL spells at, firstly, Essendon and then after that Tyrone GAA sabbatical, Brisbane – and it’s with the Lions where McKenna has really made his mark, becoming only the second player after Tadhg Kennelly (Kerry and Sydney Swans) to win a Celtic Cross and a Premiership medal.

Kyle Coney knows just how difficult it is to excel at the two sports. His own Tyrone career came between their third All-Ireland in 2008 and that 2021 win, while his AFL stint lasted only a matter of weeks having decided that Arboe, rather than the Sydney Swans, was the place for him.

He feels that McKenna has had great success in marrying the two codes.

"A lot of the Irish players adapt to how the Australians kick the ball, very much a punt kick and a follow through with a high leg," Coney told RTÉ Sport.

"But any of the goals I’ve seen from Conor McKenna, it’s looks very much like Gaelic football technically; it’s around the corner, a hook-type curling kick.

"He hasn’t forgotten that and I think it lends itself well to kicking that ball. It’s sort of torpedo-like when he gets the ball on the belly, it does travel and it goes at a bit of a speed.

"Where the natural kick is to drop and punt it, he has held onto a lot of the GAA technique and he has scored some wonderful goals this season.

"It just points to someone with enormous talent. You could see how quickly he adapted whenever he came back to Tyrone.

"He fitted right back in, he was a maverick player. In the 2021 semi-final against Kerry he didn’t have the best game but still popped up with moments of magic (scoring 2-00). He can produce something out of nothing."

For a brief minute Tyrone fans allowed themselves to dream that McKenna could be part of Malachy O’Rourke’s squad for 2026.

In the 2024 final, McKenna featured as a replacement at the MCG – his 18th time on the pitch that season – and had an Irish tricolour wrapped around him in the celebrations back in Brisbane.

However, when the Lions returned to the Grand Final to win in front of 100,022 last year, McKenna’s AFL career looked in serious doubt.

He made five appearances that season, a hamstring injury not helping, and by the time of the selection for the Premiership decider against Geelong, he wasn’t even really a consideration.

Instead, his 'footie’ for the year had finished a few weeks earlier in front of just 2312 fans as the club’s VFL outfit – essentially a second string – lost a semi-final to Box Hill. A few weeks later, he was back with Eglish, playing in the Tyrone IFC semi-final and final, the latter won by Clonoe.

It took just a week for Tyrone fans’ enthusiasm – Coney included - to be dampened though as McKenna announced he’s signed on for another year with Brisbane.

"We all want to see the best players play in the Tyrone colours," Coney said. "We did see that for a short period with Conor.

"I’m not sure of his situation, but if he’s playing 20 times this year and he’s not that old either, then you’d think the decision would be in his hands.

"He played a game and half for Eglish under the new rules last season and it would be interesting to see him in the county colours again. For someone so powerful kicking the ball, the two-point score would be a great option.

"Some people say Tyrone have a lot of similarities in their attacking players, so he would provide a different dimension – a full-forward type who we could play off."

By coincidence, Tyrone boss Malachy O’Rourke is currently en-route to Australia. For now, he’s just out to visit family, although some fans wouldn’t mind him taking a detour to the MCG to try and bend McKenna’s ear.

He might have better luck heading out to Fenwick Farm in Biddaddaba though. On agreeing his new deal with Brisbane – who are highly unlikely to include Kilkenny’s Darragh Joyce in their final selection – McKenna asked for more time to focus on his equine interests.

That has manifested in him linking up with the thoroughbred breaking and pretraining facility, shadowing a vet dealing with horses and learning about bloodstock.

No matter where life takes McKenna in the future, his stock cannot be questioned. He's a sporting thoroughbred.

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