How Oisin Mullin earned a stunning AFL debut after three games of footy
Cats players held their breath before Oisin Mullin’s first kick at training in December. He nailed it and quickly showed he was capable on the footy field. Here is how he leapt into an AFL debut.
At Windsor Park, the home of GFL club North Shore, all eyes were on how Oisin Mullin would kick the ball.
On his first day of AFL pre-season in December, the Irishman joined in a simple skills drill and unveiled a no-frills technique to hit his first target and earn a round of cheers from his new Geelong teammates.
The Cats brass knew they were landing a player with all the physical attributes needed at AFL level, the question was going to be whether the star Irishman could pick up the skills needed for Aussie rules.
Remarkably, just over six months after that kick and after just three official games of footy, Mullin will slot in at half-back in Geelong’s AFL side on Saturday against GWS Giants.
It was in those pre-season games that Mullin, 23, proved he could step into a different sport with ease, following the path of teammate Mark O’Connor, who made his debut eight rounds into his first year with the Cats.
“Oisin has followed a pretty similar path to Mark O’Connor … we knew he had the physical capability and those boxes were ticked pretty early in the pre-season but his ability to pick up the game and the way we like to play the game has been really impressive,” Cats coach Chris Scott said.
“He has really adapted there really quickly. We don’t have any concerns the cut and thrust of AFL footy and the speed and physicality of it will be an issue for him.
“The way we like that position played, he has shown capability to not only perform the role but to excel at it.
“We haven’t told Oisin this but we have been thinking about him for quite a few weeks now, while this (debut) might seem like it has come with a bit of a rush to some, to our coaching group in particular, it wasn’t out of the question we could have played him three weeks ago.”
Mullin was first signed up by Geelong in November 2021 but despite O’Connor visiting his family, he wasn’t ready to make the move to Australia.
Almost 12 months later, on bucks night in Dingle he forgot his hotel room key and ran into some holidaying Cats players, with their friendliness helping convince him to make the trip from Ireland.
Teammate Zach Tuohy made headlines in pre-season when he compared Mullin to Collingwood wunderkind Nick Daicos and O’Connor backed in the comparison.
“Oisin was top class absolutely, I think he won young player of the year a couple of times which is the equivalent of the rising star,” the premiership Cat said.
“I haven’t watched many games but I do remember watching him in the All-Ireland final and he was very, very impressive and he obviously moves very well.”
From an All-Ireland young star, a Dingle stag-do, a windswept Windsor Park and now to GMHBA Stadium, Mullin’s rise is only just beginning.
Originally published as How Oisin Mullin earned a stunning AFL debut after three games of footy
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