
Mayo star Mullin becomes latest Irish player to sign new AFL deal
The 25-year-old has been outstanding this season and has played 18 games so far. The former two-time Young Footballer of the Year has been with the club since late 2022.
'Oisín has shown enormous growth in a short space of time and continues to impress us with his work ethic and willingness to learn,' said Geelong Cats Executive General Manager of Football Andrew Mackie.
'As with all our Irish players, we understand the enormity of the decision to move to Australia, we love having Oisín as part of our program and we can't wait to see him play an important role for us over the next two years and beyond.'
Geelong currently have two other Irish players at the club in Kerry's Mark O'Connor and Cillian Burke.
The news comes a few days after Derry's Callum Brown extended his stay with GWS Giants. The forward signed a new three-year deal, recommitting to the club until at least the end of the 2028 AFL season.
The former Derry minor joined in late 2018 and enjoyed a breakout year in 2023. He has notched 58 games and 61 goals.
'Callum's journey is one of the great success stories from where he's come from to now being a really solid contributor to our side,' said the club's Executive General Manager of Football, Jason McCartney.
'He arrived at the club as a teenager from Ireland with very little exposure to AFL, but what he's achieved through his work ethic, commitment and natural ability has been remarkable.
'He's playing some really good footy at the moment and hitting the scoreboard for us which adds another dynamic to our forward line.
'We know he's got great capability to provide a real X-factor and it's pleasing to have him locked away for another three years.'

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Irish Examiner
29 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Nancy McGillivray takes a road less travelled to Ireland honours
Ireland 27 Scotland 21 Planning for one World Cup should be plenty for anyone's plate. Not Scott Bemand's. If first priority for the Ireland head coach is the upcoming tournament in England then Australia's hosting in 2029 never seems far from his thoughts. It was the global gathering in four years' time that was uppermost in the Englishman's mind when he took over the girls in green, and he has referenced the tournament more than once in recent weeks even as England 2025 gets more real with every passing day. So, while Saturday's five-try, six-point warm-up defeat of Scotland in Cork served an obvious and immediate purpose, it also fed into that longer-term goal with Ivana Kiripati, Nancy McGivillray and Ailish Quinn all making their debuts. The first two are 22, Quinn is still a teenager at 19. For McGivillray, this was the peak point to date on a rugby journey that began as an eight-year old in Hong Kong and playing for the Discovery Bay Pirates. It was only when she was 18 and left for uni in England that XVs became a thing. Her potential led to Exeter Chiefs and a transition contract with England's RFU that concluded at the end of June. That allowed the centre to make the switch to Ireland and make a debut which peaked with a try shortly after half-time. So, why Ireland? 'Well, my dad [Raymond] is Irish so start off there,' said a player once labelled as a 'huge talent' by England legend Emily Scarratt. 'I'm not actually English at all. I just have an English passport. So a big part of it was also family and culture. Ireland debutant Nancy McGillivray scores her side's third try. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile. 'I was in and around England, but I kind of had two years to figure out what I want, and I think, for me, that's to put on the green jersey. And a big part was family. My granddad would dream about that all the time, and he's not here today, but that's a big part.' Her granddad is Donald McGivillray, from Balbriggan in Dublin. Ireland's new recruit, whose mum Phatcharin is Thai, spent plenty of summers in Cong as a child. Other disparate strands played their part in this story too. Ireland head coach Scott Bemand was still an assistant with England when McGivillray was coming through that system and the player had gone through the Irish union's IQ pathway system when she first moved to the UK. All those lines were kept open. What impact she, or the other rookies, can make in the here and now remains to be seen. Back row is an area of serious depth, even with injury absentees, while Aoife Dalton excelled in the 13 shirt in the Six Nations and played every single minute. 'They're going to be big hitters for not just this World Cup but the one after,' said Bemand. Every shoulder is welcome against this wheel. Ireland, without Erin King and Dorothy Wall in their pack for the World Cup, and with Aoife Wafer n onlooker here and a doubt for at least some of the tournament, will have been thrilled to come through this first prep match unscathed. Captain Sam Monaghan, Eimear Corri-Fallon and Beibhinn Parsons all made reappearances in Irish shirts after long-term injuries and the manner in which a much-changed and relatively inexperienced Irish team recovered from 14-0 down bodes well. Only four of this starting side had been named to kick off their last game, the round five Six Nations trip to Scotland, and that had been over three months previously. Early rust was no surprise, but they largely bossed the Scots for long periods after it. The hope will be that more impressive auditions are the order of the day when Ireland play their second and last warm-up next week against Canada before the squad is named two days later and a World Cup opener against Japan on August 24th. For McGivillray it will also be an opportunity to catch up with Florence Symonds who was a teammate growing up with the Pirates and is now on the Canadian XVs squad having won a silver medal in sevens at last year's Olympics. 'Someone like her, it's an inspiration just to see one of my best mates go to Olympics and now she's in the World Cup squad as well. We grew up playing rugby together.' And look at them now. Ireland: M Deely; B Parsons, N McGillivray, E Higgins, A-L Costigan; D O'Brien, M Scuffil-McCabe; S McCarthy, C Moloney-MacDonald, S McGrath; E Corri-Fallon, S Monaghan (capt); G Moore, I Kiripati, B Hogan. Replacements: D Nic a Bhaird for Moore (3-14) and for Hogan (60); F Tuite for Monaghan (36); L Djougang for McGrath and N O'Dowd for McCarthy (both 50); E Lane for Scuffil-McCabe and E Breen for O'Brien (both 60); A Quinn for Kiripati and N Jones for Moloney-MacDonald (both 70). Scotland: C Rollie; R Lloyd, E Orr, L Thomson, L Scott; H Ramsay, C Mattinson; A Young, L Skeldon, E Clarke; E Wassell, R Malcolm; R McLachlan, A Stewart, E Gallagher. Replacements: E Martin for Skeldon (32); L Bartlett for Young (HT); L Brebner-Holden for Mattinson (51); M Poolan for Clarke (55); B Blacklock for Ramsey (57); A Ferrie for Wassell and E Donaldson for Malcolm (both 65); C Grant for Brebner-Holden (71). Referee: C Munarini (FIR).


Extra.ie
29 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Bundee Aki's baby born in car just before test kick-off
Connacht rugby star Bundee Aki has become a father again after his wife Kayla gave birth to their fifth child in a car on her way to the hospital before the first Test of the series. The rugby international has been based in Australia in recent weeks as he lined out for the British & Irish Lions while his wife and their children were in their native of New Zealand. As a couple of the Irish lads decided to stay in Oz for some rest and relaxation, Bundee was straight over to New Zealand to meet his fifth child. Bundee Aki. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile Earlier this year, Bundee and his wife Kayla announced they were expecting baby number five, with the couple already having three girls and one son. Speaking following the end of the test series against Australia, Bundee revealed his child had arrived with Kayla giving birth in the car on the way to the hospital. He said: 'The missus calls me and she's like, 'Water hasn't broke but I'm going to the hospital, I'm feeling contractions.' She goes to the hospital, we're getting ready for the team meeting pre-match, and then she calls me and says she's on the way to the hospital. Bundee Aki with his family. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan 'Five minutes later, she sends a photo, her water broke. This is like 30 or 40 minutes away from the hospital. Ten minutes later, she video calls me. 'I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car on the way to the hospital.' Bundee then had to play in the opening Test against Australia in Brisbane with Andy Farrell's side winning 27-19. The father-of-five admitted he 'knew' the match would be successful. Pic: Bundee Aki/ Instagram Bundee and Kayla named their newest arrival, Aine, keeping with the theme of their children's names starting with A. The couple also share Armani-Jade, Adrianna, Ailbhe and Adronicus.


Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Farrell gets a 'C+' for 2025 Lions Tour but 'must do better' for 2029
Andy Farrell is expected to be offered the Head Coach role for the Lions 2029 tour to New Zealand. But the poor send-off against Argentina and the nose-diving of the performance with regards the three tests in Australia will see a lot of his 2025 freedoms reigned in. Farrell won't be given as free a hand in squad selection again; and it is a certainty he will not be allowed to pack the backroom staff with so many Irish/echo-chamber opinions. Quite simply, there is war expected in the Land of the Long White Cloud as the All Blacks remain one of the most aggressive, committed sides in world sport. That not least as far as the Lions are concerned and relations have always been distinctly sour, witness the spectacular flashpoints through the years notably 2005. Let's face it, the All Blacks publicly stated 'No Dickheads' policy seems more suited to an outtake from South Park than the case in reality. Moreover, the Lions 2029 tour with tests and meaningful midweek matches is unlikely to be policed adequately by the current inadequate Laws of the Game that reward aggression bordering on reckless. Penalties are not stiff enough and the assistant referees don't have enough on-the-spot power. Specifically there is too much happening in too quick a timeframe at high-stakes breakdowns. The Laws here are too loose to cope. This Lions 2025 series hung on the last cleanout in the Second Test by Jac Morgan on Carlo Tizzano, referee Andrea Piardi calling play-on and, following Hugo Keenan scoring, the TMO upholding his view. Thus Andy Farrell Lions beat Australia 2-1 in the series despite having lost four of the six halves, while they also lost the fourth international game, to Argentina. The aggregate score of the three Wallabies tests ended up 69-68 to the Lions; that's how much Will Stuart's try, the last act of the game in the Third Test was worth. As it stands Farrell has indicated he would like to stay on for another term as Lions coach but that won't be decided until after all the after-party reports have been written and digested. The Ireland coach will be able to write 'winner winner, chicken dinner' as his headline and, should he wish to, point to two of the most respected refereeing voices, Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes, agreeing with the Second Test decision to allow Hugo Keenan's try to stand. The flip side of that is they are seen as north hemisphere-centric and every Southern Hemisphere voice seemed to be at the, er, polar opposite. There were 17 players in the party involved in all three tests, asterisks denoting starts: Keenan***, Freeman***, Jones***, Aki**, Russell***, Gibson-Park*** Genge*/Porter** Sheehan***/Kelleher, Furlong***/Stuart, Itoje***, Cheesum**, Beirne***, Curry*** and Conan***; a further seven were involved in two tests: Kinghorn*, Lowe**, Farrell, Mitchell, Earl, Ryan*, Morgan Given there are 11 Ireland players in that 23 this appears to back the Head Coach's top-heavy Irish selection but if there is an Achilles heel it may come in the form of a pile-on from the other three Unions aimed at choosing his 'advisors'. Was there enough meaningful dissent/discussion surrounding selection of the squad and specifically team selection from Second to Third test... Had there been more than just Scotland''s John Dalziel and England's Richard Wigglesworth among the seven-strong top table there may have been more debate... Were the five Irish coaches all 'yes' on the same subjects leaving lineout coach Dalziel and the relatively inexperienced Attack Coach Wigglesworth outgunned There is little point on Farrell focussing on what Joe Schmidt did but it was of interest to us here in Ireland. We have an affection for him and understand some of his ways but the newspaper that labelled him 'Sleepy Joe' got it right albeit if not for all the right reasons. A former scrum-half himself, and given he had an inexperienced waif at no10 in Tom Lynagh, he got the no9 shirt so wrong in the First Test it was unbelievable, still didn't fix it for the Second Test, before bullseye in Third. Starting rookie Jake Gordon with Lynagh's experienced Reds captain Tate McDonald on the bench and leaving out Nic White for the first two tests was so wrong. Starting the combative veteran White - who had been so good in the opening game against Force - in the Third Test wasn't just right, he proved leadership-incarnate and brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. 'Sleepy Joe' also took time to work out his front-row options finally arriving at starting Slipper-Pollard-Tupou with Bell-Paenga-Amosa-Nonggorr on the bench - a four person change from the First Test and they dominated the Lions scrum in Sydney. Logic would suggest Farrell will be given a senior coach next time around as back-up (one of the England, Scotland or Wales';s Head Coaches) , a strong voice to at least put the 'what ifs' on the table. Farrell will gain a 'C+' for 2025 but it will come with the biro note 'must do better'. Meanwhile Tadhg Beirne returned from Australia with the Player of the Series award. Somewhat strange to note, the Munster captain played no6 in the three Lions tests having played second-row all season for Munster and for Ireland in the 2025 five Six Nations games. The Eadestown Easy's only three starts last season at no6 were in November against New Zealand, Argentina and Australia. Indeed before this tour Beirne had only played back-row 15 times in 111 starts in the last six seasons which makes his performance in Australia all the better. Beirne sets the rating bar at 10/10, elsewhere the Irish backs rated: Keenan 8.5, Gibson-Park 8, Hansen 7, Lowe, Ringrose 6, Aki 5 The Irish forwards: Sheehan 9, Conan 8, Furlong, McCarthy 7, Porter, Ryan 6.5, Bealham, Kelleher 6. Van der Flier 5 Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.