Cooper fears further AFL poaching

Colm Cooper says the GAA are losing the battle to prevent young players being poached by Aussie Rules football.

Kerry star Mark O’Connor signed a two-year international rookie contract with AFL club Geelong last month, while 18-year-old Simonstown Gaels clubman Conor Nash penned a deal with Hawthorn.

Tadhg Kennelly, the Irish AFL Talent Manager who won an All-Ireland medal alongside Cooper in 2009, last week watched 11 youngsters, including five from Kerry, at the AFL Europe Talent Combine in UCD.

"It is something we have got used to," Dr Crokes' clubman Cooper said ahead of the Munster Club championship final with Waterford's The Nire this weekend.

"We would love the likes of Mark O’Connor to be still be at home and other lads who have been up at trials in recent weeks.

"But if you are talking to 17 and 18 year olds about the lure of going to Australia and signing a rookie contract and live as a professional, it is hard to compete.

"I just don’t think there is any way of stopping it, to be honest. I don’t know what the GAA can do about it, think the lure is too much for young guy.

"The [AFL] clubs that are coming over are fairly aggressive, they are holding clinics and sure, we have our own man, Tadhg Kennelly, stuck in the middle of it."

Kerry player Killian Young has already public expressed his fears that "five or six" future Kingdom stars could be lost to AFL, and Cooper acknowledges that the "lure" of a professional contract is too strong for some youngsters to turn down.

"Five or six is a lot, can they go from any other counties, can they give us a chance!. I think there will be more players going, for sure, not just from Kerry of course," he continued.

"There are plenty of other good minor players that are being spotted and I just don't think there is any way of stopping it, to be honest. I don't know what the GAA can do about it, think the lure is too much for young guys."

Photo (©Inpho/Cathal Noonan)

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