Pat Spillane has accused AFL clubs of taking “our crown jewels” through their recruitment policy of GAA and LGFA players. A total of 14 male players from Ireland will feature in this year’s AFL season – which begins on Thursday – while more than 40 female footballers have been signed by AFLW clubs for their 2026 campaign.
“I think the AFL are robbing our crown jewels and getting away with it, and getting away with murder by not compensating clubs,” says Spillane.
“I don’t know what can be done, they’re amateurs, but they’re stealing our crown jewels and getting away with it for nothing and I think that’s wrong.
“The women are being decimated, their game is in trouble if it keeps going like this because Australia don’t have a tradition of ladies Australian rules football, so they’ll have to keep robbing Ireland.”
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The problem is certainly more pronounced in the women’s game right now as nearly all the players signing for AFLW clubs are established intercounty footballers – essentially the best of the best.
However, the spotlight has returned to the recruitment of male players recently too given the impact of Kobe McDonald for Mayo.
The 18-year-old has caused a massive stir since his recent substitute appearances against both Monaghan and Armagh, but McDonald’s days in the green and red look set to be fleeting as the Crossmolina player is to join St Kilda later in the year.
“There has to be some form of compensation deal between the club and the AFL, there has to be,” adds Spillane. “It frustrates me. Now, we’re lucky in Kerry, I know a lot of Kerry players have been approached and I would hazard a guess, but I’m not certain, but I would say (those players) were given a good enough deal to stay at home whether it was scholarships or whatever.
“Look, I don’t begrudge him, because the chance of getting paid for playing a professional sport in Australia, it’s brilliant. But, Christ, surely to God there’s a group of wealthy Mayo people that could come together and give him a package.”
Spillane was also 18 when he made his Kerry senior breakthrough in 1974, and the eight-time Sam Maguire winner feels it is too early to be making informed judgements on McDonald.
“It’s a small sample size, we haven’t seen him in a full game yet. There’s a big difference between coming on and starting. Coming on, the opponents are getting tired and the game is opening up a bit,” adds Spillane.
“Now, he was brilliant against Monaghan but with all due respect to Monaghan, if I came on at the same time I’d probably rattle a couple of points as well. Monaghan are in transition, they’re struggling.
“But he looks very impressive. And with the new rules, you now have a platform for the skilled players to have the time and the space to produce their array of skills.
“I thought last week against Armagh, there was one incident where we saw Kobe winning the ball when there were four defenders in front of him but he took them on. Four Armagh men, grizzled defenders, and he took them on.”
Spillane believes Andy Moran might just be the right Mayo manager at the right time for McDonald.
“I know Andy Moran from his playing days as a forward, probably one of the most brilliant forwards in terms of his off the ball movement and everything in the game.
“He was brilliant as a forwards coach with Monaghan and I know from the Leitrim players that they loved him when he was their manager. He’s got the bounce (in Mayo), they’re playing lovely football, they’re playing front-foot football.
“I was lucky that when I came on board with Kerry that an exceptional bunch of players had just suddenly arrived. And, I’ve said it before a million times and I’ll say it again, Mick O’Dwyer filled me full of confidence, filled me full of belief, and left me off.
“Never in 12 or 14 years did he ever say anything negative to me, never ever criticised me, never ever said anything bad about me, but filled me with confidence and said, ‘Away you go’.”
“Although there was one instance, I was dropped once after the 1977 All-Ireland semi-final and Mick O’Dwyer rang me and said, ‘Oh jeez, you’ve been dropped Pat, I missed the meeting, if I was there you wouldn’t have been dropped!’ And of course I went, ‘Micko, you were there, I know you were there!’”
And the nine-time All Star believes the burden placed on the shoulders of talented young players in Mayo might often be greater than it would be in counties like Kerry or Dublin.
“In Mayo, the pressure’s a lot harder, the expectation, probably because there has been no All-Ireland won in so long and Kobe is now the next great white hope.
“But I’d say you could fill a book with the next great white hopes of Mayo football, there’s one that arrives every 10 or 12 years, ‘He’s the great white hope and he’s going to take us over the finishing line.’”
On McDonald, time will tell.
Spillane was talking at the announcement of Comfort Keepers as official community impact partner of the GAA/GPA. Comfort Keepers have been providing home care in Ireland for over 21 years.
