Paul Geaney’s Bar & Restaurant on Main St, Dingle in County Kerry, Ireland is not where you’d expect to cross paths with your new AFL teammates for the first time, but it hasn’t been a conventional few months for the Cats, nor Oisin Mullen, their newest Irish project player. 

Mullen, 22, one of the premiers defenders in Gaelic Football signed with the Club at the end of 2021 but decided to remain on the Emerald Isle to play another year for GAA side Mayo, but finally arrived in Australia on Tuesday morning and made his way down to Geelong where he has signed as a Category B Rookie. 

Mullen had already made his decision to commit to the Cats, but a chance meeting with his new teammates already in Ireland certainly didn’t hurt in ensuring Mullen felt good about the decision. 

“I was at a Stag Do (bachelor party) in Dingle”, he told geelongcats.com.au

“Obviously Mark O’Connor was allowed to go home in the offseason and play for Dingle GA at their club championship, and a few of the Geelong boys have traveled over and been supporting him.

“[That night] they all happen to be in Paul Ganey’s, the same night as we were there for the stag. So I’ve met a few of them randomly enough.”

17,500Km separate his former and adopted hometown, but O’Connor and Zach Tuohy both spruiking the Cats culture, it clearly had an impact. 

“The two boys (O’Connor and Tuohy) are just, all they said was good things about the club,” he said.

“They spoke very highly of it, the culture and just how everyone is so welcoming and will help make the transition a bit easier because it’s difficult moving to another country. 

“Different culture, different sports. There’s nothing simple about it.”

The powerfully built two-time GAA Young Football of The Year said on the field, there’ll be things to learn, particularly regarding the shape of the ball, but he said the two codes complement each other well as O’Connor, Tuohy and AFLW player Rachel Kearns have already shown.

“A lot of the attributes can be transferred over, the games in comparison are similar enough,” he said. “Obviously it’s seen in the International Rules series previously, the similarities of the games, but like Zach shows with his kicking ability,  the transition can happen. [Same with ] with Mark and Rachel.”

The one thing Mullin seemingly wasn’t prepared for when he arrived at GMHBA Stadium this week were the facilities; the shock was real. 

“Wortho (Player Welfare Manager, Mark Worthington) gave me the tour around the facilities and I met a few of the people going through… just the spot, it’s amazing. 

“From the first reaction to it like the stand, the gym, the workrooms, the changerooms, everything. It’s just top class.” 

One thing’s for sure, he can’t wait to get started.

“It’s great fun to get over here, I’m just excited for it”