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Conor McKenna
Conor McKenna
	McKenna playing for Essendon in August 2018
Personal information
Full name	Conor McKenna
Date of birth	28 March 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	County Tyrone, Ireland
Original team(s)	Eglish (club)/Tyrone (underage, county team)
Draft	No. 62, 2014 rookie draft
Height	184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Position(s)	Half-back flank
Club information
Current club	Brisbane Lions
Number	26
Playing career1
Years	Club
2015–2020	Essendon
2023–	Brisbane Lions
Total
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
	AFL premiership player: 2024; 22under22 team: 2018;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Conor McKenna (born 28 March 1996) is a Northern Irish Gaelic football and Australian rules football player. He currently plays professional Australian rules football for Brisbane Lions in the AFL. McKenna previously played Australian rules football for Essendon in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Gaelic football for Eglish St Patrick's and Tyrone. He won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship for Tyrone in 2021 and the AFL Premiership playing for Brisbane in 2024, becoming only the second player to do so after Tadhg Kennelly.

Career

Tyrone (Gaelic)

McKenna was born in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and grew up in the village of Benburb near Dungannon. There he played Gaelic football for Eglish St Patrick's and the Tyrone county team (minor level).^[1] He played a starring role in Tyrone's run to the 2012 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship Final.^[2]

Essendon (AFL)

In December 2013, 18-year-old McKenna attracted interest from several AFL clubs when he was spotted at a talent combine in Ireland.^[3] Ten months later, on 3 October 2014, Essendon secured McKenna to a two-year deal as a Category B rookie.^[3]^[4] McKenna made his AFL debut against Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round 22, 2015,^[5] and kicked a goal with his first kick.^[6] McKenna re-signed with Essendon at the end of 2017 with a new four-year contract.^[7]

On 20 June 2020, McKenna tested positive for COVID-19. This resulted in the postponement of the match scheduled for the following day between Essendon and Melbourne.^[8] One other player was quarantined due to close contact during training. McKenna had another COVID-19 test on 22 June which was confirmed as negative in the evening of 23 June. He remained in quarantine pending a further test later in the week.^[9] During this time McKenna was subjected to an intense trial by media, abuse on social media and became a public villain in the country, treatment which provoked much criticism.^[10]^[11] Geelong footballer Zach Tuohy described the official and media abuse directed at McKenna as "disgraceful" and "outrageous".^[12] In Ireland, it was also suggested "stars of the future that may being [sic] tempted to pursue a life in the AFL Down Under, may reconsider".^[13]

On 8 September 2020, McKenna announced his retirement and return to Ireland after 79 games played.^[14] Though he had a contract until 2021, McKenna parted on good terms with the club, its representatives and supporters, stating: "I will always be grateful for Essendon's support of both myself and my family since I arrived at the club from the other side of the world at the end of 2014. I will miss my teammates and coaches and I want to thank the Bomber fans for their support across the journey too. I will always wish the boys well and hope they see success in the not too distant future".^[15] McKenna told the local ABC outlet that "the way the media works in Melbourne there doesn't seem to be [repercussions]. There's just a free-for-all to say whatever you want. If there are no repercussions, they'll just continue to do that and treat players like a piece of meat".^[16] After returning home and resuming his Gaelic football career,^[17] he told the Irish Examiner: "I think [the media] it's a very negative thing over there… No matter if it's true, they want to be the first person to say it, no matter what it is", but described an apology as not "something that I was looking for... it didn't make much difference at that stage".^[18]

Return to Tyrone (Gaelic)

The following month, McKenna made his first start for Tyrone against Donegal as the 2020 National Football League resumed after a long suspension caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. Donegal defender Stephen McMenamin fouled McKenna to concede a penalty in that game but Donegal won by four.^[19] In his second game McKenna scored two goals that helped relegate Mayo, in what was that county's first time to be knocked out of the top flight in 23 years.^[20]

McKenna scored two goals in the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final defeat of Kerry.^[21] When Tyrone then defeated Mayo in the 2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, McKenna became the fourth former AFL player to win the Sam Maguire Cup (and the first since Tadhg Kennelly in 2009).^[22]

Brisbane Lions (AFL)

McKenna confirmed his intention to resume his AFL career in 2023, signing with the Brisbane Lions ahead of the 2023 AFL season.^[23] McKenna made his Brisbane debut against Port Adelaide in Round 1, kicking one goal and racking up 20 disposals in a 54-point defeat. He went on to play in the 2023 AFL Grand Final loss to Collingwood.

McKenna was part of the Brisbane Lions 2024 premiership winning team, starting the match as the substitute in a 60 point victory over the Sydney Swans.^[24]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of 2024^[25]

**Legend**
G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks
#	Played in that season's premiership team


Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
Season	Team	No.	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2015	Essendon	45	2	2	3	13	9	22	7	3	1.0	1.5	6.5	4.5	11.0	3.5	1.5
2016	Essendon	45	12	3	3	102	65	167	41	21	0.3	0.3	8.5	5.4	13.9	3.4	1.8
2017	Essendon	45	19	5	1	207	115	322	69	29	0.3	0.1	10.9	6.1	16.9	3.6	1.5
2018	Essendon	45	18	7	4	213	109	322	57	30	0.4	0.2	11.8	6.1	17.9	3.2	1.7
2019	Essendon	45	22	2	1	316	144	460	58	34	0.1	0.0	14.4	6.5	20.9	2.6	1.5
2020^[a]	Essendon	45	6	1	0	55	25	80	18	10	0.2	0.0	9.2	4.1	13.3	3.0	1.7
2023	Brisbane Lions	26	26	7	5	358	81	439	95	38	0.3	0.2	13.8	3.1	16.9	3.7	1.5
2024^#	Brisbane Lions	26	18	0	2	202	32	234	77	10	0.0	0.1	11.2	1.8	13.0	4.3	0.6
Career			123	27	19	1465	581	2046	422	175	0.2	0.2	11.9	4.7	16.6	3.4	1.4

Notes

^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.