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Mark O'Connor (Irish: Marc Ó Conchúir;[1] born 17 January 1997) is an Irish professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
| Mark O'Connor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 O'Connor playing for Geelong in April 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Mark O'Connor | ||
| Date of birth | 17 January 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Daingean Uí Chúis, County Kerry, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Original team(s) | Dingle (club)/Kerry (county team) | ||
| Debut | Round 8, 2017, Geelong vs. Essendon, at MCG | ||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Geelong | ||
| Number | 42 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2017– | Geelong | 122 (9) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
O'Connor is a native of Daingean Uí Chúis, a town in an Irish-speaking region of County Kerry, Ireland. Mark is the oldest of a set of triplets, with his identical sisters Sinead and Brydie still living in Ireland. Prior to leaving for Australia, O'Connor studied commerce at University College Cork.[2]
O'Connor is particularly noted for his spectacular high fielding ability in Gaelic football, being described as one of the brightest stars in Kerry football prior to his move to Australia.[3] O'Connor won two All-Ireland minor football medals with Kerry in 2014 and 2015.[4] He captained the side and won the Man of the Match award in the 2015 final.[5][6] He also won two Hogan Cup titles with his school Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne in both those years.
O'Connor hopes to represent the Kerry senior football team in the future.[7] Colm O'Rourke wrote after the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final loss to Dublin that O'Connor was the midfielder Kerry "badly need to take some of the load off David Moran".[8]
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Having had trials at five AFL sides, North Melbourne, Melbourne and Geelong all expressed interest in acquiring his services.[9] He was drafted by Geelong from the Kerry GAA in Ireland as a category B rookie in October 2016.[10] He made his debut in the seventeen-point loss against Essendon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round eight of the 2017 AFL season.[11]
In 2022, he and Zach Tuohy became only the second and third Irish players to win an AFL title, following Tadhg Kennelly in 2005.[12]
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Updated to the end of the 2022 season.[13]
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) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2017 | Geelong | 42 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 8.5 | 10.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2018 | Geelong | 42 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 21 | 58 | 23 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.4 | 4.2 | 11.6 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2019 | Geelong | 42 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 195 | 127 | 322 | 104 | 61 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 14.0 | 4.5 | 2.7 | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Geelong | 42 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 158 | 80 | 238 | 87 | 31 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 7.5 | 3.8 | 11.3 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2021 | Geelong | 42 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 111 | 95 | 206 | 48 | 40 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 7.9 | 6.8 | 14.7 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 1 |
| 2022# | Geelong | 42 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 171 | 106 | 277 | 84 | 56 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 7.8 | 4.8 | 12.6 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 0 |
| Career | 87 | 4 | 4 | 676 | 446 | 1122 | 350 | 202 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.8 | 5.1 | 12.9 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 1 | ||
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.
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Team
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