While there have been no shortage of brilliant narratives throughout Mayo’s All-Ireland run this season, there is no doubt that the exploits of Kobe McDonald were the main talking point for many GAA fans around the country.
Coming into this season with massive hype due to his well-known father and obvious talents, there was always going to be quite a bit of interest in the 18-year old.
It’s fair to say that he surpassed even the most lofty of those expectations.
McDonald was superb right from the start of the year, only to then continually improve as the campaign progressed. That culminated with a brilliant performance in the final against Kerry, with the Crossmolina teenager kicking some big scores to help his side to victory.
Kobe McDonald drops hint on Mayo future
Of course, this is likely to be Kobe McDonald’s only campaign with Mayo for the foreseeable future. He is set to move to Australia to join AFL side St Kilda over the coming weeks.
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Making it in the new code is far from a guarantee, with quite a few talented Irish players not quite cutting the mustard after making a similar move in recent years. Still, you would back a athlete of Kobe’s level to get there eventually.
As to what that means for his future in red and green, we have been given one potential hint.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Kobe McDonald admitted that while he had every intention of making it to the top in the AFL, he did see himself returning to Mayo at some point in the future.
I don’t want to go there and just blend in, that’s not my nature. You obviously strive to be the best, strive to be one of the best at least. But there are no guarantees…
Yeah, look, I’m sure there’ll be a time in the future where I’ll be home. I don’t look too far ahead, I look to the next step.
Right now, I’m an All-Ireland champion with this Mayo team. In three weeks’ time that will be done and I’ll be a St Kilda footballer, and we’ll see what happens after that.
Mayo have plenty of talent despite Kobe McDonald departure
Mayo supporters will eagerly anticipate the potential return of Kobe McDonald, but for now they will be more than content with his contributions to the team during his one season at inter-county level.
He is not the only promising young talent in the group, with Darragh Beirne having also been in stunning form during his debut campaign.
Boasting a team with a good age profile and rising manager in Andy Moran, it seems likely that Mayo will be competing for Sam Maguires for quite a few years to come.