SFNL 2025: How Mordialloc has been buoyed by an influx of Irish players

A quarter of Ireland’s national Australian rules squad has found themselves at Mordialloc this season, and the club’s even stocked the bar with Guinness. Inside the influx.

There’s been a significant change of fortunes at Mordialloc this season — and the luck of the Irish may have a little bit to do with it.

The Bloods have been buoyed by an influx of Irish players following a testing 2024 which saw the club relegated from the Southern league’s top division, with no senior wins and just two in the reserves.

This season, Mordialloc is in the thick of the premiership hunt in both grades. The seniors sit fourth in Division 2 and are 8-5 after recording the club’s first senior win in 630 days earlier this year, while the reserves have a 9-4 record.

It was Donall Purvis who kickstarted the Irish influx. He had spent time in Australia growing up and got a taste of junior footy for Mordialloc-Braeside. Planning to return to Australia, he reached out to the club late last year in hope of landing back at Mordialloc.

Mordialloc's Alan Daly, Liam Dineen, Caoimhin O’Donnell, Cian O’Mahony and Conor Lynch. Picture: Supplied.

“By the time he got to Melbourne in January he turned up with a mate and from then it’s grown, every week he seemed like he had a new Irish mate who wanted to play,” recalled Mordialloc coach Josh Jewell.

“It grew from one to seven, even last week we had another one fill in our thirds … they’re a great bunch of lads, they’re here for a good time and they can play footy.

“You can see their Gaelic background in the way they play footy, they’re all fit, they’re all highly skilled which is good.

“They’re great off-field, they’re a good group of lads and they fit in perfectly, our boys love a good time and these guys are no different, it’s been great.”

The Irish influence has even caused the club to stock the bar with Guinness.

Caoimhin O’Donnell and Liam Dineen have become mainstays of the Mordialloc senior side, while Purvis, Alan Daly, Conor Lynch and Cian O’Mahony are all playing reserves.

Conor Lynch in action for Mordialloc. Picture: Supplied.

O’Donnell enjoyed a day out against Frankston in round 5 when he booted seven goals, and he’s up to 23 for the season.

 Dineen is an attacking half back who had turned out for Caulfield Grammarians in the past two seasons.

“He’s slotted really well into our backline … really fit, loves running off his man and creating play up the field,” Jewell said of Dineen.

“The rest are having a good impact in the twos, showing good leadership as well, they haven’t played much footy in Australia but they’ve played a lot back home in Ireland, they’ve got some footy knowledge and they pass on everything they’ve got, it’s been good.”

Purvis was first introduced to Australian rules while living in Parkdale as a 14-year-old, and has since turned out for the Irish national team alongside all his now-Mordialloc teammates at some point.

“We’ve all been playing for three or four years before coming to Mordy, and it was just about adjusting to the Aussie – or the proper way to do it – I suppose,” Purvis laughed.

“It took a bit of adjusting to get up to the speed of things at the start, there’s a good support network and the quality of coaches and senior players have taken times with us and critiqued things we might be weaker on.

“It’s definitely a lot quicker (than in Europe), the boys are a lot fitter … that’s probably the difference, just the speed at which the game is played.”

Mordialloc's Donall Purvis. Picture: Supplied.

For O’Donnell, his first taste of the sport came when he attended a training session in Manchester.

“The main reason was going down there for fitness but I ended up kicking a ball and loving it,” O’Donnell said.

“We started playing games and I enjoyed it more and more since then, and then the opportunity arose to play with the Ireland national team and travel to Croatia that year and started playing alongside a lot of the boys that I play with here at Mordy.

“We were travelling all over Europe, we were in Paris, Germany, we ended up playing a two-week Transatlantic tournament in Toronto last August, which we won. We were playing the USA, Canada, France, Great Britain.”

O’Donnell has now played in three tournaments with Ireland and is yet to experience a loss on the international stage.

O’Mahony however has been part of the Irish set up since 2017 – having been introduced to Australian rules by a high school workshop – and tells a different tale when it comes to the national team’s fortunes.

“I’ve been playing since 2017, it wasn’t all rosy,” O’Mahony said.

“From 2017 to 2020 we fell at the final hurdle on a number of occasions, there was a switch up of management and an influx of younger players, a real bond developed in the team and a culture was developed where our success has come from.

“All of us who played for AFL Ireland in the past are here at the exact same club, it’s another rewarding experience for us all.

“Anything we’ve needed, (Mordialloc has) got it without asking any questions or without hesitating, it just shows you how much they respect us being here and putting on that jersey every weekend and representing the badge as much as they do and have done.”

Despite growing up around Gaelic football, O’Donnell said he had fallen in love with Australian rules.

Caoimhin O’Donnell in action for Mordialloc in the SFNL. Picture:

“Personally I think it’s probably the best sport that there is out there,” O’Donnell said.

“I grew up playing Gaelic football and a lot of Irish people grew up playing rugby but genuinely it’s probably the greatest sport that people at our age can play.

“It’s a privilege to be over here playing with such a good culture and so many footballers and good people in general who care about you and respect you and show an interest and want to learn about you.

“There’s probably no club I could think about joining better than Mordialloc.”