Oisin Mullin on signing new contract, his leap of faith joining Geelong and playing on competition’s best

Oisin Mullin was a star in the making in Ireland, but he chose to take the punt. After signing a new deal, the Irishman reflects on his rapid rise and his tough assignments on the competition’s best.

Oisin Mullin at Cats training July 29, 2025. Picture: Alison Wynd

Oisin Mullin was mulling over his decision to head across the world and join Geelong for some time, but he has made every post a winner.

The Irishman turned his back on an exciting Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) career in Ireland, where he was a star in the making, to try his hand at a foreign sport back in 2021 — and it has paid off.

Mullin extended his stay at Kardinia Park on Monday, signing a two-year deal after another season of rapid improvement at Geelong, where he has locked down superstar midfielders like Zak Butters and livewire forwards such as Charlie Cameron.

The new deal highlighted just how far the County Mayo product has come since his first AFL combine back in Ireland in 2019, and since he joined Geelong at the end of 2022 – he would have joined in 2021 had the Covid pandemic not got in the way.

Sporting the guernsey of his local club Kilmaine, where he started playing Gaelic football when he was six, Mullin said his leap of faith has changed his life for the better.

Oisin Mullin in his Kilmaine jersey at Cats training. Picture: Alison Wynd

“It is a pretty big decision, it’s something I mulled over for quite a while,” Mullin said.

“Obviously, AFL is such an amazing opportunity, but I grew up playing GA and developed such a close bond with that, playing with some of my best mates from when I was a child, all the way up through.

“So it wasn’t a decision I made lightly, but since coming over here, I haven’t looked back. It’s just been amazing.

“Obviously having Mark (O’Connor) and now Cillian (Burke), Zach (Tuohy) when I arrived, them Irish lads, they’ve all been through that same transition.

So it’s just good to have them to kind of lean on and get their opinions and experiences of it and how the journey was for them and things. But just loved it since I arrived.”

In the end, the prospect of playing a professional sport and challenging himself on and off the field brought him to Australia.

“It was kind of the excitement of the unknown and testing myself in a different environment,” Mullin said.

“And seeing what I could adapt to physically and obviously personally, like off the field as well as a lot of challenges with it. It just gives you that opportunity to grow as a person.

“GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) is completely an amateur sports, it’s not even semi-professional even though the kind of lifestyle you live with it is pretty close to professional - between training and gym.

“So it sets you up pretty well physically to make the transition to AFL.”

Mullin has definitely been challenged this year.

He was dubbed the ‘Nick Daicos of Ireland’ by his mentor and former teammate, Irish VFL/AFL games record holder Zach Tuohy — in reference to his high standing in Gaelic footy — when he first touched down in Australia.

Two and a half years later, he was forced to try and stop Daicos in a MCG blockbuster.

But that comment from Tuohy certainly wasn’t brought up.

Oisin Mullin tagged Nick Daicos earlier this year. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

“That was Zach that coined that nickname. But I think he got taken out of context, so that definitely wasn’t spoken about,” Mullin said with a smile.

“Nick is such a highly rated player, so it was a great opportunity to go out there and play on him and see how he goes about it. Obviously he’s a very strong runner and how he makes space for himself, it was very interesting to see him up close and personal.”

Daicos won the battle with 28 disposals, six clearances and a goal in their direct match-up, but Mullin restricted him to just three touches in the final quarter as the Cats won that after-siren thriller.

Mullin has been deployed on a handful of other top-line midfielders in Ed Richards (round 11), Touk Miller (round 13), Zach Merrett (round 14) and Finn Callaghan (round 18), but undoubtedly his biggest midfield scalp was Butters.

The Irishman had the speed to match Butters as he restricted him to just 17 disposals and 132 metres gained in 99 minutes.

Zak Butters was well held by Oisin Mullin. PictureL Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“That’s something that the coaches decided on that tagging role, playing down back as well So just being flexible to what the team needs on a certain day and obviously gives the opportunity to learn off some of the best players in the game as well, which is beneficial for my own personal development,” Mullin said.

“Pretty happy to have the backing of the coaches and stuff like that to go and do a role. Just hope it develops in my career and we can keep pushing forward.”

Down back, he has Mulli-fied Lions goalsneak Cameron twice, keeping him to nine touches and a goal in 159 minutes across their two meetings this season.

He has also kept St Kilda forward Jack Higgins quiet on two occasions in 2025.

As he tries to stop opposition players kicking majors, Mullin will strive to kick his first AFL goal.

Connor O’Sullivan, who penned a two-year extension until the end of 2028 last week, is also yet to tick off that milestone.

O’Sullivan joked that it might be decided by behinds instead — Mullin currently leads 5-1.

“It’s a race to six points,” O’Sullivan joked.

“’Osh’ is tallying them up, he kicked one on the weekend and I think Gryan (Miers) got into him.”

“Shooting was never my strong point, naturally I was defender at home,” Mullin added.

“So just trying to work on that in my game and obviously add it to the locker, and hopefully just get it of the way too.”

Originally published as Oisin Mullin on signing new contract, his leap of faith joining Geelong and playing on competition’s best