Oisín Mullin Confirms Mayo's All-Ireland Final Approach

Oisín Mullin has confirmed what many in Mayo had already suspected: the county did ask him to come back for the All-Ireland final.

The former Young Footballer of the Year, now deep into life as a professional with Geelong, revealed he spoke to Mayo manager Andy Moran about a sensational short–term return before the county finally ended its 75-year wait for Sam Maguire.

The Call From Home

Mullin has been in Australia since late 2022, having joined Geelong after bursting onto the scene in Mayo’s All-Ireland final runs of 2020 and 2021. Those campaigns made him one of the most exciting defenders in the game, earning him an All-Star and the Young Footballer of the Year award.

The link never really broke. Geelong allowed him an extended spell at home in the off-season, and Mayo quietly brought him into training during that window. The door was always left slightly ajar.

So when Mayo surged back to another All-Ireland decider, Moran picked up the phone.

Speaking to Australia’s Channel 7 ahead of Geelong’s clash with Collingwood, Mullin confirmed the conversation.

“I did have a chat with the coach back home and obviously Chris (Scott) here,” he said.

That “coach back home” was Moran. The other key figure was his current boss, Geelong head coach Chris Scott, who had already revealed on Fox Sports that Mayo had sounded Mullin out about a dramatic fly-in, fly-out appearance.

“Oisín Mullin had taken a phone call from the Mayo coach just planting a seed about possibly, after our game against Melbourne on Friday night, that he might be able to pop over to Ireland to play in the final and then come back,” Scott had said.

It was the kind of audacious idea that sets imaginations racing in both hemispheres.

The Reality Check

Romantic as it sounded, the logistics and timing were brutal.

“In the off-season, Geelong gave me an extended period at home and I was fortunate that Mayo let me join them to train in the off-season as well, so there was that connection there,” Mullin explained.

“The coach just touched base with me from home and had a chat with Scotty, but the circumstances around where we are in the ladder here and the time of season, it just didn’t work out.”

Geelong are in the thick of the AFL campaign. Mullin is in his fourth season at the club and played in last year’s Grand Final, where Geelong fell to back-to-back champions Brisbane Lions. He is no longer a prospect on the fringes; he is part of a squad chasing its own honours.

The idea of a mid-season dash to Ireland, squeeze in an All-Ireland final, then fly back into an AFL run-in? Tempting. But ultimately unrealistic.

Watching History From Afar

So Mullin stayed put. Instead of running out at Croke Park, he watched from the other side of the world as Mayo finally climbed the mountain that had tormented generations.

“I was just excited watching on from here and see the boys get the result and get it done,” he said.

The significance of that moment is not lost on him.

“It was massive. It’s been 75 years since they’ve won it. There’s been so many finals that Mayo have played in and not managed to get over the line.

“To finally get it done, the whole county has gone into lockdown. The celebrations are off the charts, it looks unbelievable.”

Those words carry weight from a man who knows the other side of it – the empty feeling after 2020 and 2021, the long journey that followed, the decision to leave for Australia while the dream remained unfulfilled back home.

This time, he was a spectator. The medal won’t hang around his neck, but the pride is unmistakable.

And now that Mayo have finally broken the curse without him, the question lingers in the background of a county still buzzing: with the bond clearly intact and the phone lines open, is this the end of the Oisín Mullin–Mayo story, or just a pause before the next chapter?