Oisín Mullin's All-Ireland Final Dreams: A Close Call for Mayo

Oisín Mullin has confirmed what many in Mayo had already suspected: the call came, the question was asked, and for a brief moment the idea of a dramatic All-Ireland final return was very real.

The former Young Footballer of the Year, now firmly embedded in life at Geelong, revealed that Mayo boss Andy Moran did reach out ahead of the county’s long-awaited All-Ireland breakthrough. The approach came at the height of the AFL season, just as Geelong were preparing for another crucial stretch of games.

Speaking to Australia’s Channel 7 before Geelong’s clash with Collingwood, Mullin didn’t dodge it.

"I did have a chat with the coach back home and obviously Chris (Scott) here," he said, confirming that the conversation with Moran had taken place and that Geelong’s head coach was kept fully in the loop.

There was history behind that phone call. When Mullin returned home during the AFL off-season, Geelong had allowed him an extended spell in Ireland. Mayo, for their part, opened the door and invited him to train with the panel. The link never really snapped, even after he left for Australia in late 2022.

"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.

That connection was strong enough for Moran to test the waters. The idea, first aired publicly by Chris Scott on Fox Sports, was as bold as it sounded: finish Geelong’s game against Melbourne on the Friday night, jump on a plane, line out for Mayo in an All-Ireland final, then fly back to resume AFL duty.

Scott laid it out bluntly on Fox: Mayo were "planting a seed" about whether Mullin might "pop over to Ireland to play in the final and then come back."

For a county still haunted by near-misses, it was the kind of fantasy that catches fire quickly. Mullin, after all, had been central to Mayo’s runs to the 2020 and 2021 All-Ireland finals, picking up an All-Star and the Young Footballer of the Year award in 2020. At 26, in his athletic prime and with big-game experience on both sides of the world, the thought of him dropping back into a green and red jersey on All-Ireland day was intoxicating.

Reality, though, closed in.

"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," Mullin said.

Geelong are deep in the grind of an AFL campaign. Mullin is in his fourth season with the Cats and played in last year’s Grand Final, where they fell to back-to-back champions Brisbane Lions. This is no fringe player on a casual deal; this is a professional athlete in the middle of a demanding season, tied to a club chasing honours of their own.

So the fairytale cameo never materialised. Instead, Mullin watched from the other side of the world as Mayo finally broke a 75-year wait.

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

The distance didn’t blunt the emotion. If anything, it sharpened it.

"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," Mullin said, fully aware of the scars carried by those who stayed and those who left.

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

That last line paints the picture: streets jammed, pubs overflowing, generations who never thought they’d see the day spilling out into the night. Mullin is part of that story, even from 17,000 kilometres away. He helped drag Mayo to finals in 2020 and 2021. He lived the heartbreak. Now he’s living the aftermath from a distance.

The call from Moran shows something else too. Even with a new manager and a new era, Mayo’s instinct is unchanged: if there’s a chance, however slim, to strengthen the team for the biggest day of all, they will chase it. This time, logistics and loyalty to Geelong drew the line.

The county finally climbed the mountain without him. But with the bond still alive, and a star defender thriving in the AFL while his home county basks in long-awaited glory, the obvious question lingers in the background: is this the end of the story, or just a pause before Oisín Mullin and Mayo cross paths again on championship soil?