A SUNBURNT nose and a beaming smile on the opening day of pre-season. Two tell-tale signs that Oisin Mullin has not only arrived in Australia, but arrived at the Geelong Football Club, 12 months after he decided to remain in Ireland for another season of Gaelic football.

The two-time GAA young player of the year winner landed in Victoria last Tuesday and has started his new life at GMHBA Stadium, weeks after signing with the Cats as a Category B rookie to continue Geelong's profitable connection with the Emerald Isle. 

Geelong now has three Irishmen on its list, including two of only three ever Irish premiership players – Zach Tuohy and Mark O'Connor – after previously bringing Padraig Lucey and Stefan Okunbor out for stints on the Surf Coast. 

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Mullin has moved into a house in Torquay along with the five players Geelong selected last week via the NAB AFL Draft – Jhye Clark and Phoenix Foster – and Rookie Draft – Osca Riccardi, Oscar Murdoch and Ted Clohesy. 

The 22-year-old will head home to County Mayo on the north-west coast of Ireland for Christmas, before returning for pre-season in January and getting to work ahead of the 2023 season. But after turning his back on the opportunity to come out last year, why has Mullin finally decided to take up the offer?

"I'm not entirely sure what triggered it, but it was just the fact the opportunity kept coming back up," Mullin told AFL.com.au at GMHBA Stadium earlier this week. 

"It originally started at the combine in 2019 and I was meant to come over in 2020, but COVID delayed that. Then I got offered a contract last year. A lot went down and delayed my arrival last year. I thought it was best to wait and play with Mayo for the year.

"Luckily enough the opportunity came up again and I thought it was now or never. Seeing the success of the club last year with Mark and Zach playing in a premiership and the possibilities of it. It would take away the 'what if?' question if I never came…"

That lingering 'what if?' question has now been removed. Mullin is on Australian soil. And the last Saturday in September was a factor in his decision to head down under. 

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The image of Tuohy being carried off the MCG with the Ireland and Portlaoise flags draped around his shoulders after his 250th game reminded him of an opportunity he had to take.

Like many dotted across Ireland, Mullin rose just after 5am GMT to watch the Cats decimate Sydney by 81 points to win a 10th premiership to send Joel Selwood off into the sunset in style. 

"It was half five in the morning. I got up to watch it. It was a good game to watch as a Geelong supporter," he said.

"It's a massive achievement for Zach and Mark. It just shows the possibility that's there. Tadhg Kennelly was the only one [to have won a premiership] and so many boys have come over on the Irish experiment over the past however many years."

While the success of Tuohy and O'Connor, plus the ongoing relationship with Geelong player development manager Mark Worthington helped him change his mind, leaving a burgeoning career behind where he was one of the brightest young defenders in the country wasn't easy. Far from it, in fact.  

"It was extremely difficult," he said.

"It was a tennis match in my head going back and forth a lot, especially with Mayo and the team that's there – there is so much potential for success and it's really difficult to not be a part of. But I just felt this opportunity was too big not to try at the minute."

Mullin doesn’t want to be here for a year or two. He doesn't want to simply enjoy what Australia has to offer and then return to County Mayo and pick up where he left off. He wants to make a career out of a game that uses a Sherrin, rather than an O'Neills.

"It's definitely not a holiday," he said.

"Coming over is a long-term investment, it's not a quick breakaway from home or the GAA. It is something that you need to commit to for the long haul and see yourself going a long way."

That will be music to the ears of Andrew Mackie, Stephen Wells and Chris Scott who have all reaped the rewards of the Irish experiment and are hoping to strike again with Mullin.