Oisin Mullin rings family to tell them he’s starting his first AFL game this Saturday

Niall McIntyre

Oisin Mullin will make his first start for the Geelong Cats AFL team this weekend.

Having only moved Down Under back in December, his fast ascent to the Cats’ first-team is noteworthy.

But the Kilmaine and Mayo footballer has played and impressed in four VFL games so far and the Geelong Cats management have called on him to make the step-up to the top level this weekend in their Round 11 game.

Incredibly, Mullin could be one of four Irish players on the field on Saturday, as along with his Cats team-mates Mark O’Connor and Zach Tuohy, he will face off against Derry footballer Callum Browne, who plays for the GWS Giants.

Having won the AFL grand title last year, the Cats aren’t going as well this year and currently sit in seventh in the Premiership table, 16 points behind leaders Collingwood.

The Geelong Cats shared a video on their social media on Thursday morning of Mullin calling home to share the good news with his family, as he becomes the third quickest Irish debutante in AFL history – behind Longford’s Mickey Quinn and team-mate O’Connor.

Time difference always comes into it for Ireland-Aust, as it turned out, Mullins’ phone-call woke his brother Sean up from what must have been a deep sleep.

Oisin Mullin rang his brother to tell him he was making his first start for the Geelong Cats this weekend.

But his brother was fast asleep and reacted like anyone woken up by a phone-call 😂pic.twitter.com/muiH1b5Jg9

— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) May 25, 2023

His sister Susan had a slightly different reaction. She was a tad more excited.

“You’re going to be famous,” she beamed, “you’re going to be like one of the Kardashians!”

Mullins’ ‘quick hands in tight windows’ have impressed Cats fans so far.

“But the thing that caught my attention more than anything else was his ability to kick the ball with touch. For a player who is new to the sport, his feel with weighting a kick to the advantage of a player was far more advanced than I expected it to be,” wrote a Cats fan.

Jake's thoughts on Oisin Mullin's VFL debut back in Round 1 against Carlton. So excited to see him debut this weekend!#WeAreGeelong #OisinMullin #MayoGAA pic.twitter.com/TFmT715Bqj

— The Chaps Chat Cats (@chapschatcats) May 25, 2023