'Best I've seen' - GAA voices react to Kobe swapping Mayo for Australia

GER FLANAGAN

(Balla, Mayo)

The news didn't really come as a shock. It did feel more like an inevitability, given all the rumours and talk of him and the fact that he is obviously supremely talented.

He was always going to be touted by the Australians. Personally, I'm delighted for him. And I would have said this for Oisin Mullin a few years ago when he went as well. I'm happy for Kobe. I played against him earlier on this year, marked him for a while.

Unbelievable talent, the best I've seen coming up in Mayo in a long time.

It's an opportunity that any young footballer would at least like to try, going out to a country like Australia, living the professional life, and being a professional athlete. It is a dream come true for anyone.

But it just raises a wider point and frustration of losing our top talent to the AFL, and the fact that they can just seemingly come in here and just scout and take our best players very easily and without any accountability, really.

Certainly, I saw a lot of people on X, should I say, on about how Crossmolina, who have put all this time and effort into coaching him, just lose him now. I feel like it's wrong and I feel like we really need to have a serious conversation about it.

The GAA need to have a serious conversation about it, and there needs to be some kind of pathways put in place to try and deter it at the very least, because you're not going to stop it.

You can't compete when you put the two side by side, but there has to be some kind of pathways for players to see that there is another side if they stay here and they can do well.