Now, after all the initial buzz about Kobe McDonald has died down, let's take a closer look at some intriguing aspects of young Irish talents moving Down Under signing for AFL clubs.

Mayo GAA lost another promising talent to the Australian Football League (AFL) in recent weeks.

Kobe McDonald signing for St Kilda dashed hopes of seeing him make an impact for the Mayo senior football team.

Crossmolina native McDonald is going to follow fellow Mayo man Oisín Mullin who debuted for Geelong in the AFL in 2023.

As big as the story is from a Mayo and wider GAA perspective, a look at the contract situation reveals:

McDonald's new club St Kilda is taking a very low risk approach.

What contract has Kobe McDonald signed?

The AFL rules and regulations around signing players and their payment structures are very complicated.

Every player's contract details are based on a 195-page document, called the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

We would all be aware, that Australian Football is a professional sport. But AFL clubs cannot spend as much money on players' salaries as the would like or can.

There is a salary cap in place for each club, which stands at a total of $17.76 million (€9.9 million) in the 2025 season.

But there is an intriguing caveat: Kobe McDonald was signed as a Category B Rookie. 

"Any amount paid to a Category B Rookie will be excluded from the club's total player payments."

That means, Kobe McDonald's salary on the current contract is a free hit for St Kilda.

A situation of low risk and potentially high reward for the club. They can pay him, without sacrificing space for established players. 

Each AFL team can include three Category B Rookies. Certain requirements have to be met:

• He has not registered in an Australian Football competition for three years immediately before inclusion on the Rookie List
• He is an international player, meaning he is not an Australian citizen and has not lived in Australia for a substantial period

How much does Kobe McDonald earn at St Kilda?

The current CBA states that a Category B Rookie receives a base payment $68k (€38.4k) per year for the upcoming two seasons 2026 and 2027.

Should a Cat B Rookie play senior football matches, this base payment will go up to $100k (€56.5k).

It has to be said, this is the bare minimum. Players get premiums for senior matches played.

But there is a catch: AFL clubs don't disclose their players' full contract details.

We don't even know for sure, what date Kobe McDonald is signed from. When does his contract actually start? 

This question is important, as different signing dates would mean different base salaries. It's complicated. And we don't know for sure.

And there is another layer to this onion of contractual rules and regulations.

As stated above, Category B players' salaries don't count into the team's salary cap. This opens the door to certain options for a club.

It is well possible, that St Kilda have decided to pay more than the base payments, to lure a player of McDonald's calibre over. We simply don't know, so best not to speculate.

However, it seems unlikely the Mayo native will feature in the AFL next year. McDonald will join the Melbourne outfit after his Leaving Cert, which will be in June at the earliest.

By that time the AFL season is in full swing and traditionally international players who come over need some time to adjust.  

St Kilda have just recently formed a new Reserves team which will start in the Victorian Football League, a second-tier competition.

It is understood McDonald will take his first steps with that St Kilda Reserves team to dip his toes in.

And of course there is also the important question: What happens when the first two years of Kobe's contract elapse?

That we do know:

After being a Cat B rookie for two years, the player has to be moved off the Cat B list and made a proper rookie or onto the primary list.

Another club can't just claim the player as they would not be a free agent, which takes at least eight years of service.

So a player could be traded to another club or refuse to sign and enter the draft, which is very rare, especially for Cat B players.

But obviously, first there are exciting times ahead for the young man from Crossmolina, when he moves Down Under after his Leaving Cert next year.

READ NEXT: From Mayo to Saint Kilda: Past Irish stars and what’s next for Kobe