McKenna collects AFL goal of the season award

Tyrone's Conor McKenna collected the 2026 Coles AFL Goal of the Year at the Brownlow Medal awards and jokes he will "buy a horse probably" with his AU$50,000 [£26,600] prize money.

The Brisbane Lions half-back's outside of the boot finish in August's Round 24 victory over Collingwood saw him become the first Irish player to win the award, seeing off strikes by Western Bulldogs' Bailey Williams and Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett to receive the Phil Manassa Medal.

McKenna became just the second Gaelic football convert to win both All-Ireland and AFL titles, starring for Tyrone in 2021 before his return to Australian Rules saw him win a Premiership title with the Lions in 2024.

While the Eglish native missed out on the Lions title win last year due to his involvement with the VFL side, he will line up alongside Kilkenny native Darragh Joyce in Saturday's Grand Final when the Lions seek a third-straight Premiership crown against Fremantle Dockers at the MCG [05:30 BST].

"If my wife [Amy] asks, it's probably for the house but if I get my way, I'll buy a horse probably," he said about the prize money when picking up his goal of the season award on Monday.

His strike incorporated skills of Gaelic football when making an initial intercept before splitting the uprights from an acute angle.

"A bit of my Gaelic skills came in there," he reflected.

"I have my club Eglish in County Tyrone to thank for that so back to my young days.

"A few of the boys thought it was a fluke but I did it again at the weekend (v Hawthorn) so I guess it's not really."

The Brownlow Medal - the AFL's top individual award for fairest and best - was won by Collingwood's Nick Daicos.