GAA AFL talks are imminent as counties demand action on young players being poached

Why the GAA AFL row reached the top table

Discomfort regarding how AFL clubs approach young players, which has been building across several counties.

They say it happens often without the knowledge of their GAA club or county board.

Some management teams have described finding out about AFL trials involving their own players on social media.

Kerry county board chairman Patrick O'Sullivan has been among the loudest voices calling for regulation.

"The GAA cannot continue to pretend there is nothing wrong here. Action has to be taken," said the chairman.

"There is a lack of regulation and we need the AFL to acknowledge the work that has been invested in these young players through compensation or equipment or otherwise."

O'Sullivan said he was aware of young players receiving gift packs from AFL clubs containing an Aussie Rules ball, and being asked to practise with it.

He added: "This is not acceptable to us and rules have to be put in place as this is leading to unnecessary stress to clubs and members."

The scale is no longer marginal for GAA clubs.

Fourteen men are contracted to AFL clubs, with more understood to be weighing up the move.

A record 46 women are involved for the 2026 season, up from 39.

Mayo's Kobe McDonald is the latest big name to go, with the 18 year-old having been allowed by participate in Mayo's route to glory by AFL side, St Kilda.

McDonald has now taken his talents to the land down under.

Burns, speaking in Verona, said a technical fix is being discussed: moving the players involved from category B rookie to category A, which he believes "might self-regulate it in time".

For clubs that develop a minor for a decade only to lose him to Melbourne, that will feel like thin gruel.

But it is the first mechanism on the record, at a moment when the county game holding on to its biggest names is the story of the winter.