Mayo fans would love to see him in the green and red sooner rather than later, but on the evidence of his recent performances Down Under, Pearce Hanley isn’t going anywhere for a while yet.
The Ballaghdereen man has been making an impact with the Brisbane Lions for quite a while now but he has been in tremendous form of late and capped off his recent run by being named as the Channel Seven Player of Round Two following his efforts in defeat to the Adelaide Crows at the weekend.
Hanley led the way for the Lions with 30 disposals in total – a stat highly valued in the AFL – and also scored a goal, coach Michael Voss described his performance as ‘outstanding’, while a report on The Australian said that Hanley “should end up alongside Jim Stynes and Tadgh Kennelly as the best Irishman to play AFL”. High praise indeed.
Video via YouTube/BrisbaneLionsAFC
As you’ll see above, Hanley is still making good use of the dummies no doubt honed on the GAA field, he can’t half ping a pass and the size of his guns would suggest he’s doing a fair bit in the gym as well.
Keep up the good work Pearce.
