The curious timing of McKenna wedding

AFL greats Garry Lyon and Tim Watson have questioned whether Essendon defender Conor McKenna’s brother’s wedding had been specifically scheduled to fall on the weekend the Bombers face the struggling Gold Coast.

McKenna will miss Sunday’s game against the Suns as he flies home to Ireland to attend his brother’s wedding.

The leave of absence had been scheduled months in advance, with the plans ticked off by Essendon General Manager of Football Dan Richardson.

But Lyon and Watson have suggested that the wedding had been intentionally arranged for Round 19.

“They would have had to have looked at the game (before scheduling the wedding). They would have known who they were playing,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.

“They wouldn’t have known the injuries that were going to mount in the period of time though.”

McKenna’s absence comes at an inopportune time for the Bombers, as the club sweats on the fitness of captain Dyson Heppell (foot) and forward Orazio Fantasia (hip).

But Lyon believes after the wedding couldn’t be scheduled for the AFL off-season, the Round 19 clash with Gold Coast was identified as the next-best option.

“I’m thinking that Conor and his brother spoke, and Conor said ‘you couldn’t have it in the off-season could you?’”, Lyon surmised.

“And (McKenna) goes ‘can we at least have some flexibility about who we play’?

“…And then he said ‘what about Gold Coast on July 28th?’”

The comments come less than two weeks after Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew had taken exception to the behaviour of the Adelaide Crows coaches box in Round 17.

The Crows staff could be seen laughing during the fourth quarter of their 95-point thumping of Dew’s side.

“You know, you look at the Crows’ coaches box in the last quarter there,” Dew said post-match.

“So that stings. It’s gotta sting. That’s where we’re at.

“That’s what they think of us.”

Adelaide coach Don Pyke has since attempted to calm the situation, clarifying that the laughter was directed at the on-field actions of Crows captain Taylor Walker, rather than at the Suns.

Gold Coast will hope to avoid a 14th-straight loss when they host the Bombers in the Sunday twilight fixture at Metricon Stadium.

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