Conor McKenna is leading the exodus of Irish AFL players after the competition was shut down over the weekend.
The Essendon player is on his way home to Tyrone after AFL officials bowed to the inevitable and suspended games until the start of June at least having started the season behind closed doors last Thursday.
The remainder of the AFLW season was cancelled though Dublin pair Niamh McEvoy and Sinead Goldrick had already decided to forego playing in Melbourne’s play-off games to ensure that they would be able to get home to Ireland.
McKenna, who only recently returned to Australia after a stint in Ireland having cited homesickness, is one of 17 Irish players on the books of AFL clubs and several others are thought to be winging their way home from Australia with Fox Sports reporting that Collingwood pair Mark Keane (Cork) and Anton Tohill (Derry) are also on the move.
Vastly experienced Irish AFL players like Mayo’s Pearse Hanley (Gold Coast Suns) and Zac Tuohy (Geelong) of Laois are well settled having lived in Australia for more than a decade and may be prepared to sit it out as travel restrictions down under are ramped up.
All players have agreed to a 50% pay cut for the months of April and May while the freeze on fixtures remains in place, with AFL.com.au reporting that the League had initially pushed for a mammoth 79% pay cut.
All going to plan, the AFL hope to resume games in early June but the likelihood is that it will be later in the year before that comes to pass as the coronavirus crisis continues to unfold.
