Irish AFL players set to return to Australia ahead of league restart

Irish players in the Australian Football League are set to return to their clubs, with the AFL season set to resume following its suspension in late March.

Fixtures were postponed due to the pandemic, with travel restrictions and social distancing measures preventing the sport from playing on.

Brisbane's James Madden, Collingwood Magpies duo Mark Keane and Anton Tohill, Greater Western Sydney's Callum Brown and Essendon Bombers pair Cian McBride and Ross McQuillan, are all set to arrive in Australia on Saturday.

All six players returned to Ireland following the suspension of the season and can now return after winning their visa approvals to re-enter Australia.

The Irish stars will have to undergo a two-week quarantine in designated hotels upon landing, before they can return to their clubs ahead of the June 11 restart.

Collingwood manager Geoff Walsh told the AFL website that he was excited about the return of Keane and Tohill to the squad.

"We've been working together with a few of those clubs who have the Irish boys over there," Walsh said.

"Our boys will be back on that flight and then they'll go into quarantine for two weeks obviously, but the good news is that they'll be here on the weekend. They’ll be in there for two weeks and then they can re-join the programme, but they’ll go straight to quarantine from when they land.”

Essendon's Conor McKenna (Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Tyrone native and Bombers defender Conor McKenna returned to Australia last weekend, however he is a permanent resident of the country and is not held to the same tight border restrictions as the other Irish stars.

Geelong’s Zach Tuohy and Mark O’Connor, Hawthorn’s Conor Glass and Conor Nash and Sydney’s Colin O’Riordan were among the Irish players to remain in Australia following the suspension of the season.

Former Kerry footballer Tadhg Kennelly was cut by the Sydney Swans as a result of the cutbacks clubs have made due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kennelly became the first Irish player to win an AFL title in 2005 with the Swans, and is still the only player to have also won an All-Ireland title.