Brisbane Lions have confirmed the signing of Tyrone GAA star Conor McKenna on a one-year deal.
McKenna, who won an All-Ireland title with Tyrone in 2021, had met his former club Essendon, Port Adelaide and St Kilda in recent days before ultimately favouring a switch to the Lions.
"I am delighted to be joining the Lions at such an exciting time for the Club, both on field and off field, including the great new facilities at Springfield," McKenna told the Brisbane website.
"I wanted to come back to a club that was playing deep into finals pushing for a premiership and Brisbane have been doing that for the last number of years.
"The Club has been great for both myself and my partner Amy in making us feel comfortable and putting foundations in place to make sure the move out goes as smooth as possible.
"I am really looking forward to getting back out and into the swing of things."
In 2020, McKenna had announced his retirement from the sport after six seasons with the Bombers having played 79 times since his arrival in 2014.
The secret's officially out!
— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) November 18, 2022
Welcome to the den Conor 🦁
However after Tyrone’s All-Ireland defence came to an end with a qualifier loss to Armagh in June, it’s understood that McKenna informed managers Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher of his desire to return to Australia.
Brisbane had shown interest in the 26-year-old while he was an Essendon player and they will sign him on during the pre-season supplemental selection period. He will begin pre-season training on 5 December.
Last week, Mayo star Oisín Mullin was linked with a move to Geelong, the current home of Irish duo Zach Touhy and Mark O’Connor.
Mullin had been on the verge of joining the current Premiership champions before the start of last season before opting to stay in Ireland.
Watch Ratoath v The Downs and Kilmacud Crokes v Portarlington in the Leinster SFC semi-finals on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 5pm Saturday
