Crossmolina Deel Rovers have welcomed Australian Rules club St Kilda’s decision to permit Kobe McDonald to line out with his home club over the coming weeks.
McDonald is one of three Irish players on St Kilda’s books – along with Meath’s Eamonn Armstrong and Cork’s Liam O’Connell – who have been given the green light by the AFL outfit to play for their respective GAA clubs.
St Kilda’s 2025 AFL campaign ended on August 20th following defeat to Gold Coast in the final round of regular season matches. The Melbourne club finished 11th in the table, one place – but 10 points – behind Carlton in 10th, the last of the teams to qualify for the knockout stages.
The Irish trio are being allowed temporarily resume their Gaelic football club careers before returning to St Kilda for pre-season training, which starts in early November.
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It means McDonald, who only flew out to Australia at the start of August to officially begin his AFL adventure, will be available to play for Crossmolina in the Mayo senior football championship.
Crossmolina have already contested two group games in this year’s Mayo SFC – a win over Ballintubber followed by a draw with Aghamore. Their next fixture is against Mayo Gaels at 1pm in Charlestown on Sunday – where victory would guarantee Deel Rovers a place in the quarter-finals.
McDonald was back training with the club last week and the availability of the talented 18-year-old naturally bolsters Crossmolina’s championship aspirations.
“It gives everybody a lift, especially the lads he has grown up with and played alongside before, so it’s great for everybody in the club to have Kobe involved again,” said Crossmolina chairman Enda Lavelle.
“It’s a good gesture from St Kilda and I suppose it’s a welcome gesture too – it’s sort of an appreciation for where he grew up and for where he learned his trade.
“I suppose St Kilda didn’t have to do it either, they could have said ‘we’re afraid he’ll get injured’ and instead gone and put him on a training programme to keep him locked up.
“In fairness, it’s more than a sport in Australia, it’s a job, it’s your employment, so it’s just nice that he is able to come back and we’re delighted because every game from now on in the championship is essentially knockout football.”
Crossmolina last won the Mayo senior football championship in 2006, which was their seventh county triumph.
After several disappointing seasons outside the senior ranks, they were crowned Mayo intermediate champions in 2024 and the following January, Crossmolina added an All-Ireland IFC to their haul. Brian Benson’s side are now eyeing up a crack at the senior title again after losing at the semi-final stages last year.
McDonald was among the Mayo players who took to the stage at a sold-out Electric Picnic last weekend, joining The Saw Doctors as they performed the Green and Red of Mayo.
The teenager’s return to centre stage in the Mayo club championship is likely to boost attendance figures at Crossmolina’s clash with Mayo Gaels on Sunday.
“With the celebrations in Mayo, the younger people probably ran out of money and the older people ran out of energy, but it has been a brilliant few weeks around the county,” said Lavelle.
“There is a great buzz around football in the county right now. We’ve been in a lot of finals and we’ve talked about finals that we’ve lost for weeks after losing them, so by winning it is a good topic for a change.
“And, look, I think it has done a lot for football in general around the country because it has given everybody hope.
“If you take Roscommon, they beat us in the Connacht championship, it has given them hope. Meath were 10 up against us in Castlebar so they must be looking at it thinking if they’d held out they could have gone close. That’s what it’s done, it has given a lift to every county in Ireland, even at club level as well.”
Crossmolina are not the only club benefiting from St Kilda’s decision to allow their contracted players return to GAA action, as Duleek-Bellewstown and Ballincollig will also see returning sons pull on the parish colours again.
Armstrong, who signed for St Kilda in late 2024, was a key player on Meath’s Leinster under-20 winning side earlier that year and he will now be available to play for Duleek-Bellewstown in their intermediate club championship campaign.
Duleek-Bellewstown sit joint second in Group D of the Meath IFC, with a win and a loss from two games. Their remaining group fixture is against unbeaten table-toppers Oldcastle in Carlanstown on Thursday night.
O’Connell, who has been with St Kilda since 2023, will be available to play for Ballincollig. They have lost their opening two group games in the Cork senior football championship and face Clonakilty on Sunday, September 13th, in Kilmurry.