Exclusive: Kobe McDonald granted permission by St Kilda to play for Crossmolina

A trio of St Kilda players have been given the nod to feaure in county championships back home.

MAN AT WORK: St Kilda's new recruit Kobe Mcdonald. Pic: St.Kilda

St Kilda AFL players Kobe McDonald, Eamonn Armstrong and Liam O'Connell have all been granted permission to play for their clubs in Mayo, Meath and Cork respectively.

St Kilda’s season ended recently when they missed out on finals. They finished 11th on the ladder. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, they confirmed that all three will play club football during their time at home.

"Kobe, Eamonn and Liam have each expressed a desire to represent their local Gaelic football sides during the AFL off-season,” said Lenny Hayes, St Kilda’s General Manager of Football.

"As a club, it's really important that we support our players in their lives outside of being professional AFL footballers.

"We understand how much home means to each of these boys, and we didn't want to stand in the way of this opportunity to represent the communities and clubs they come from.

"The opportunity to play should only benefit their aerobic conditioning, and we look forward to welcoming them back in November for the first day of pre-season."

The 2027 pre-season starts on November 9. Last year, Geelong granted Kerry’s Mark O’Connor permission to play for Dingle as they went on to win a remarkable Kerry county championship, Munster championship and All-Ireland club championship.

It is a big boost for Crossmolina Deel Rovers, who reached the Mayo SFC semi-final last year. All-Ireland winner McDonald has been back in Ireland for over a week now having jetted out to Melbourne after Mayo’s stunning win over Kerry last month.

Ballincollig’s Liam O’Connell played 13 AFL games this season. The 23-year-old was also granted permission to play in the 2025 Cork football championship and played in their semi-final defeat to eventual winners St Finbarr’s.

Meath U20 Leinster winner Armstrong has spent the last two years with the club. The Duleek/Bellewstown clubman previously represented the Republic of Ireland soccer team at underage level.