Tyrone All-Star Cathal McShane has decided against a career in Australian Rules football.
He will now return to Ireland and line out with Mickey Harte’s side this season.
The news was announced last night in a statement by the Adelaide Crows club where McShane had spent a 10-day trial period,
It read: “Gaelic footballer Cathal McShane has decided to remain in Ireland and not pursue an AFL career.
“McShane trained with Adelaide on a 10-day trial last month while weighing up a move to Australia.”
Crows General Manager List Management and Strategy Justin Reid said the 24-year-old had decided it was in his best interests to remain in Ireland.
“It is a big decision to relocate to the other side of the world and pursue a professional career in a different sport,” Reid said.
“Ultimately, this was not something that Cathal was ready for and we wish him the very best in his endeavours both on and off the field.
“We will continue to look for opportunities to bring talent into our Club.”
Harte had remained hopeful that McShane would decide against a professional career, saying last month: “He’s going out to see if that’s’ something that he wants to do. He has not made any final decision yet, one way or the other, and as long as he hasn’t made the decision to go there, I’d still hold out reasonable hope that he could still be playing football for Tyrone this year.”