Essendon defender Conor McKenna has not ruled out a return to the AFL,but will head home to Ireland unhappy at the way his positive COVID-19 virus test was handled by the football media.
In a parting swipe,McKenna said he"had a deadly disease but people were more worried about the AFL being put off than my actual life''.
The homesick star will fly to Melbourne to collect his belongings and will then return to Ireland where he hopes to play Gaelic football again.
The Irishman – who has endured a torrid year with homesickness,injury and becoming the only AFL player to test positive to COVID-19 – told his teammates of his decision to retire on Tuesday morning.
But in an interview with the ABC,he lashed out at football media,claiming he was treated"like a piece of meat".
McKenna was particularly disturbed by sections of the media appearing to medically assess footage of him clearing his nose at training.
"They're not specialised in that so I don't understand why they'd speak about that,"he said.
"Speak about what you know. If you don't know anything,don't speak about it."
The 24-year-old also said late on Tuesday that he might be back at Essendon in the future.