McKernan was picked up by the Saints as a delisted free agent to provide key forward and ruck back-up. His lifeline came a few months after the last of his 53 games for the Bombers,coincidentally against St Kilda in round 12 last year.
The veteran big man said it was a “pinch yourself moment” to be on the cusp of a round one St Kilda debut given he fell out of favour at the lowly Bombers and had been picked up by a side which caused eventual premiers Richmond headaches in a semi-final.
A frank McKernan said he had fallen out of love with the game in his final year at Essendon.
“I walked away from footy last year,I didn’t know if I still wanted to play. I wasn’t happy with how my time finished at Essendon,like a few people were in terms of the hub and how things were there. To be honest with you,when I finished the season,I thought I was done and I didn’t really want to go around again. I had a few weeks off,I was lucky enough to get a call from Gags[Saints list manager James Gallagher],had a pretty good chat with him,” McKernan said.
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“I wasn’t really looking forward to training,probably wasn’t really looking forward to being diligent with recovery. I just wanted to get in and get out,wanted to go home. This is even before COVID hit,to be honest.
“I’m not going to sit there and say it’s completely all Essendon’s fault. Because I still had fun there,and I still made really good relationships,and I don’t just completely blame them. It was probably me as well. I probably felt a bit stale. I had obviously spent a fair bit of time there and been through some stuff there. I don’t blame it on Essendon.”