'No-brainer' - Ciarán Byrne on choosing Louth over AFL

Louth forward Ciarán Byrne says he turned down the chance to play professional football in Australia again because he wants to help drive his club and his county to greater heights.

The St Mochta's forward had been contacted by the AFL club in recent weeks with a return to Australia - the 27-year-old spent five years with Carlton between 2013 and 2018 - having made a big impression on his return to the inter-county scenes as Louth secured back-to-back league promotions.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Byrne said his decision not to return to his former club Carlton Blues boiled down to one thing.

"It came down to what means more to me," he said.

"And when I boiled it down to that the decision was made quite quickly. It was a no-brainer to stay with the GAA and stay involved in what's happening in Louth and St Mochta’s. If I didn’t stay here, I would have a bigger regret.

"You just feel like you always belong in Ireland but when an opportunity like the one that did (to return) came up I knew it was a huge decision that was looming.

"I had already experienced the AFL side of things for the bones of years and I guess now there will always be a 'what if’ to my career. Should I have or could I have gone back and played 200 odd AFL games?

"But this is how it has worked out for me. I am staying here and I want to drive on with my club and county, play Gaelic football for as long as I can and I want to create a name for myself.

"Down the line not taking the opportunity to go back to Australia is probably something I will regret but there would be more of a regret if I wasn’t going to be in Ireland, with my club, or with my county."

Having become a central figure in Mickey Harte's Louth side on an upward trajectory, Byrne wants the Wee County to