NEWS:DOWN FOOTBALL has received excellent news with the announcement that former All-Ireland winning minor captain Martin Clarke is to return home after a couple of years in Melbourne with AFL club Collingwood.

The county, which has just appointed former senior All-Ireland winner James McCartan as manager, has been struggling to make progress despite recent success at underage levels.

Australian agent Ricky Nixon, however, told RTÉ Radio One he would shortly be announcing three new recruits for the AFL, whose identity once revealed, he said, would be “newsworthy”.

“My decision to return home was not an easy one,” Clarke wrote on the Collingwood club website collingwoodfc.com.au. “But I simply miss my home and the people close to me too much . . . I am also looking forward to playing Gaelic football again.

“I strongly believe my best moments of my sporting life are ahead of me, and at this stage and I want to show them on the GAA stage.”

Clarke also said he intended to pursue a career in teaching.

Clarke completed the transition from international rookie status to the senior squad in a matter of months and was brought into the seniors permanently for the 2008 season.

His performances created a sensation, in that previously it had taken players from Ireland far longer to break through.

This year hasn’t gone as well for the player, and it was expected in Australia that he would be making his way home after 46 matches over three seasons.

Speaking to Marty Morrissey on the RTÉ Radio Drivetime programme, Nixon, whose recruitment camps in Ireland have caused controversy within the GAA, said: “I’ll be coming over in three weeks time and signing three players who are big names in Gaelic football.

“I won’t say who they are at this stage, but that’s the intention.”

Pressed as to the identities of the players, the Australian agent was tight-lipped.

“No, I can’t, because unfortunately it’s quite political.

“But I’d say it will be quite newsworthy when the time comes.”