Listen to the full interview with Colm and John above via the GAA podcast 

For the past 30 years, many a GAA player has set off for Australia in order to play in the Australian Football League.

Starting with pioneer Jim Stynes, a trickle of players made their way Down Under during the 1980s and 1990s but it was ex-Kerry footballer's Tadhg Kennelly's success with the Sydney Swans which prompted the flow to become more of a stream.

But while many have made the journey to Australia, a fair proportion have not lasted the course and have had to return to Ireland.

Kildare's Daniel Flynn recently returned home due to homesickness and to discuss the challenges that Irish players face in the AFL, we were joined by Westmeath's John Heslin and Laois' Colm Begley.

Heslin left for the AFL when he was 18 but returned in 2012 after just seven months due to homesickness. Meawhile, Colm Begley departed at 19 but returned to Laois after two years, despite showing early promise Down Under.

Heslin felt his Australian club, Richmond, were very welcoming but it was circumstances at the time which really affected him most.

Instead of departing for Australia in December or February as would normally be the case, Heslin had already arrived by July to get into training and with no competitive games for him, this took it's toll mentally. But homesickness off-the-field was also an issue.

"There was genuine homesickness. I was missing the craic I had before I left. I was only in second year of college at the time and the opportunity [to play in Australia] came for me and looking back I might have come too early because I was still young and still in those teenage years, having the lads around."

John Heslin of Westmeath and Kevin McLoughlin of Mayo ©INPHO/Mike Shaughnessy

"Now two years later, it's not so much like that. If I was to get an opportunity now, it'd just be a different story," said Heslin of his experience, citing Ciaran Sheehan and Tommy Walsh leaving for Australia after finishing college.

When Begley made the move to Brisbane Lions, he was joined by fellow Laois player Brendan Quigley who happened to be injured at the time. That meant Quigley was unable to train at the same rate as Begley which fueled his homesickness.

"The personality of a person who goes out there is a massive thing. The AFL don't look into that enough. When Brendan left, one of the coaches said: 'If someone brought the two of you into a party where ye knew no one, you'd stay for the full night and Brendan would stay for half an hour'. You have to be very outgoing and that's a big factor. You can bring over all the talent in the world but if he's reserved and finds it hard to open himself up, it will have an effect on his actual performance," said Begley who lived with a local family for the first three months of his time in Australia, before moving into digs. 

John discussed the highly competitive nature of the AFL, although he felt coaches showed patience with Irish players like him who were still learning the game, while Begley felt things went well in his first two years before injuries stalled his progress.

"Once you actually make the team things changes as well. You're no longer the Irish guy, you're a team player and squad member so if you don't perform well, you're under pressure," said Begley who was not offered a new contract after two years.