Tipp native Colin O’Riordan is set to return to Sydney Swans as coach

Former Tipperary footballer and former AFL player Colin O’Riordan is set to return to Sydney Swans in a coaching capacity, the club have confirmed. AFLW head coach Scott Gowans is currently recuperating after undergoing recent surgery for prostate cancer and the mid Tipperary native will become part of the coaching ticket. 

Colin O'Riordan had a prominent career with the Tipperary footballers  until he moved to Australia to pursue a career in Australian Rules football. He retired due to a recurring hip injury at the end of the 2022 season after playing 34 games for the Sydney Swans club. Many expected Colin to return to play a role with the Tipperary footballers, injury permitting, in some capacity after his pro football retirement however he remained living in Sydney since he retired.

Colin, who is just 27 years old, was a dual star for Tipperary across the last decade playing a leading role in particular for minor Tipperary footballers where he was part of the team that won the All-Ireland in 2011. He also won a Munster U21 football medal with the county in 2015 and, when he returned from Australia in 2020, he played for the senior footballers in their memorable win over Cork in November 2020.

That unforgettable day in Pairc Ui Chaoimh the Tipperary team wore the white and green jerseys of Grangemockler, a modern style replica of the jersey the Tipperary footballers wore on Bloody Sunday 1920.