The 2025 Young Footballer of the year is set to move Down Under.

Pat Spillane believes Finnbarr Roarty’s defection to the AFL spells bad news for Donegal for a number of reasons.

The 2025 young footballer of the year is set to depart for a new life in Australia in the coming weeks having signed a two-year contract with Collingwood.

Roarty’s departure will be a massive blow for Donegal boss Jim McGuinness, who has effectively built his defence around the youngster in recent seasons.

The Naomh Conaill star will leave a sizeable gap that needs to be plugged on the field, but his exit perhaps suggests things aren’t going so well off the field for the Ulster county.

Roarty is a club mate of manager McGuinness, and in Spillane’s view, the fact that the boss wasn’t able to sway his young fellow Glenties star into staying in Ireland suggests things perhaps aren’t so rosey in the Donegal garden at the moment.

"We know, down through the years, the Donegal setup under Jim McGuinness is the GAA equivalent of an enclosed order of nuns. That veil of secrecy, that sacrifice, the whole shebang,” he said on the Indo GAA podcast.

“This is the first crack in that Jim McGuinness [setup]. The fact that negotiations were obviously going on, no-one knew about it, and he's gone.”

As for the GAA as a whole, Spillane believes the move is another blow for the sport, with the AFL seemingly able to pick off elite young talent at will.

“It's as big a bombshell as Éamonn Fitzmaurice going to Galway as manager. Is it going to have a major dent on Donegal's chances of winning next year's All-Ireland? Christ, it is.

“The frightening thing about it is, if Kobe wins Young Player of the Year this year, that's three of the last six Young Players of the Year are in the AFL.

“I'll tell you this lads, it's a huge blow for Donegal, but it has to be a wake-up call. Lads, they're not coming for our young lads anymore, they're not targeting our minors, they're targeting our marquee players.”