He returned to Australia to play in the A-League for North Queensland Fury, but mid-season agreed to join division rivals Central Coast Mariners for the next two seasons. McBreen completed 2009–10 with another A-League club, Perth Glory, and his good form with them resulted in a call-up to the Australia national team. He was part of the Mariners team that finished in second place in the 2010–11 A-League but was beaten in the 2011 A-League Grand Final. The Mariners were the Australian Premiers in 2011–12, but were knocked out of the finals series in the preliminary final. McBreen scored one of the Mariners' goals in the 2013 A-League Grand Final as they were crowned A-League Champions, and for his performance he was awarded the Joe Marston Medal. He had already won A-League Golden Boot as the division's top scorer with 17 goals. He then went on loan with Shanghai Dongya, before joining them permanently for the 2014 Chinese Super League and having a spell with South China for the remainder of the 2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League.