Irish international Rules manager Paul Earley has confirmed his provisional panel for the upcoming International Rules series with Australia. In total 15 counties are represented on a panel of 29 that is expected to be cut back next week ahead of the opening Test at Kingspan Breffni Park on 19 October. Michael Murphy will captain the team and Corkâs Aidan Walsh has been confirmed as the vice-captain. Mayo have the largest single representation on the panel with four players followed by Cork, Donegal, Laois and All-Ireland champions Dublin, who all have three each. Galway, Tyrone and Monaghan have two each selected, while Kildare, Derry, Westmeath, Armagh, Louth, Meath and Wexford are also represented. Zach Tuohy (Carlton/Laois) is the only AFL-based player in the panel. Team manager Paul Earley said: âWe are delighted to be able to confirm our training panel for the upcoming series and training has really stepped up in recent weeks with the inclusion of players from both of the All-Ireland finalists. âWe have a great response from players both in coming to join the panel and in training and we are pleased with the progress made to date. âInjury has prevented a number of players from making this panel but we are very pleased with the group of players we are working with and very much looking forward to the two games.â The Irish manager confirmed that Kevin McKernan will not be involved despite featuring in the training panel. The Irish medical team advised that bruising to his knee was likely to be exacerbated by training for both his club and the Irish team. Australia also named their squad, with former Kerry player and Sydney Swans great Tadhg Kennelly, part of their management set-up. The Swans' Adam Goodes, who captained Australia to a 2-0 series win in 2010, misses out on the series due to an injury which kept him sidelined during Sydneyâs finals campaign in September. The big star of the Australian side is Lance âBuddyâ Franklin, who recently won his second Premiership with Hawthorn, but has since transferred to Sydney Swans as a free agent. The deal to take Franklin to Sydney has been the talk of Australian sporting circles in recent weeks, with the 6â 5ââ forward reportedly signing a nine-year deal worth $10 million. Provisional Ireland squad: Michael Murphy (c) (Donegal), Aidan Walsh (vc), (Cork), Paddy Oâ Rourke (Meath), Colm Begley (Laois), Colm Boyle (Mayo), Ciaran Byrne (Louth), Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone), Paul Conroy (Galway), John Doyle (Kildare), Paul Flynn (Dublin), Finian Hanley (Galway), John Heslin (Westmeath), Darren Hughes (Monaghan), Lee Keegan (Mayo), Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin), Paddy McBrearty (Donegal), Jack McCaffrey (Dublin), Niall Morgan (Tyrone), Neil McGee (Donegal), Chrissy McKaigue (Derry), Ciaran McKeever (Armagh), Kevin McLoughlin (Mayo), Conor McManus (Monaghan), Ross Munnelly (Laois), Aidan à Shea (Mayo), Ciaran Sheehan (Cork), Michael Sheilds (Cork), Zach Tuohy (Carlton & Laois), Daithi Waters (Wexford). Provisional Australia squad:Tony Armstrong (Sydney Swans), Dominic Barry (Melbourne), Eddie Betts (Adelaide), Alwyn Davey (Essendon), Aaron Davey (Melbourne), Shaun Edwards (GWS), Cameron Ellis-Yolmen (Adelaide), Lance Franklin Jarrod Harbrow (Gold Coast), Joshua Hill (West Coast), Leroy Jetta (Essendon), Lewis Jetta (Sydney Swans), Nathan Lovett-Murray (Essendon), Ashley McGrath (Brisbane Lions), Steven Motlop (Geelong), Jake Neade (Port Adelaide), Mathew Stokes (Geelong) Lindsay Thomas (North Melbourne), Sharrod Wellingham (West Coast), Daniel Wells (North Melbourne), Christopher Yarran (Carlton). Ireland play Australia on Saturday 19 October in Breffni Park, Cavan and in Croke Park on 26 October, both games throw-in at 7pm.
I don't think the the Indigenous Australians will be as dirty or aggressive as some of the previous Australian teams have been have been in the past and that might be down to the fact that they are not descended from convicts but I think they will have more ball skill and speed in their team with these lads they have picked. Franklin and Motlop to name two are freakishly skillful and athletic. Im surprised Pearce Hanley is not involved for Ireland if hes not injured, him and Zach Touhy have been smashing it in the AFL. Im not really a big fan of the compromise rules but I think this squad the Aussies have picked will make it more entertaining.
An advert for the poachers to scout a few lads... Still. I enjoy it. I'd prefer to see a revamp of the interprovincial games though..... Same **** every year.
I agree with you on the interprovincial championship alright, be nice to see it back run with it actually meaning something to the provinces.
I actually love it in the correct setting. Keep it in Croke where you can rouse an atmosphere. Been at some cracking Intl. Rules games in Croke
There was a packed house in Salthill there a few year ago. Atmosphere was great. This year shoulda come tae Derry. [video=youtube_share;lPmS6s83dUs]http://youtu.be/lPmS6s83dUs[/video]
The superior strength, fitness and skill of the Irish lads smashed the hapless Aussies in the end.... Missing an open goal from inside the square sums the Aussies up. Ireland 57 Ozzies 35
Pretty poor contest, the Aussies were decent in the 3rd quarter but the rest of the game was awful. The compromise hurling/shinty is way better to watch than this muck.
We moan about hand passing in football, but it is probably the best thing about this game. I'll admit it has a slightly different dynamic in this game, but it is telling all the same. The hurling/shinty hybrid would be better if the scotch were better at their game. The rules are loaded for them, the scores are loaded in their favour and the players are loaded in their favour. They just aren't up to it. As the games are only played once a year it is really hard to get the levels right. The games against the Aussies the rules are probably just about equitable.
If they are going to send over such a shower of ****, why bother with this. The Aussies can't mark the ball. They've done it less than 20 times in 3 quarters. Total ****ing muck. We should go all out to get 100.
