DUBS TO MISS RULES SERIES
THERE looks set to be no representation from All-Ireland champions Dublin on the International Rules panel set to fly out to Australia next month. GPA chief executive Dermot Earley, who is a selector alongside manager Joe Kernan, said yesterday that he doesn’t think there will be any players from Jim Gavin’s side in the team. If that’s the case, it will be the first time since the hybrid game was revived in the late 1990s that there has been no representation from the current AllIreland champions. It will also be the first time that no player from the capital has made the cut. When the series was last played in 2015, Dublin, as All-Ireland champions, had five players in the squad. ‘There haven’t been any Dublin players in training,’ Earley confirmed. ‘I think it was because of commitments regarding clubs. We have asked a lot of the Dublin squad to come in but because of injuries, club commitments and guys just wanting to take a break, I don’t think there will be any Dublin representation.’ ‘I think you do have to understand that after a long season, guys sometimes do need a break and this may not suit them.’ However, it may leave the GAA open to criticism about how seriously their best players are taking the International Rules concept, similar to the AFL who have been rebuked in the past for not selecting their best players. ‘I don’t think it takes away from the game, at all,’ the GPA chairman responded. ‘It’s an Irish squad and it should represent the best players in the country and we have gone right around all the counties. We’ve a strong representation from the top teams but we’ve a good representation from some of the lesserknown teams.’ James McCarthy, currently preparing for a county final along with Philly McMahon and Diarmuid Connolly, claimed that the test series should be timed better so the best players are available for selection. ‘We do look at the calendar an awful lot. I do think we have to be conscious of when is the best time to play this. As someone who played it, representing your country as a player is a huge honour,’ added Early. ‘So, I do think it’s important that the game is continued. To find the best window is difficult. Later in the year is the best time to go. I remember these tests were once played in October. They are now being played in November to have the smallest amount of effect on players still involved in the club championships.’