Dermot Earley expects there to be no Dublin players in the International Rules squad when manager Joe Kernan names his 23-man selection next week.
Ireland play two tests against Australia next month, in Adelaide on November 12th and then in Perth on November 18th.
Earley, who is one of Kernan's selectors, told the Irish Times that no Dublin players have been involved in training. This has been down to a combination of reasons.
We’ve asked a lot of the Dublin squad to come in but because of injuries, club commitments, guys just wanting to take a break, I don’t think there will be any Dublin representation on this.
But that’s for Joe to announce, it’s not for me to say. Look, we’ve had great engagement and I think you do have to understand as well that after a long year guys do sometimes need a break and this may not suit them. That’s understandable.
Jack McCaffrey, Philly McMahon, Diarmuid Connolly and Bernard Brogan - who was also captain - were Dublin's representatives on the 2015 International Rules squad.
Earley added that the lack of players from the three-in-a-row Dublin team does not devalue the series.
It’s an Irish squad and it should represent the best players in the country and we’ve gone right around all the counties. We spent the summer looking at all games, so we’ve strong representation from the top teams but we’ve good representation from some of the lesser known.
Three players who are almost certain to be involved are Conor McKenna, Zach Tuohy and Pearce Hanley. Kernan said last month that the trio would be the AFL players included.
Colm Keys of the Irish Independent reported on Friday that Aidan O'Shea is likely to be named captain of the team.
Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
