Former Irish rugby international Gavin Duffy is training with the Mayo footballers

David Brady revealed the very interesting nugget of information on Off the Ball this evening.

According to Brady, who, like Duffy, is a Ballina man, Duffy is currently in training with the Mayo senior footballers and is making a decent impression while he’s at it.

Former Connacht captain Gavin Duffy is training with the Mayo senior team, and is standing out in training according to David Brady. — Off The Ball (@offtheball) May 14, 2014

  In a later tweet, meanwhile, Off the Ball revealed that the information was confirmed independently of Brady’s story, which must have come as a bit of a shock to listeners this evening, even from somebody as charismatic as Brady, who famously revealed that the Mayo forwards communicated with the coaching staff by means of earpieces during training last summer. Former Irish rugby international Duffy played his last game for Connacht just under two weeks ago after the province confirmed earlier this year that he would be leaving at the end of the season. In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Duffy, who earned ten international caps for Ireland and was part of the 2007 World Cup squad, revealed that he was weighing up his options but was reluctant to play abroad because of a desire not to uproot his young family. The 32-year old played under-age Gaelic Football with Mayo, appeared at midfield in an All-Ireland Minor Final in 1999 and was regarded as a very bright prospect in the county before deciding to focus on the oval ball game full-time. Recent reports suggest that Duffy is planning on playing Gaelic Football with Galway club side Salthill/Knocknacarra, who reached an All-Ireland club final as recently as 2006. It's very early days yet, of course, and whether Duffy will end up making an appearance in the green and red this season remains to be seen, but news of him training with the squad will certainly create a buzz in a county that doesn’t need a lot of prompting to get excited about the fortunes of the county team during the summer months. Update: The Mayo County Board confirmed that Duffy is training with the Mayo panel in a statement this evening which read: The Mayo County Board can tonight confirm that former Connacht Rugy Captain and former Mayo G.A.A. Minor Player Gavin Duffy has joined up with the Mayo Senior Football Squad. James Horan recently met with Duffy and on Tuesday night the former rugby star joined up with the rest of the squad for a training session. Mayo Senior Football Manager James Horan confirmed "Gavin Duffy was invited down to join up with the squad for a couple of weeks where the management will have a look at him to see where he is at." James Horan also confirmed that Duffy is a "professional athlete who brings great leadership and a presence to the squad." Gavin Duffy has always claimed that we would love to play with his county and has previously lined out with the Mayo Minor Football Team. The Mayo County Board are delighted to see a player of the calibre of Gavin Duffy linked with the Mayo Senior Football Team and hopefully will remain a permanent presence in the Mayo Senior Football Team setup.