Paul Early picks his 29 man panel for International Rules Series

Ireland manager Paul Earley has named his provisional squad for the upcoming International Rules series with Australia, though it is subject to change.

Fifteen counties are represented and Cork’s Aidan Walsh has been chosen as vice-captain but injuries and club commitments mean that it is unlikely to be the final panel that squares off in Breffni Park on October 19th and in Croke Park the following weekend. Mayo have the largest single representation on the panel with four followed by Cork, Donegal, Laois and All-Ireland champions Dublin who all have three each, while Carlton’s Zach Tuohy Carlton is the only AFL-based player in the panel. Most notably, there are no players from the Kingdom in the panel. “We 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,” the team manager said. “We 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. Injury 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,” he added. Kevin McKernan will not be involved despite featuring prominently in the training panel due to a knee injury

Provisional Irish panel to face Australia:

1. Paddy O'Rourke (Meath) 2. Colm Begley (Laois) 3. Colm Boyle (Mayo) 4. Ciaran Byrne (Louth) 5. Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone) 6. Paul Conroy (Galway) 7. John Doyle (Kildare) 8. Paul Flynn (Dublin) 9. Finian Hanley (Galway) 10. John Heslin (Westmeath) 11. Darren Hughes (Monaghan) 12. Lee Keegan (Mayo) 13. Ciaran Kilkenny (Dublin) 14. Paddy McBrearty (Donegal) 15. Jack McCaffrey (Dublin) 16. Niall Morgan (Tyrone) 17. Neil McGee (Donegal) 18. Chrissy McKaigue (Derry) 19. Ciaran McKeever (Armagh) 20. Kevin McLoughlin (Mayo) 21. Conor McManus (Monaghan) 22. Ross Munnelly (Laois) 23. Michael Murphy (Donegal) (captain) 24. Aidan O'Shea (Mayo) 25. Ciaran Sheehan (Cork) 26. Michael Shields (Cork) 27. Zach Tuohy (Carlton/Laois) 28. Aidan Walsh (Cork) (vice captain) 29. Daithi Waters (Wexford)