Irish Rules squad leave tomorrow
Friday, 14 October 2005 13:12The Irish International Rules squad finalise preparations for their trip Down Under when the get together in Dublin this evening.
The 27 man panel and backroom team headed by manager Pete McGrath meet tonight before completing a final training session on home soil tomorrow morning and departing for Perth tomorrow afternoon.
The squad face into further daily training and recovery sessions in Australia as every effort is made to retain the Cormac McAnallen Cup, won so convincingly in Croke Park last October.
Combining a mixture of experience with 10 Series debutants Ireland will be hoping that they can continue to take advantage of their greater familiarity with the round ball, whiles their Australian counterparts aim to maximise the professional factor in terms of physical preparation.
Surging improvements in the conditioning of elite Gaelic footballers in recent years has seriously narrowed a once obvious gap however, and when the greater success rates of the traveling side are taken into account Ireland can justifiably be termed Series favourites.
