Australia will prepare for their International Rules Series encounters with Ireland by taking on a UCC/CIT selection that is expected to include Seán Óg Ó hAilpín at Páirc Uí Rinn on Wednesday.
It is likely the Australians will face several of Cork’s All-Ireland SFC winning team in the UCC/CIT side; likely to feature in the starting XV are Colm O’Neill, Ciarán Sheehan, Paul Kerrigan, Aidan Walsh and Ray Carey.
Ó hAilpín, who revealed yesterday that he has been told by the Cork senior hurling management that he is not in their plans for next season, may start the match for the university selection.
Much has been made of the Australian team’s lack of experience in International Rules, with only six players having previous experience of the sport. However, Australian press officer Patrick Keane told The Irish Times: ‘Yes, very much it’s a team built around younger guys.
‘But we’ve always thought the key for us to win is having running power, and that’s what we’ve went with. Also with a fair bit of mobility, so we’ve picked guys that in our game are very much seen as good runners.’
The Irish Times goes on to quote Keane as saying: ‘Today was just a light training run, really, after arriving in on Sunday night.
‘It was about a 40-minute session, just to get the guys moving. But we’ll train a bit more seriously tomorrow, and then the practice match Wednesday afternoon.
'We’ve been told about five of them are senior county players, and the rest are under-21s. It’s just a practice game, to get a bit of thinking done, and see how the players are going.
‘But ball movement and kicking is always our big challenge so we’ll want to work a little on that.’
Entrance to the match in Páirc Uí Rinn is free for all juveniles, while adults will only be asked to make a small contribution to local Cork charities. Log on to www.gaa.ie for further information. The match throws-in at 6pm.
Australia squad to face a UCC/CIT selection on 20 October and Ireland in the Cormac McAnallen Cup on Saturday 23 and 30 October: Todd Banfield (Brisbane Lions), Eddie Betts (Carlton), Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs), Daniel Cross (Western Bulldogs), Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide Crows), Paul Duffield (Fremantle), Dustin Fletcher (Essendon), James Frawley (Melbourne), Bryce Gibbs (Carlton), Sam Gilbert (St Kilda), Tyson Goldsack (Collingwood), Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans), Brad Green (Melbourne), Garrick Ibbotson (Fremantle), Kieran Jack (Sydney Swans), Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney Swans), Leigh Montagna (St Kilda), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), Kade Simpson (Carlton), Dane Swan (Collingwood), Travis Varcoe (Geelong Cats), David Wojcinski (Geelong Cats), Liam Picken (Western Bulldogs).
