Ciarán Sheehan has described his move to AFL outfit Carlton Blues as an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.

Former Young Hurler of the Year turned AFL star, Setanta Ó hAilpín, tied the knot over the weekend in Honolulu, Hawaii.

It is a match-up even Warren Gatland would pay to watch but as far as the Australians are concerned, taking George North out of the equation would not dampen the excitement generating around Wallabies Test debutant Israel Folau.

Former Young Hurler of the Year Setanta Ó hAilpín has committed to staying on in Australia after his Aussie Rules career ends.

A significant change to regulations relating to developmental players is likely to see an increase in interest in Irish players by AFL clubs.

Setanta Ó hAilpín ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament when playing for his new Aussie Rules club Greater Western Sydney yesterday.

He was a 19 year-old All-Ireland Senior football medal winner in 2010 but he hasn’t been able to run five yards for the last three months of 2011. Ciaran Sheehan reflects on a year of contrasts with Fintan O’Toole

THE number of Irish players listed by AFL clubs next year was reduced to eight yesterday as Essendon showed Michael Quinn the door.

TOMMY WALSH has secured his desired move to Sydney Swans on the final day of the AFL trade window yesterday despite St Kilda’s attempts to persuade him to remain.

“I hurt him with a few body shots but, to be brutally honest, I just boxed crap and that was it.”

FORMER hurling star Setanta Ó hAilpín has revealed he would never have left his promising GAA career to become a professional Australian footballer if the GAA had paid their players.

IRELAND’s rising Aussie Rules star Zach Tuohy is determined to play for his country against the Aussies in the forthcoming International Rules series.

THE texts and mails weren’t long in beeping themselves into consciousness on Saturday evening, an hour after teatime.

MAYO’S Pearce Hanley was amongst Brisbane’s best again as the injury-plagued Lions put up a stout resistance against Hawthorn before falling away in the final quarter to lose 105-63 in round 16 of the AFL season on Saturday.

TRIBUTES have poured in for AFL pioneer Sean Wight, who has passed away at the age of 47 after a short battle with lung cancer.

ZACH TUOHY was the only Irish player on a winning team in round 13 of the AFL season, as the improving Carlton accounted for Tadhg Kennelly’s Sydney Swans 100-66 yesterday.

ZACH TUOHY scored his first AFL goal in only his second game yesterday as his Carlton side trounced a Brisbane side that included Pearce Hanley by 124-63 to move third in the league.

IT wasn’t Cork supporters disappointed following the poor display in the Munster MHC semi-final play-off loss to Tipperary in Thurles on Sunday.

Cork forward Ciaran Sheehan is set to join Australian Rules club Carlton Blues after next year's Championship campaign.

Benny Coulter has come a long way since picking up an All-Ireland MFC medal at Croke Park in 1999. Can he help Down end their wait for All-Ireland senior glory this weekend against Cork?

THE glamour clash with Setanta Ó hAilpín may not have materialised but Tadhg Kennelly still made the most of his trip to Melbourne as Sydney solidified their play-off position with a comfortable victory over Carlton.

MICHAEL QUINN will become the fourth Irishman to feature in the Australian Rules top flight this season after the Longford man was named in the Essendon team for tomorrow’s trip to Adelaide.

WITH another former Cork minor star making some serious waves across the Tasman Sea, Tomás O’Leary is out to strike another blow for the Rebel alumni in New Zealand this weekend.

TWO of the men entrusted with leading the Ireland team in this year’s International Rules Series believe many inter-county players lack the basic skills required to play Gaelic football at the top level.

TADHG KENNELLY has again insisted he never intended to injure Nicholas Murphy in the opening seconds of the 2009 All-Ireland SFC final saying he was portrayed as ‘a total pr**k’ in the wake of the controversy.

TADHG KENNELLY made an eye-catching return to the AFL on Saturday as Sydney defeated Carlton in the first round of the pre-season NAB Cup, 71-59.

TADHG KENNELLY’S last game for Kerry was in the All-Ireland final against Cork at Croke Park and he looks set to renew the Kingdom-Leeside battle in the unlikely surroundings of Sydney’s Blacktown Olympic Park tomorrow.

THEY may be still savouring last month’s 36th All-Ireland football title, but Kerry have suffered an early blow for 2010 with confirmation that Tommy Walsh has agreed a preliminary agreement with AFL outfit St Kilda. His club and inter-county colleague David Moran has also been offered an early trial with the same club.

Down U-21 star Jamie O’Reilly is the latest Irish youngster to be offered a trial at an AFL club, having been flown out by Richmond Tigers last Saturday.

DOWN U21 star Jamie O’Reilly is the latest Irish youngster to be offered a trial at an AFL club, having been flown out by Richmond Tigers last Saturday.

FORMER Young Hurler of the Year, Setanta Ó hAilpín, has expressed a desire to play for Cork again when his career in the AFL has ended.

CIARÁN SHEEHAN has admitted to conflicting emotions surrounding the pursuit of an AFL career and the chance to play at senior level for Cork, but remains adamant that the opportunity to become a professional sportsman is too good to turn down.

CORK U-21 star Ciarán Sheehan is set to become the latest Irish player to be recruited by AFL club Carlton.

Setanta Ó hAilpín has been banned for four games by the AFL for his attack on Carlton team-mate Cameron Cloke.

SETANTA Ó hAilpín’s training-ground fight yesterday with Carlton team-mate Cameron Cloke has led to the former Young Hurler of the Year being suspended indefinitely by his club — but the punishment may not end there.

Setanta Ó hAilpín's Australian Rules career is in doubt after he was suspended for fighting with his Carlton Blues team-mate Cameron Cloke at training.

ALTHOUGH it ended in defeat, Pearce Hanley will have good cause to remember his AFL debut as he departed for home with the praise of Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews ringing loudly in his ears.

THE increasing AFL recruitment scramble in Ireland has been vindicated yet again with news that Mayo’s Pierce Hanley will make his senior debut for the Brisbane Lions this weekend – just six months after his first reserve game for the Gold Coast club.

TADHG KENNELLY has predicted that the number of young Irish players trying their hand in the AFL could treble within three years and has called for the GAA to be compensated for their losses.

It would once have seemed an unlikely friendship, given their prowess in different sports and their counties' neighbourly rivalry, but Cork's Setanta Ó hAilpín and Kerryman Tadhg Kennelly are now professional footballers and firm friends.

Down youngster Martin Clarke let his boots do the talking as he kicked three goals and a behind in Collingwood's 95-87 loss to Hawthorn in the AFL Premiership earlier today.

SETANTA Ó hAILPíN hit the headlines in Australia yesterday after pictures of a training ground bust-up with team-mate Cain Ackland appeared in the country’s biggest selling newspaper, The Melbourne Herald Sun.