Aussie coach says young guns well up to doing job

THE Australian selectors have picked a young squad, well-suited to International Rules, for the two-Test series against Ireland, according to coach Garry Lyon.

Hawthorn captain Shane Crawford will again lead the squad while Fremantle captain Peter Bell has been named as vice-captain.

The two Tests will be played at Perth's Subiaco Oval on Friday, October 24 and Melbourne's MCG the following week on Friday, October 31.

The match in Perth is virtually a sell out, with approximately 40,000 tickets snapped up earlier in the season, while 15,000 tickets have been sold for the game at the MCG.

Many big name players were unavailable due to post-season surgery, but Lyon preferred to focus on the members of the 26-man squad that had sacrificed their own time to make themselves available for their country.

"We made a conscious decision that we weren't ever going to try and talk players into playing for Australia or representing their country," Lyon said.

"We certainly give them the opportunity and when they say they can't, for whatever reason, then we move on."

Players named in the squad include retiring Adelaide veteran Mark Bickley, and Hawthorn's Jade Rawlings and Bulldog Nathan Brown, who are both seeking to be traded to new clubs next week.

Kangaroos youngster Daniel Wells is the only first-year player to be named, but he has International Rules experience at under-age level.

West Coast veteran Glen Jakovich has been earmarked to wear the goalkeeper's gloves, with regular keeper, Richmond's Andy Kellaway, unavailable.

"It's a different squad and it's a young squad," Lyon said. "It's a squad I think for lots of reasons that's pretty suited to this game.

"There's a lot of All-Australians that can't play for different reasons, so it gave us the opportunity to top-up with guys that we think are suited to this game."

The squad will congregate six days before the first match in Perth and head to Bunbury in Western Australia for a three-day camp.

The players will also spend time together in the Victorian coastal town of Portsea, prior to the MCG encounter.

Lyon, who is in his third year as the Australian coach, said the camps were designed to foster the team unity and spirit that were more evident among last year's touring party to Ireland, compared to the team that played at home in 2001.

While Australia won both Tests in Ireland last year, the Irish prevailed on both occasions on Australian soil in 2001, continuing a recent trend of success for the traveling team.

"There's no doubt that staying together and playing as well as we did last year had a big say in things, so that's what we'll try and do (this year)," Lyon said.

The coach highlighted the commitment of Sydney tagger Brett Kirk who will make himself available to join the team just two days after his wedding on 18 October.

"We only want blokes who are jumping out of their skin and I guess Brett Kirk is one of the great stories.

"We rang him up and he said, 'I've got a small problem, I'm getting married on the 18th, but I reckon I can be there by the 20th'."

Crawford is hoping that the atmosphere from last year's series in Ireland can be replicated in Perth and Melbourne.

"The selectors have chosen people who are not only committed to playing for Australia but to getting out there and winning," the Australian captain said.

"The last Test in Dublin last year at Croke Park was amazing. It was the coldest day I've ever played football on in my life, yet it was so packed. There were 70-odd thousand there and an amazing atmosphere and I couldn't believe there was so many people in the stands watching.

"Hopefully it will be like that here in Australia."

The squad includes eight members of the successful touring party to Ireland last year Bickley, Brown, Crawford, Chris Johnson, Murphy, Pavlich, Scarlett and Simpson while a further six players Bell, Burgoyne, Harvey, Brad Johnson, Power and Smith have previously represented Australia against Ireland.