Brogan loss a blow to Rules hopes

IRELAND’S chances of regaining the Cormac McAnallen Trophy have been dented by confirmation Alan Brogan will be unable to make the trip to Australia for the International Rules tests in Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Brogan was one of the driving forces in Dublin’s capture of the Sam Maguire for the first time in 16 years last month and is hotly-tipped to be named Footballer of the Year but his focus right now is on club rather than country.

St Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh have yet to win the Dublin senior championship in its 51-year history but they have come close in recent years having finished runners-up in 2008 and reached the last four lastseason.

“I looked at the club (fixtures) and it’s not going to be a runner,” said Brogan who had previously expressed an interest to the Irish management. We play on the 16th and the International Rules fly out on the 21st so I haven’t given it much thought. All I can do is concentrate on the club stuff at the moment. There will still be four rounds to be played and, all going well, we would expect to be in the shake-up.”

The Navan Road-based club meets O’Tooles in the last 16 in a fortnight.

Brogan’s brothers, Bernard and Paul, are also on the Eoghan Ruadh roster, as is fellow Dublin All-Ireland winner Ross McConnell, and it remains to be seen how many of Pat Gilroy’s troops — if any — will be available to travel given the backlog in the local championship. The same applies with any possible Kerry contingent although the composition of Anthony Tohill’s squad should become clearer this week. The 35-man panel is training again tonight and it is expected that a dozen will be cut from that to establish the travelling party soon after.

Club or country may be the debate for a number of players right now but some of the last bits of outstanding business left over from the inter-county season were being put to bed yesterday with player of the month and All Star nominations being revealed. Brogan, unsurprisingly, featured in both lists. With 12 Dubs in the All Star shortlist, further celebrations are guaranteed when the final 15 is released but the news the whole county is waiting on most eagerly is that of Pat Gilroy. Mickey Whelan has stood down from the management team that delivered Sam and it remains to be seen if Gilroy feels able to commit for another term.

“I don’t know any more than you,” said Brogan who doesn’t foresee any of the players walking away this winter.

“He has a few things that he wants to sort out but the players are hoping that he will come back. The easy thing to do would be to leave when you’re at the top but I don’t think he’s that type of guy, that type of character. Everything going right for him, I think he will want to stay on but that is his decision and he has to make it himself.”