GAA: Australian Rules club Carlton will decide this week if they are to sign Cork's Young Hurler of the Year Setanta Ó hAilpín.
A spokesperson for the club refused to confirm or deny a report in the weekend's Sunday Tribune that Ó hAilpín would sign a contract today.
"I don't know of that," said Carlton media officer Ian Coutts. "There's a lot of trade talk at this time of the year and if you listen to all of it, you'd get very confused. I don't even know if he was training today. It's up to the match committee to decide on signings. I couldn't say either way."
According to Carlton, Ó hAilpín introduced himself to the club and expressed an interest in trying his hand at Australian Rules. "He was out on holiday and came in to see us and say hello and went for a bit of a run with the boys," said Coutts.
"He's a very good athlete but I don't know how long he's staying out here. We'd have to work out whether he's serious about staying around and whether he could adapt is also an issue. But if there's any interest there - on both sides - we'd be deciding this week."
This is because the deadline for signing "international rookies" is this Friday, December 5th. The AFL confirmed everything was in order for the player's registration.
"We've been asked by Carlton if they could register Setanta Ó hAilpín for training and we've granted permission for that," said the AFL PRO Patrick Keane. "It simply means that all clubs are notified of Carlton's interest."
Keane said this is common at this stage of the year. "Adelaide have registered 11, Carlton 13, Collingwood nine and Essendon three."
"We're pleased that he thought of us when he came out," said Coutts. "He's trained well although his swimming wasn't very impressive. When the boys were on a running and swimming exercise he told them that he couldn't swim."
According to Ireland's International Rules manager John O'Keeffe, a long-time observer of the Australian game, the initiative represents a gamble for Carlton.
"Normally they would be looking at people who were 18 with a view to moulding them over two or three years before they'd be ready for senior fare. Setanta's a fine size and I'd say they were attracted by his height and mobility but the big factor will be what level of skill he can attain with the oval ball. They'd need to spend two years getting him familiar with the set-up."
Ó hAilpín is 20 this year, two years older than Tadhg Kennelly when he signed for the Sydney Swans in 1999. Kennelly - the biggest Irish success story in the AFL since Jim Stynes - who is being mentioned as a possible vice-captain at his club, spent his first two years working on his physique as well as mastering the oval ball.
Although the Ó hAilpín family lived in Australia when Setanta was a child it's doubtful he acquired mastery of the Rules ball at that stage.
"Tadhg did all the work in his first couple of years," said O'Keeffe, "and is blossoming at 22 but he also has leadership qualities on and off the pitch. I'd say Carlton have looked at how he has progressed with the Swans and are thinking that Setanta may be worth a chance.
"He wouldn't be on big money for a while if he was signed but the club would probably take care of the educational side of things while he was there."
