scouting sessions and tryouts for Irish players. Carlton followed and its experiments with Setanta and Aisake Ó hAilpín began to bear fruit and attract significant media interest in both Australia and Ireland. These experiments were of particular note, as for the first time a club was looking to other sports than Gaelic football, by identifying talented hurling athletes with the right ingredients to become AFL players. With Gaelic footballer Colm Begley's rapid conversion at Brisbane and Martin Clarke's successful AFL debut, media commentators hailed a new era for the Irish experiment. During the 2007 AFL season several AFL clubs began sending talent scouts to Ireland. In March 2008, it was revealed by the media that the AFL had considered a radical proposal to launch an Irish-dominated team in Sydney's western suburbs, which would perform before an international audience under the Celtic brand name. The "Sydney Celtics" plan was first put to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou in early 2007 by Gaelic Players Association executive Donal O'Neill. It was said that the proposal originated at the International Rules Series in Ireland in late 2006, where O'Neill put forward a plan to purchase an AFL licence in Sydney. However, the AFL later dismissed it as simple speculation. Mid 2008, the interest of clubs reached a peak and Tadhg Kennelly and Jim Stynes spoke out about the increasing recruitment activity. AFL player manager Ricky Nixon set up recruitment networks in Ireland to complement those already in place by clubs such as Collingwood, Carlton and Brisbane. Nickey Brennan, GAA boss spoke out against the recruitment activity in June 2008. The AFL and GAA had ongoing discussions about putting limits on the recruitment of players. Despite the rise of former hurler Setanta Ó hAilpín in the AFL, recruitment interest in Ireland began to wane in mid-2010. Several Irish players cancelled their rookie contracts to return home, others were delisted after brief bouts in the various state leagues. 2010-2015: AFL turns to other sources of talent With a media circus surrounding the conversion of professional Australian rugby league players Karmichael Hunt to the Gold Coast Football Club and Israel Folau to the Greater Western Sydney Giants focus began to shift to other sports, particularly rugby football as a potential source of talent. With the success of Canadian rugby union player Mike Pyke's conversion and many other players transitioning at junior level the AFL and commentators began