GAA to discuss player recruitment with AFL

President of the GAA Jarlath Burns ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Jarlath Burns says the thorny subject of player recruitment will be 'top of the agenda' when the GAA meets AFL representatives at the end of the month.

Amid growing concern about the recruitment of young players by AFL clubs without their GAA club or county board's knowledge, the GAA president has expressed the hope that a more agreeable protocol can be found.

"The interest that the AFL has in our Gaelic players is something that we are keeping a very close eye on," Burns told RTÉ in Verona where a new GAA club is being formed.

"We are in talks with the AFL about putting some sort of a protocol in place, possibly such as changing the category of player that goes from category B Rookie to category A and that might self-regulate it in time.

"But certainly we are meeting representatives of the AFL before the end of the month and this issue is going to be top of the agenda with us in the GAA."