The three time All-Ireland winning defender Rory O'Carroll will leave the panel in 2016, it was confirmed on Sunday.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Jim Gavin confirmed the news that O'Carroll would be headed to New Zealand for the year, citing work reasons as the cause.
"Yeah, Rory has decided to go away during the 2016 season. He’s moving to New Zealand, so he won’t be a part of us for the year.
"But we wish him the very best. We’ve always said to players it’s important to get the life balance, between family, their profession, and their sport. We will miss him, but we certainly wish him the best, and he goes with the sun on his back. And we look forward to the day when Rory puts on a county jersey again, and his club, Kilmaud Crokes, who will miss him as much as us".
Speaking after the match, he stated that they do have a big panel and he will be asking others to step up in his absence.
"The game is always evolving", Gavin said, "and it’s certainly a position where we feel we have good cover. A player like Rory you would like to have around, but we’ve a big squad".
The Dublin manager was speaking in Enniscorthy after an O'Byrne Cup tie between Dublin and Wexford which finished level with a scoreline of 2-06 to 0-12.
Image: ©INPHO/Donall Farmer
Goals from Ben Brosnan and Adiran Flynn gave Wexford an early lead of 2-01 to 0-01, and a missed penalty from Dean Rock after 10 minutes made it seem as though it was not going to be Dublin's day, but they came back in the second half with a number of unanswered points.
It was Rock who featured again in the closing minutes as he hit two vital scores that drew Dublin level on both occasions.
Via The Irish Times
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