Louth sharpshooter Brian White has confirmed that he will be spending next year in Australia, along with team-mates Mick Fanning and John O'Brien.

Louth boss Peter Fitzpatrick was believed to have made a last-ditch effort to try and keep the three players in the country as the Wee County try and hit the ground running in 2011, after the disappointment of this year's Leinster final outcome, but the trio have made up their mind to go travelling for the year Down Under.

"I am at college at the minute, finishing off my apprenticeship in plumbing and I am just not 100 per cent guaranteed work after that. So I am just going to head to Australia for a few months and see how I get on," White told this week's Irish News of the World.

"We are flying into Sydney in January. We are still kind of thinking maybe going away for a few months, maybe working for a few months, and then thinking of maybe coming back sometime for the football. We're not too sure yet how it's going to work out.

"Will we be able to do that with work over here? Yes, because once you get the visa, that's it.

"It starts from January and ends the following January, so we will have to use it up. We only get once chance at it really. I always wanted go travelling. It is a great time - and there's not a pile of work here," added the 24-year-old midfielder.

The hurt after being robbed of a Leinster title, after Tyrone referee Martin Sludden allowed Joe Sheridan's rugby-style score to stand, handing Meath the title, is sure to have played a part in the trio's decision to take a year out of the game.

White said: "I can't understand why the referee didn't listen to his umpire. It was plain to see," he said.

"Between 55,000 and 65,000 people saw it and one man in the middle didn't. I don't know what he was thinking." Tweet

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