New Dublin manager Pat Gilroy has voiced his support for the new GAA closed season, which bans all inter-county activity during the months of November and December. The moratorium has already played havoc with Gilroy's immediate post-Christmas schedule, with the organisers of the annual Dubs Stars games being forced to seek an alternative date to the scheduled December 27 event. But in spite of this and the obvious difficulty it poses for managers, Gilroy said: "The rules are there for a reason, and I concur with the reasoning - that people need a break from inter-county. So I'm not going to break them because I agree with them." Gilroy announced a provisional 43-man panel on Wednesday which includes all of the old familiar names as well as 11 newcomers. He stressed that the squad was "open ended" and that there was still plenty of time for others to stake a claim for a place in the squad. Tweet

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