Three Bulldogs have been named in the star-studded Australian line-up to battle Ireland in the 2015 Virgin Australia International Rules Series at Croke Park in Dublin on Saturday November 21.

All Australian captain Bob Murphy, will be joined by All-Australian and Bulldogs teammates Jake Stringer and Easton Wood for the international match.

Essendon veteran Dustin Fletcher is also part of the squad, the post-script to his 400-game career with the Bomber destined to be the Australian goalkeeper.
 
Former Saint Brendon Goddard will also take the field with former teammates Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna.
 
Emerging stars Hawthorn's Luke Breust, Port Adelaide's Chad Wingard, and Essendon's Dyson Heppell are also part of the 22-man squad of players, which is made up of players from 11 clubs.
 
Carlton, Collingwood, North Melbourne, Melbourne, Richmond, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney do not have a player in the squad.
 
All players selected in the 22-man squad, to be coached by three of the AFL's leading coaches, Alastair Clarkson, Ross Lyon and Chris Scott, have previously earned All Australian selection.
 
Included in the squad are 14 players who represented Australia in the Virgin Australia International Rules in Perth last season.
 
Just four players making the trip, Andrew Gaff, Heppell, Roughead and Stringer, have never played International Rules before.

 

Easton Wood has made one previous green and gold appearance, as part of the 2011 Australian International Rules squad, while Bob Murphy returns to the national line-up over a decade after making his participating in the 2002 and 2003 International Rules Series.
 
The team will initially travel to New York in the second week of November for a training camp, including a practice match against a US representative GAA team, before arriving in Dublin in the week of the November 21 match.
 
Clarkson said the challenge of taking on the Irish in Ireland would be huge but the squad represented the best collection of talent the AFL could gather for the game.
 
"The 2014 Test match in Perth was a great highlight, as we brought together the leading players from across our competition in the one side," Clarkson said.
 
"We were able to combine well in a short period and give a great account of ourselves, to win the match, but the challenge will be more difficult again to now go to Ireland and win in front of a capacity crowd at Croke Park."
 
In Perth last year, Australian reclaimed the Cormac McAnallen Cup with a 10-point victory over the Irish.
 
Hodge won the Jim Stynes Medal for his performance in front of 38,262 people at Patersons Stadium.
 
The 2015 Virgin Australia International Rules squad is:
 
Eddie Betts (Adelaide Crows)
Grant Birchall (Hawthorn)
Luke Bruest (Hawthorn)
Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong Cats)
Dustin Fletcher (Essendon)
Andrew Gaff (West Coast)
Brendon Goddard (Essendon)
Robbie Gray (Port Adelaide)
Dyson Heppell (Essendon)
Luke Hodge (Hawthorn)
Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
Leigh Montagna (St Kilda)
David Mundy (Fremantle)
Robert Murphy (Western Bulldogs)
Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda)
Tom Rockliff (Brisbane Lions)
Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn)
Nick Smith (Sydney Swans)
Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs)
Harry Taylor (Geelong Cats)
Chad Wingard (Port Adelaide)
Easton Wood (Western Bulldogs)