IT TOOK until the final question of Thursday's International Rules Series media conference for the elephant in the room to be addressed.

On the podium facing a battery of cameras and microphones were Rodney Eade and Brad Green, the Australian coach and captain, and Irish coach Anthony Tohill. But in place of skipper Stephen Cluxton, the Irish offered vice-captain Ciaran McKeever.

The Irish, it seems, have picked as their captain for a series 15,582km from home a man who doesn't like flying and who, in the words of one Irish reporter, "doesn't do media".

And so it was that another Irish media person asked Green if he was surprised that his counterpart wasn't at the gathering promoting Friday night's first Test.

The Melbourne captain muttered something about lots of different players attending media conferences at different times before Eade added with a slightly puzzled air: "Very quiet man, Stephen, isn't he?"

The gathering dissolved as an Irish reporter congratulated his colleague who had asked the question about the captain's absence. Obviously the skipper's lack of talking is a big talking point among the travelling media - as it is at home.

The Belfast Telegraph reported earlier this week that Cluxton's vow of silence had the approval of Tohill and the Irish contingent.

"I don't think it will strike the Irish people as odd because of the status he has within the GAA and the season he's had with Dublin," Tohill was reported as saying.

"It's now commonly known that Stephen deals with the media in his own way."

In fact, he does it by not dealing with them at all.

According to Tohill, Cluxton does his speaking in the dressing room and on the pitch.

This was a very different media conference for Etihad Stadium, with the green microphone of Raidió Teilifís Éireann front and centre on the desk and an intriguing mixture of accents from the reporters.

Some, it has to be said, were a little difficult to decipher, but the prize had to go to McKeever, whose thick Armagh brogue caused some serious head scratching.

Then again, the Irish media probably reckoned Eade and Green talked funny.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs

The first IRS Test will be played at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on Friday October 28, with the second Test played at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast on Friday November 4. AFL.com.au will cover both games through our live match centre including radio via SEN. Tickets are now on sale via Ticketmaster: call 1300 136 122 or visit ticketmaster.com.au