Shane Ryan chose to worship the almighty dollar, he doesn’t care what people think of that

“What about integrity? Well, I did integrity for over a decade.” So said swimmer Shane Ryan when Malachy Clerkin asked him why he had signed up to the performance-enhancing, drug-allowing Enhanced Games. “People’s opinions aren’t going to put food on my table,” said Ryan in response to the backlash he has experienced, “at the end of the day, money is what makes the world go around”. It’s some read.

In rugby, Gerry Thornley gives his thoughts on the tried and tested squad Andy Farrell announced on Wednesday for the Autumn Internationals, John O’Sullivan profiling the only uncapped call-up, 22-year-old prop Paddy McCarthy.

In football, Kevin Kilbane is at his wits’ end watching Ireland’s “descent into mediocrity”. As Muireann Duffy puts it, hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are now “whisker-thin”, but she valiantly attempts to show us how it can still be done.

You’d need a “glass half-full” perspective to believe it’s still possible, but that’s how Heimir Hallgrímsson is trying to look at it. Gavin Cummiskey wasn’t entirely persuaded, nor, most probably, was Gordon Manning when he heard Ryan Manning insist that the team is capable of producing “an unbelievable performance” against Portugal in their next game out.

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If Hallgrímsson has his problems, Carla Ward has plenty of her own too, Courtney Brosnan, Megan Connolly and Leanne Kiernan all ruled out through injury for the Nations League play-off against Belgium later this month.

In Gaelic games, Gordon Manning reports on GPA chief executive Tom Parsons’ appearance before an Oireachtas meeting called to discuss the integration of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, Camogie Association and the GAA, and he also has news on the draws for the 2026 provincial football championships.

In golf, Rory McIlroy would very much like the focus of chat about last month’s Ryder Cup to switch from condemnation of the behaviour of unruly spectators to the “incredible performance” by the European team.

And legendary American football coach Bill Belichick would quite like “bloviating pundits” to stop using him as “comic cannon fodder”. But, as Dave Hannigan tells us in his America at Large column, the 73-year-old isn’t exactly helping himself with his (so far) unsuccessful first season as coach of the University of North Carolina.

TV Watch: There are a bunch more women’s Champions League games on Disney+ this evening, Bayern Munich at home to Juventus, PSG hosting Real Madrid and defending champions Arsenal on the road to Benfica (all 8pm).