Doesn't necessarily answer your question, but if you're starting at IOM anyway, Etihad fly from Dublin to Sydney and I'm seeing a bargain price for £2512 for mid-March, whilst Emirates goes for a couple of hundred pounds more.

The fare can also be changed/cancelled for a (quite hefty) fee and needs to be booked by Feb 22nd. You don't even need to be away a Saturday night!

Oh, and the EY timings look fair enough to me - as with most airlines (ex LON), you have the option of leaving morning of day 1 arriving evening day 2 or evening day 1 to morning day 3. 23hrs is pretty snappy, too.

Similar story on the way back