Is Gaelic Football gone too soft!

[Seán Boyle Ó Rathallaigh]

Based on last friday and todays embarrassing display in Sydney are modern gaelic footballers being pampered and protected to such a degree that they can't even stand up and defend themselves and their country!!!!!!!!! alot of lads could come home and tog out for Wexford, that yellow stripe across their bellies would suit!!

[Barracuda]

Must say watching it I had similar thoughts but then- its a different game with no real skill - lets be honest, Ya get the ball and run like a scared cat or dog at halloween. 4 steps , 5 steps, 6 steps 8 steps , 120 steps -no end to the amount of steps..
Kick it wide and get a point for it!
No sidesteps or ya get lamped
No nice kick pass in front of a forward or he gets lamped.
No looking around ya for a spilt second or ya get lamped
Get the ball and ya get lamped.
Look for the ball and ya get lamped
Sit on the subs bench and ya get lamped........ okay a bit far perhaps but ya get the idea.

Goalie plays in the half backline and get lamped..... nay tis not a game at all

[As Such Ger]

thats a very good point Barra....having watched both games on the Tv and been at both games last year, I have to say that it really is not a very enjoyable spectator sport.

Plus, it really brings to the fore the point about the tackle in Gaelic football....while our current form is not 100% ideal, it is far far far better than the one in the compromise rules... it means that players with a bit of skill can actually take a second to maybe take a look up and use the ball, rather than simply fearing for life and handing it 5 yards on to the next player running by.

plus, this year we were surprised that the aussies could kick a ball over the bar... sur, isnt that the whole point of the game. if this is to be a serious sport then the least u'd expect is that the best exponents of the game can at least master a basic skill.

you wouldnt go to Wimbledon and marvel at how well a player has mastered to hit the ball into the opponents side, despite the net being in their way....

[the bare biffo]

Plus, it really brings to the fore the point about the tackle in Gaelic football....while our current form is not 100% ideal, it is far far far better than the one in the compromise rules... it means that players with a bit of skill can actually take a second to maybe take a look up and use the ball, rather than simply fearing for life and handing it 5 yards on to the next player running by.

Agree fully with the above. At one stage I thought the aussie tackle should be introduced to football and it would solve the confusion that exists over what is a tackle and what is not. I've now turned completely on that and can see what we would get is a lot of what we saw last week. Skillfull guy like Munnelly and Cooper disappearing from the game and being replaced with rugby players who simply charge into tackles and lay off. No thanks. Promote the railway cups properly and bring IR back to the only place it should be, on a car reg plate.

[TheManFromFerbane]

I think the problem is not that they are wimps but just that an entire team of small light players (bar a few exceptions) and none tough men (bar Ryan McMenamin) were picked.

If you look at any successful team they have a mix of dogged individuals that get the ball and give it to the more skillful players on the team. These dogged players also usually take it upon themselves to "look after" the lighter players.

The probelm with the International rules team was that there was nobody on the team that could look out for the smaller lads and as a result the Aussies just had a field day, both on the scoreboard and on the pitch.

However this does not excuse some of the open field hits that the aussies did. I don't mind the fighting as much because a) most of it was hand bag stuff and b) if the Irish had a few bigger lads the aussies wouldn't have been as inclined to fight. I think the Irish invited the fighting onto themselves.

But some of them open field hits were shocking and were a deliberate attempt to hurt Irish players who have jobs to go back to. They should not be condoned or excused.

In relation to our own game I do think with some refs its becoming more and more of a none contact sport. With others its fine but some refs dont like any physical contact at all. Prime example is a hit during the Portlaoise-Stadbally game yesterday (Apologies for not knowing the players concerned). But the stradbally man hit a fair shoulder on the Port man and just because it was a big hit that shook the guy up it was deemed a free AND a booking.

I am all for getting rid of the niggly fouls but not at the expense of a good fair, walloping open field jossle.

[black and red exile]

I think the problem with the Irish squad is that there are too many nice footballers, and as parts of the media have stated its crazy to expect all Ireland winners and runners up, after having to perform at their very peak just a couple of weeks before, to try to adjust to a totally different game with alien rules to our own is asking way too much of amateur players.
Next year, [providing its not kicked into touch ] id like to see the likes of Seamus o Neill of Roscommon, the McEntee brothers plus Kieran McGeeney of Armagh to name but a few in that mould that would have no problem in mixing with the Aussies in what ever way they want it, although that would probably kill my arguement about all Ireland players taking part seeing that Armagh will probably be raging favourites to at least get to the last sunday in september.

[Lone Shark]

The truth is that if a few simple things were different this wouldn't even be discussed.

(1) The Irish Ref was fair, the Aussie one was ridiculously biased. This was worth 10-15 points per test.

(2) Refs never looked to stamp down on un-necessary aggressive play. The Aussies would only react if there was a threat of suspension from AFL games - though this could increase the rate of pull outs from their squads even further, so I'm not sure how workable that is.

(3) They used the interchange to make sure they were fit and fresh all the time - we didn't. If we were playing a 5 a side game tonight for an hour with 6 players each player would go off for at least 4 breaks if it was being done right - that wasn't happening at all.

(4) They learned how to kick - their standard weakness - we never bothered to learn how to tackle.

(5) Look at the game - fielding, running, contact, and laying off under pressure - ideal for midfielders. Yet we brought out feck all midfielders and heaps of superfluous forwards. Forde, Joyce, Cooper, Dolan, Mulligan, Munnelly, all these lads struggled, and though you need some, lads like Bradley or Brendan Jer would have been much more what the doctor ordered, along with a healthy dollop of extra midfielders. O'Neill certainly, McGrane, Nicholas Murphy, Eamonn O'Hara and the likes.


Train them right and referee it properly and it'll be competitive again next year.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Well said LS

[Treasurer]

Offaly voted last night to support the call to abandon the series.