International Aussie rules/International rules

[ballymanabroad]

For those of you who are interested, the International Aussie rules cup is being played in Melbourne at the moment. The Irish went into the competition as favourites as they won the cup in 2002. Having seen a few teams so far they are up against it in the form of Papua New Guinea (PNG), New Zealand and the US. The US pulled off a shock victory against the Irish last friday but we responded in true champions form with a 60 point hammering of South Africa. The US were beaten by PNG on sunday so it leaves the competition wide open. The finalists are the teams that top group A and group B. At the moment we are level on points with the US but we have a greater scoring difference so it is looking good with just the Spaniards left to play. The final is on this saturday and it will probably be a rematch of 2002 as we are looking good to take on PNG.

As for the Irish AFL watch.. Tadgh is playing well with Sydney who are looking good for a finals berth. They are currently switching between 2nd and 3rd. The other top four positions are taken up by West coast (Perth), Adelaide and St. Kilda. In a game that is dominated by Melbourne teams this rankles I can tell you. In the closest competition for years there are 12 teams that are in contention to make the top 8. Unfortunately Carlton are not one of those teams. Setanta is not playing with Carlton but is playing in the VFL (like the Celtic league to the Heineken cup) where he is cleaning up. He is still learning the game and tells me that he is gunning to get more action in the AFL.

Roll on the International rules series.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Cheers for the update ballyman, its good to be kept informed about how the irish lads are doing out there and would love it if you kept it up. Any insight on how the aussies see our game and the possible influx of irish players??

[ballymanabroad]

Against all the odds the Irish have made it to the final. They managed to lose to the US who were then beaten by PNG who were then beaten by New Zealand. So after a convoluted scoring system was computed the Irish came out with more points than the US but less than PNG but still face NZ in the final. Got it? No I haven't either. And none of the Irish players do either. They thought they were finished on thursday and were looking forward to some well deserved pints when the coach dropped the bombshell 'ye are playing in the MCG on saturday lads. We have New Zealand in the final'. So the final is on before the Collingwood v Carlton clash which in normal years would have attracted a crowd like a Munster hurling final but because the two teams are 3rd from bottom and last in the AFL there isn't the same level of interest. Should be good craic but the Irish are serious underdogs.

[As Such Ger]

what is the profile of the Irish players? Are they all Irish lads living in Australia at the moment or did some make the trip from here specifically for the tournament?

any Offaly lads involved??

[ballymanabroad]

As far as I could make out, and remember that there are 30 players on the trip, I couldn't recognise any offaly lads. The stand out player was a guy called Michael Finn who was listed as playing with the Midlands bombers but actually plays in Sydney.

Each of the players had to raise more than E600 to be included in the squad. A few of the lads are staying out here on WHV but most of them have taken 3 weeks off work and are returning to Ireland next week.

And now for the bad news. Contrary to my last update we were not playing in the final but the 3rd/4th place play off. The US beat us once again so we relinquished our crown. And for the matter Carlton beat Collingwood. If you watch the Afl on saturday mornings on TG4 you will see Sydney hand out a lesson in football.

It is too early to say who will be on the All Australian team (this forms the basis for the international rules squad, barring drop outs from players who need a break) but the majority will be drawn from Perth (West coast), Sydney (Swans), St. Kilda and Adelaide.

[edenderry]

how does the whole ladder thing of a league work over there

[The Biff]

It is too early to say who will be on the All Australian team (this forms the basis for the international rules squad, barring drop outs from players who need a break) but the majority will be drawn from Perth (West coast), Sydney (Swans), St. Kilda and Adelaide.

Not this year. I read on the AFL website http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=intrules that the Aussies are changing their selection method this year. They are so miffed at the stuffing they got last year that they are opting to give the new Team Managment the chance to pick a squad specifically suited to the IR game. So this next series could be very interesting if the Aussies do NOT include the big Ruckmen of the past, and try to copy the Irish formula of the speedy runners.