Will the Aussie Rules last?

[Rynaghs Biffo]

Taken from rte.ie

GAA President Nickey Brennan has sensationally revealed that in his view the International Rules series could be over.

Brennan's comments follow the shamefully violent scenes that marred the second Test between Ireland and Australia at Croke Park yesterday.


There were several ugly punch-ups throughout the game and Ireland's Graham Geraghty was knocked unconscious and spent the night in hospital.

Irish management accused the Australians of deliberately targeting Geraghty among other players and were incensed that the Australian referee did not send anyone off.


Brennan said the GAA will consult with managers, players and various committees but that at the moment the series 'is hanging by a thread'.

He added that the GAA apologised to all those who attended yesterday's match, particularly to the 20,000 children who viewed a contest he described as 'a major embarrassment to the organisation.'

Brennan went on to condemn the violence, and claimed that it is possible that an Irish team will not travel to Australia next year

6th November '06


I suppose I'll start the ball rolling on this one. I was at the game and was pure disgusted.

The ironic thing is, a lot of people were disapointed when the test in Galway had little or no bust ups, and when it all flamed up yesterday, people shared the same disapointment! What happened in the first quarter is the worst I've ever seen in Croker, was great craic at first, but when you an Irish player being strechered off while on oxygen, it was a sad sight.

But you have to take into account, some of the Irish lads were rising the Aussies. Steven McDonnell for example was constantly pushing and shaping up to his man, I was even close enough sometimes to hear what he was saying!

In all honesty tho, I think the Aussies played the better football and showed their our style of play. Whenever one of their players was about to make a mark, there was already at least 2 men running for the next mark. The Irish did the typical Gaelic Football thing of a long kickout and relying on the midfielder to field the ball, useless yesterdays game. There was an awful lot of wasted and suicide ball played, which gave us feck all scoring chances. And when the chance came, they weren't taken.

Before the game, Everywhere you looked there were buses and buses of kids, and for them it must of been scary watching that. They are the future of our game and I don't think theres any future in Compromise Rules, why should there be.

And wheres the compromise in compromise rules?

[the bare biffo]

The series serves no purpose. When it was a jolly for the lads it did. The GAA got the illusion that they were representing their country in an international sport and the aussies got a good piss up and a few irish recruits.
But once the aussies took it seriously and applied their professional ethics that was the end of the jolly.

[Skippy]

Long time Reader, First Time Poster, so go easy on me lads!!
In fairnes, in my opinion it has to be said that we were not as innocent as Sean Boylan made us out to be. I seen on at least two occasions Stephen McdDonnell headbutting his marker and in other instances we were just as much at fault as the Austrailans. But on the other hand it has to be said that the irish players were in some cases, just defending themselves. At one stage Ryan O'Keefe had Tom Kelly of laois on the ground, with his arms pinned behind him and was flaking into him. Only for Colm Begleys intervention i dread to think what state he might have ended up in.
The rules are a joke. Allowing a player who has been sent off for starting a Brawl to be replaced, and then come back on himself later in the game is not right. The Rules and Policy makers on both sides urgently need to address these issues, if the series is to continue.
On another point does anyone actually think it is an attractive game to watch? If it was on every other Sunday and was played with proper rules, i still dont feel that i would be too endeared to it. I personally feel its not a patch on our own Gaelic Football from a spectator point of view. Its too stop-start for my likeing.

[TheManFromFerbane]

Have to agree with you in all your points bar one skippy. I actually do like the game when its played properly, but then again i like aussie rules so maybe thats why. I know its not a patch on Football (when football is played right) but i still find it entertaining.

Another point I'd like to add is I think its ironic that Sean Boylan who took charge of one of the most aggressive GAA teams to play in croke park and a team that was involved in one of the most violent rows ever in croker (Mayo V Meath) should then give out about the "thuggery" of the aussies. Me thinks he was just rattled cause his fair haired boy was hurt. (Thankfully not seriously in the end) He wasn't saying much when Gerraghty kneed an aussie in the head!

I'm in an internet café so i cant make all the points i want to make but I just want to say that the constant giving out about roughness only when we lose makes us look like whingers.

[Fido]

Howya lads, another Newbie here.
Naturally most of the press attention will be hogged by the onfield violence but to be honest that's not the biggest problem I have with the International Rules series. Basically, it doesn't work as a game. You'd forgive the flare ups and the press slagging matches if there was a really interesting spectacle being put on to back it all up. There isn't. I was at the Galway match, and I've never seen 34000 people being so quiet. And that was a close game, with an Ireland win. I can only imagine how weird it must have been in Croker with 82000 people sitting on their hands. The fatal flaw in this game is that you'll never get two teams equally well prepared and equally comfortable with the rules and the skills to make a real game of it. Two years ago the Aussies barely turned up and Ireland won it too easily. Now the Aussies are taking it too seriously and the Irish haven't a hope. Any other major ball game in the world (Gaelic, Rugby, Soccer, Aussie Rules) has been codified over a fair length of time and had its problems ironed out by that process. It's just not reasonable to expect a new game to start from scratch, be played twice a year with new teams every year, and to work.
People point to the sell out crowds to show that the game is a success, and to be honest until recently I'd have been very much in favour of keeping it going. But I wonder how many of the 82000 yesterday will be there in two years time? Having gone to see it I wouldn't be too pushed about going again.
Jaysus, I'm tired after typing all that with two fingers.

[Rynaghs Biffo]

I have to disagree with you there fido, I think its a great mighty game, but thats only when its played right or when theres actually football being played. When the series came back in 1998 (I think) there was some great matches and the contests were fairly even.

And also, i think the preparation by both teams was very well done, they can both adjust to it, but there must of been something wrong with their mental preparation.

Still in saying all that, I dont think the series will last unfortunatly, which will be a sad sight.

[Bord na Mona man]

Unless the rules can be properly enforced the series will be in serious difficulty.
If brawls and dirty hits are going to be common place, then we might as well pick an Irish team that are well able for the physical stuff.

Ireland were assured that there wouldn't be a repeat of the scenes from last year. When the Aussies lost in Galway they reverted to type.

It was fine while it was exhibition sport, the competitive edge has shown the differences between the two sports and the attitudes of the two teams are greater than we thought.

[The Magpie]

My take on the whole saga.

Part 1 - Fundamentals
What nobody has pointed out is how we're really not that good anymore at the fundamentals of Gaelic Football.

a) Delivering an accurate foot-pass. I'm not talking about a pass into a 'zone' where a lad has half-an-acre to run into. That really doesn't display much skill on the behalf of the kicker. Perhaps he who is finding the space is clever or just incredibly fast and fit.

b) The ability to field the ball. Was this not brought home to us with Kerry's new found (traditional!) tactics this year.

It's embarassing to say it, but the Australians were far more comfortable doing both of those things, with a ball that they don't use.

Part 2 - Fighting
Watching the match on Sunday, my Father asked me 'Why are the Irish lads always the one's on the ground when they fight?'. We have to accept that brawling is something that the Australians are actually good at...very good at. Gaelic footballers are built differently these days - this is illustrated by the fact that we all believe Kieran McGeaney is a monster of a man. Do you honestly think the Australians subscribe to this theory?

Part 3 - Tactics/Coaching
Disregarding the persistence with the traditional kick-out, which doesn't even seem worth debating, the Irish lads didn't seem to have any tactics beyond the same one's that they use week-in week-out.

I lost count of how many times they tried to:

- run the ball
- hand-pass the ball in tight situations, which ultimately got tighter
- safe-bet kick-pass (i.e. in the general direction of a player, guaranteed to hop 10 yards before it gets to him, with an Australian lad in hot pursuit)

In contrast, the Australians concentrated on taking marks, and did so very effectively. This is where I disagree with you Rynaghs Biffo. The Irish team were not at all well prepared for this game - they attempted to play Gaelic Football.

[Lone Shark]

I've always enjoyed the contests, but in saying that, as MFF said, give me a good game of football over it any day. However 82,000 people yesterday said all that needed to be said about the popularity of the game, so there probably should be some attempt to save the series.

As regards the "whinging" or otherwise, I'm kind of straddled between both camps. The Aussies are quite keen to get away with everything they can, and for all the Aussies that talk of manliness, sneaking the first goal while everyone was involved in the fight was a bit rich. In saying that, the Irish would be a lot more entitle to talk about fighting if our position wasn't weakened by a couple of atrocious digs from Ryan and O'Mahony.

Overall I think it can be saved, if the following steps are taken:

(1) We should lead from the front. O'Mahony and Ryan should be suspended in order to make the point that dirty play will not be tolerated.

(2) This craic of the Aussie referee being utterly blind to everything his team does has to stop. It's not the players fault that they get away with everything in his jurisdiction.

(3) Suspensions should carry into the AFL and the GAA championship season. Lads wouldn't be so carefree about getting them then.

(4) The Irish need to get competitive. In order to do that, it should be encouraged that lads that have played the game before or else lads that have had time to prepare be focussed on. I've no idea how lads like Paddy Bradley or Ryan McMenamin got on in training, but lads like these with no club or county commitments could have been preparing to play IR for a month or so. As Magpie pointed out, most of our guys just tried to play Gaelic football, playing low ball into corners etc. It clearly didn't work.

[Rynaghs Biffo]

(1) We should lead from the front. O'Mahony and Ryan should be suspended in order to make the point that dirty play will not be tolerated.

I totally agree, you don't see and dirty play in the AFL for the simple reason that the player get fined huge money like €10K or €20K along with a few games suspension. In the compromise rules, it doesn't carry over so the Aussies can do what they like!

(2) This craic of the Aussie referee being utterly blind to everything his team does has to stop. It's not the players fault that they get away with everything in his jurisdiction.

Firstly, they'll have to be 10 times more stricter, and not to be afraid to hand out yellow and red cards. Also, the whole idea of winning a free and being allowed to run with the ball should be scraped and only be allowed used when a mark is taken. It leads to confusion and more dirty strokes.

(3) Suspensions should carry into the AFL and the GAA championship season. Lads wouldn't be so carefree about getting them then.

Point 1 repeated......

(4) The Irish need to get competitive. In order to do that, it should be encouraged that lads that have played the game before or else lads that have had time to prepare be focussed on. I've no idea how lads like Paddy Bradley or Ryan McMenamin got on in training, but lads like these with no club or county commitments could have been preparing to play IR for a month or so. As Magpie pointed out, most of our guys just tried to play Gaelic football, playing low ball into corners etc. It clearly didn't work.

As i said before, the Gaelic Football tactics would never work on Sunday and they needed a lot more running off the ball. And in reply to The Magpie, what I was trying to say was the Irish team had plenty of time and resources to be prepared, but it still wasn't good enough.

[arbarg]

the series is a joke.
glorifying punch ups is not the way forward for the gaa.
Plus the fact that Ireland cant compete with the professionals.
we are miles off the pace, physically and mentally.
I say forget it an concentrate on the grass roots at home instead,

[Ron]

I was a great fan of this game since it's revival in '98, but what happened on sunday was disgraceful. I mean how can the Aussies 6 pointer be considered a goal while there's a fully fledged brawl out the field? The blame lies squarley witht he Aussies for proceeding to play in this way tactically and with tht referees for not implementing the rules as they are (after all the GAA made it clear that that was what was needed to save the series from last years scenes).

We really must ask what is to be gained by the GAA for continuing this series?? It seems at this stage that the AFL benifit far more from this game internationally in terms of raiseing the profile of their own game.

Perhaps its time for thinking outside the box in terms of filling this slot in the calender with something more worthwhile? A world cup of GAA a la Mickey Hartes suggestions??

[the bare biffo]

A GAA World Cup

Say for football,

Ireland (Junior club players only, no inter county players with junior clubs)
USA
Britain (or would Scotland/Wales make a team)
Europe (Continental)
Australia

If there was another team out there somewhere you could have two groups of three played off with the winner of each group playing in the final which would be played as the curtain raiser to the railway cup final.

Make a big social and media event out of it with the internationals getting to mix with the cream of the talent from the inter provincial final.
Humble beginnings for sure, but the rugby world cup wasn't much kop when it started either.

[The Rover]

Although I didn‘t see the two games I would like to think that the series does have a future. All the international games I have seen in the past were entertaining and certainly as, if not more, entertaining than an intercounty game where Offaly is not involved. There was lots of end to end action and more scores than in football due to the double goalposts.

This is the only chance Gaelic Football has to compete and measure itself internationally. In the past the GAA could rely on a traditional support base to survive. As society changes, becomes more urban and less attached to tradition the GAA will have to compete with other sports for players and supporters. An international dimension will offer the GAA an edge in this respect.

I have been particularly taken by the articles on the game which focused less on the violence and fighting and more on ability of both teams. By all accounts Australia were way ahead in this regard – which given that they are professionals is not surprising. Because of Gaelic Football‘s insularity everybody likes to speculate whether Gaelic Football is better now than 20 or 30 years ago. This can only ever be theoretical. Only a few weeks ago a lenghty debate took place on this site as to whether the current Rhode team is better than the Edenderry team of the late 90‘s. The international rules offer a practical chance to compare Gaelic Football on a regaular basis agaunst an objective benchmark and that must be in everybody‘s interest. It offers a chance to look forward and not back.

It seems that over the years the gap has widened between Australia and Ireland which may account for the negative soundings on the series from the GAA. Australia has become more professional and the GAA seems to be getting nervous that the same idea may occur within it‘s own ranks. My view here is that we need to learn from the competition. Gaelic Football does does not need to become a professional sport but the GAA will need to invest a lot more money in it‘s player in the future if it‘s to compete successfully with other sports.

Finally, as to the the games themselves, my take on it is that the rules were not applied stringently enough. More players should have been cautioned or sent off earlier. If this had happened most of the fighting would have been eliminted and we would have had two entertaining games. The more of an advantage the Australians gain through their professionalism, the more handicap measures such as the round ball need to be introduced to ensure both teams are competing on a level playing field. Enforce the rules, balance out inequalities caused by professionalism and the series has a future.

[Ron]

I'm sorry but this prefessionalism vs Amatuerism debate can really wind me up!
Its not about that at all. Yes the GAA need to continue the promotion of our games worldwide, call it what you like but this "Hybrid" game is neither GAA nor AFL, and so to talk about Gaelic football benchmarking itself against something is not really accurate sine it is not Gaelic Football being played.

Bare Biffo, i think thats a great idea, mixing the elite players with the club players it what the GAA is all about and existing structures in Asia, Europe, Australia etc. could be used to provide teams for the competition. Make it a big family day out in Croke Park with a carnival type atmosphere, a festival of GAA. Plenty of room for the underage clubs to get cheap tickets and a chance to see the best players in the country/world take to the field.