Messages

The first thing we'd need to do is to actually capture the numbers that are playing Gaelic Games seriously in other places -- that little piece of work hasn't even been attempted (to the best of my knowledge). Yet, there are officials regularly going abroad to officiate, until such times as those areas are self-sufficient. You, and your ilk  , are very fond of throwing out these statements in certitude, yet no supporting facts (no alternative, it'll result in professionalism, we don't have the numbers, etc., etc.). I don't know the answer either, but what I am saying is let's be proactive about it and capture the details, and measure the viability. And when the body in whom we place our trust (the GAA) treats the Inter-Provincials with such contempt as they've shown recently, perhaps we can be forgiven for a degree of scepticism.

Don't come crying to me if next Fridays game degenerates into another thugathon... and if it doesn't, give it time, it will.

FoSB I'm sure everyone on this board would like to see other countries being able to field truely competitive football teams but the reality is, that day is decades away (at least!!). Another reality is we don't have the money to develop the GAA to any great degree in other countries and can you imagine the fuss if the GAA announced a €10 million development of the GAA in lets say Germany? How many GAA officials would cry this money should be spent on hurling in this country?

Is the IR perfect? No, but it is the best we've got and as many of us have pointed out it isn't causing any harm.

On a side note, I think too people get wrapped up in this fairytale of promoting the GAA to unconverted masses throughout the globe.

Exactly. How many people here are familiar with Lacrosse or Bandy, do you suppose these will become big in Ireland. No, a university may have a team but thats it.

Well I do think football in particular would have a decent chance of growing beyond these shores but it would be a very longterm project so in the mean time IR is the best alternative. As AFS points out people need to look on this from a purely sporting context, and when i do that I can only see positives in the game. It isn't a threat to the GAA , it has little impact on GAA activity, it allows us to compare ourselves to professional athletes who play a similar game to our own, it gives the top players a well earned trip to Oz and an opportunity to play for their country. I just can't see the harm in it, if you don't like the game itself fair enough but just don't watch it and you'll be fine.

There's alot to be learned from Aussie tactics and support play and shooting under pressure if we'd open our eyes and see this for the learning opportunity it is.

Exactly, if I were coaching an inter county team I'd be out in Australia to watch the movement of the Aussie players, there are All Irelands to be won if lessons are learnt.

I thought the Irish players over played the hand pass at times today.

We always do, in this game and in our own game. Irish players generally drift over to the man in possession which means he often has 3 or 4 teammates within 5 yards of him, this means all his options are a fistpass distance away. We need to coach an awareness of space into our players, make players realize the need for alternative options and the ability to work the ball out of tight spaces and back into the open.

It high lights nothing. It is a different game against players from a different game. You can't compare a sprinter with a cyclist and say that it shows the cyclist needs to improve on is breathing or that the sprinter needs to improve on stamina. You compare sprinters with sprinters and cyclists with cyclists.

That's the same head in the sand type of comment fellas came up with the last time. I'll give you an example of our woeful technique, Bryan Cullen took a mark and attempted to kick a cross field ball (approx. 15 meters) to Kieran Donaghy. He shanked it and Donaghy had to turn around and dive to gather the ball for the mark, now remember this guy is the primary foot passer for Dublin, yet he made a hash of an unpressurised kick to a teammate less than 20 meters away. He was far from the only culprit, in fact this was repeated all through the game by various Irish players or what about Coulters missed free kick in the first 2 or 3 minutes?

English comprehension problem eh? ... "promoting games internationally" is not the same as the "internationalisation" of Gaelic Games. And I certainly don't buy your assertion that professionalism would be an inescapable component of any move towards internationalisation. That sounds like defeatist to me.

Sorry now FoSB but that sounds delusional to me. There can only be a French, German or Japanese football team if there are people playing the game in those countries. We have GAA in the school system in Brittany, Canada and Britian so in time we might see teams that could play Ireland in an international football fixture but it is a long way away and would require funding that we don't have. As for doing this while remaining amateur, well I just don't see how that is possible, the GAA is embedded into Irish society with massive opportunities for us all to play important games (club, school, college, county) but I don't ever see us convincing many other nationalities to put in the same level of preparation our lads do to have truely competitive teams without financial reward.

[The lesson I see is that we are enhancing the physical side of our games, the mental and physical preparation necessary to operate at a high level fitness and focus wise, but we are neglecting the skills of the games. In our own games last year, we saw any amount of very very bad foot passing, and kicking for scores.]

The biggest lesson I think we can take from these type series is not that we must get more physical or more fit than the Aussies, they are full time pros. There is a limit a team can reach in an amateur scenario which is less than a pro.

The lesson I see is that we are enhancing the physical side of our games, the mental and physical preparation necessary to operate at a high level fitness and focus wise, but we are neglecting the skills of the games.

In our own games last year, we saw any amount of very very bad foot passing, and kicking for scores. I think what this series emphasises is that we have really gone back in that area, apart from a few honourable exceptions.

This is repeated over and over in every inter county game you watch, again, with some notable exceptions like Kerry Galway last year. But there are many 'forwards' playing inter county football who simply cannot be expected to score more than 70% of their chances within 30-40 yards. The Aussies are as good as ourselves at kicking scores, and were last time around as well.

I would love to see the happy balance where our players would be very fit, but not super fit (in an amateur context), but would be able to master the skills. I think what this series reinforces is that our physical levels will never reach the Aussies, but what we have sacrificed skills wise in the modern era is quite stark.

Couldn't agree more AZ, this is what I posted immediately after the game on the 'Score 1' thread..."the compromise rules game again highlighted the poor footwork, movement, thinking and worst of all shooting of our lads". I should have included foot passing and control of the ball, I also pointed this out after the last series but many on here disagreed, believing that our poor technique was a consequence of the Aussies overly physical approach, it is not. The reality is this game punishes poor technique, slow play and poor support running more than our own game. As a coach I'm fascinated by the way we play IR as opposed to the Aussies and I really believe that IR is underlining the fact that we have only scratched at the surface of what teams are capable of in football. The fact of the matter as far as I'm concerned is we don't play football particularly well and this is being shown up in the IR series.

zapa, there will never be a meaningful international outlet for gaelic football.. ever.

That, mk, is something that we will never know without actually giving it a genuine and wholehearted effort. We have the global diaspora, and we now have many nationalities besides ourselves playing Gaelic Games, principally football. And sometimes there are Gaelic Games that don't even involve a single Irish player.

Yet, we do nothing to factor those elements in to, or to promote, the internationalisation of our games. Nothing, nada, zilch. No imagination, no effort, no thought, no chance. Instead we demote our Inter-Provincials, with the cream of players, as far down the register as they can go and elevate this mongrel of a game than can never go anywhere else to a position of untouchable pre-eminence. Shameful.

Nonsense, we do a huge amount to promote Gaelic Games internationally but if we want to make the GAA an international sport like rugby or soccer we would need to put massive amounts of money into promotion (money we don't have) and we would need to turn professional which would cause a panic overload on this board if past threads are anything to go by. The inter provincials aren't dying because of the IR, it is dying because no matter what the GAA have tried nobody is too bothered about it. Like other posters I love to know what the hell is the problem with IR? If I was an inter county player I'd love the opportunity of playing against the Aussies in Australia and even if this is only a free trip to Australia for the best players in the country (which I don't believe it is) then that is reason enough to keep it in my book.

Jesus but that's a brutal 'sport' and an utterly pointless exercise IMO.

We're not going to agree on this one mate so we'll just have to leave it..................but I'm right.

Yep that was the team alright, I still don't think Canning deserved one more than Mullane.

Cavanagh, YPOY was Tommy Walsh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDAHD80wpfE&feature=related


Class.

You must be delighted with the draw Onlooker, Tipp will fancy their chances of making a Munster final now. Though I'd personally fancy Limerick to emerge from that side of the draw.

I think this could be a good decision by the Dublin CB. Gilroy will bring intelligence and the ability to organize the running of a large team to the set up leaving Whelan to look after the coaching. 

I've heard it's Gilroy as manager and Mickey Whelan as coach, don't know if this is true but apparently it's a definate.