International Rules

[the Deel Rover]

i'm delighted to hear that, like you said its the only sensible decision. the next problem is for ireland to be competitive....

don't like the dogs bolux of a game meself but jesus we should be competetive the next time considering the amount of lads we have out in oz at the moment ,at this stage we probably have more chance if we played with an oval ball

[ziggysego]

I was glad to see the back of the game. The violence in 2006 was disguisting and I hope that that was the ended of the bastardised game.

I can't understand why Nicky Brennan was so hell bent on getting the game revived, since he seemed to dislike the competition as well.

I do not understand how this will curb the influx of AFL talent scouts coming over to Ireland and taking our young players back to Australia with them for trials. That said, I wouldn't deny any young person the chance, for I wouldn't know if I could.

As for the rule changes, Nicky has stated that the rules will be a lot stuffer. Any yellow or red cards will have a bearing on each team's own sports and the Australian will have an hefty fine seeing as they are paid professionals. *Don't make this a GPA thread. Pleaseeeeee* Unfortunately I am not convinced, as we have had these assurances in the past.

[BallyhaiseMan]

indeed i dont particularly want to see it return but if it is to,
i hope to God, the management pick players with size , ignorance and dirt... and blend them in along some of the finer athletes we have like Sean Kavanagh etc.
Too many players went missing and started crying when their teammates were getting battered in the last two series,
having cowards like these representing us is an embarrassment.

[ziggysego]

Play enough point BallyhaiseMan, but you'll be only up a whole can of worms by selecting a team to 'put manners' on the Australia teams.

Like you say, the games are back and that's that. So instead we should be making sure that the rules are tightened so that the ugly scenes of 2006 cannot happen again. If they were to happen, then the players involved with have heavy penalities imposed upon them, that is carried over to their own codes.

That seems to be what is been talked about, but I want to see the reality of it.

[BallyhaiseMan]

Indeed if a sending off got a fine and a 4 match ban  in the AFL league proper,the Aussie players would be much better behaved.

[Lilly]

cavanmaniac sums up my exact feelings. soon we'll be asking them to play with their shoelaces tied together just to have a fair game.

how quickly we forget that we hammered them in Croke Park two years before the debacle, and that we beat them in Galway...

[squareballz]

Indeed if a sending off got a fine and a 4 match ban  in the AFL league proper,the Aussie players would be much better behaved.

If this is the case you'd have very few top AFL players released by their clubs incase they get banned

[cavanmaniac]

cavanmaniac sums up my exact feelings. soon we'll be asking them to play with their shoelaces tied together just to have a fair game.

how quickly we forget that we hammered them in Croke Park two years before the debacle, and that we beat them in Galway...

No comparison. The Aussies under Sheedy were a much more motivated crew, not to mention belligerent, than they were under Garry Lyon. He hand picked a team of the best players suited to round ball and quick movements and they were all well up for it. We beat them in Galway in 2006 alright but the Aussies were only at 60% that night (biding their time for the all-out assault the following week) and we barely scraped past with a lucky goal; as soon as they turned up the heat at Croker they blew us out of the water - even without the violence, their skills, strength and embarrassingly better ability with the round ball would have whipped us out the gate.

Either because they are just way better than us at so many facets of the game,(even our native skills), or because we have to beg them to dilute their physicality to even it up, putting our players out against the Australians is a terrible embarrassment because it only highlights the massive gulf between both sports and how its players prepare and train.

[Jinxy]

cavanmaniac sums up my exact feelings. soon we'll be asking them to play with their shoelaces tied together just to have a fair game.

how quickly we forget that we hammered them in Croke Park two years before the debacle, and that we beat them in Galway...

No comparison. The Aussies under Sheedy were a much more motivated crew, not to mention belligerent, than they were under Garry Lyon. He hand picked a team of the best players suited to round ball and quick movements and they were all well up for it. We beat them in Galway in 2006 alright but the Aussies were only at 60% that night (biding their time for the all-out assault the following week) and we barely scraped past with a lucky goal; as soon as they turned up the heat at Croker they blew us out of the water - even without the violence, their skills, strength and embarrassingly better ability with the round ball would have whipped us out the gate.

Either because they are just way better than us at so many facets of the game,(even our native skills), or because we have to beg them to dilute their physicality to even it up, putting our players out against the Australians is a terrible embarrassment because it only highlights the massive gulf between both sports and how its players prepare and train.

If you think the Aussies would actually make better gaelic footballers than the Irish lads I don't think you really understand the dynamics of aussie rules, international rules or gaelic football.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Of course the aussies train better they're professionals - its impossible for an ametur to train as well as a professional. However I cetainly dont think the Aussies are better footballers than the Irish and the games played over the past 15 years have shown up the Irish to be the more skillful footballers. I think the violence in the last few series has had a major impact in the Aussie victories. In 2004 Ireland destroyed the Aussies and people were saying it was a waste of time as the Aussies couldnt use the ball. You can put that down to bad management but that was only 1 series and in the one;s that went before Ireland at least competed and often bettered the Aussies. Maybe the increased fitness of the Aussies and physical size will make the series uncompetitive going forward but Id wait a few more years before making that judgement. I like the way people can attempt to find reasons for why Ireland beat Austraillia like the Aussies didnt care, bad management etc. Maybe the Irish have been unprepared for the last few years with bad management with the wrong players picked. Maybe we'll pick different players for the next series that will turn it  on its head again especialliy with the decreased threat of violence from the Aussie hardmen.

[zoyler]

The Aussies proved last time that when the [ick the right sort of player and coach him properly they can quickly master our skills and beat us out the gate.  They are greatly helped in this by their full time truly professional training which turns them into exceptionally strong players who do not loose their speed as a result.  Ally that to the natural talent which they all must have to get to AFL level and you have some players.

What was so annoying the last time was that they resorted to the most outlandish thuggery( resulting in the Irish lads indulging in all sorts of rarely seen retaliations ie getting the head butt in first) when there was absolutely no need and the prospects of seeing their great play was ruined by their unsporting behaviour.  Now maybe Ireland can produce a better team better coached. Hopefully we will see.

[ykickamoocow]

Being a Australian the only problem i have with the International Rules Series is the rules are 70% Gaelic Football and 30% Aussie Rules. Though i dont think there is a sporting code in the world with a wierder looking goal setup. Im used to the 4 goal posts but the net in the middle still looks strange to me.

[Jinxy]

With regard to the fitness and conditioning levels I genuinely think Ireland have a greater capacity to improve in this regard than the Australians over the next few years so I don't envisage a situation where any so-called fitness gap will actually widen. I'll say it again though, I think people generally underestimate how fit our best players are.

[bennydorano]

The only reason I can see for the resumption of the games is £££££.  I've heard the line trotted out about an 'international dimension to our game' - but this is horseshite, it's not our game and it's not their game, it's a half arsed game - a popular half arsed game I'll grant you, but it's all about the loot now.

I used to be a fan of it and went to Croke Park ,took half days off to watch the games in Oz.  Never again.  I just think it's ran it's course.

[cavanmaniac]

cavanmaniac sums up my exact feelings. soon we'll be asking them to play with their shoelaces tied together just to have a fair game.

how quickly we forget that we hammered them in Croke Park two years before the debacle, and that we beat them in Galway...

No comparison. The Aussies under Sheedy were a much more motivated crew, not to mention belligerent, than they were under Garry Lyon. He hand picked a team of the best players suited to round ball and quick movements and they were all well up for it. We beat them in Galway in 2006 alright but the Aussies were only at 60% that night (biding their time for the all-out assault the following week) and we barely scraped past with a lucky goal; as soon as they turned up the heat at Croker they blew us out of the water - even without the violence, their skills, strength and embarrassingly better ability with the round ball would have whipped us out the gate.

Either because they are just way better than us at so many facets of the game,(even our native skills), or because we have to beg them to dilute their physicality to even it up, putting our players out against the Australians is a terrible embarrassment because it only highlights the massive gulf between both sports and how its players prepare and train.

If you think the Aussies would actually make better gaelic footballers than the Irish lads I don't think you really understand the dynamics of aussie rules, international rules or gaelic football.

If you think I was saying they'd make better gaelic footballers than our lads then you didn't really understand my post. It's most unlikely, they'd be lost without the mark and tackle, but what I'm saying is that when they bother their arses, they'll always be infinitely better than us at International Rules because when they put their minds to it they can outperform us even at skills we consider 'ours'.

When they handpick their lighter, skilful pacy players, I think they're a revelation. Their training and professionalism obviously sets them apart, but I stand by the assertion that they are in alot of cases better users of the ball. I haven't the stats but I think they've scored more goals, more overs and less behinds than the Irish in the majority of recent series. So shooting-wise they can use the ball better and because of the premium placed on kicking to the hands from distance in their own game, they easily outstrip the handpass-obsessed gaelic footballers when it comes to footpassing as well. And what's more, they even handpass better too!
Strength and power-wise we'll never be at the races either.

Our guys are fine players in their own right but when set aside the Aussies, it just makes us and our game look bad I think. So again I ask, why bother?