AFL Invasion

[Croí na hÉireann]

I love how the AFL taking 3/4 players are year is shocking yet lose more players to

xbox
soccer
rubgy
drugs
drink
speeding

every year

Are u doing a niveng???

[J70]

J70 - where did anyone suggest "standing in the way" of young fellas. I don't think any sensible person thinks that's a viable or even a possible approach. But the GAA must address the problem. It's fine on a personal level for all of us to be happy that the lads involved get to pursue their ambitions. But that's not a reasonable basis for a GAA policy that will ensure our very best players are not lost to AFL on a systematic basis. I don't think our administrators would be doing their job of preserving the interests of the GAA if their only response to the drain of the very cream of our talent was "sure isn't it great to see the lads doing well in Australia".

Well what do you propose they do? You can't bar the scouts from attending matches and you can't stop them contacting the players. Everyone is crying about grants, so what is there that the GAA can do to stop players going over there?

[Hardy]

I don't have much to offer, I'm afraid. My post in this thread is the best I could do.

[Gnevin]

I love how the AFL taking 3/4 players are year is shocking yet lose more players to

xbox
soccer
rubgy
drugs
drink
speeding

every year

Are u doing a niveng???

What? Who?

[Croí na hÉireann]

I love how the AFL taking 3/4 players are year is shocking yet lose more players to

xbox
soccer
rubgy
drugs
drink
speeding

every year

Are u doing a niveng???

What? Who?

Have a look here... http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=6741.msg245245#msg245245 

[Rossfan]

Hanley a MAYOMAN NOT A SHEAPSTEALER.

He is not and never can be a Mayoman. 
He might have to play for them under GAA rules  >:(but he is a 100% Rosman.
By the way we are called shEEpstealers.

[Zulu]

I love how the AFL taking 3/4 players are year is shocking yet lose more players to

xbox
soccer
rubgy
drugs
drink
speeding

every year

While I accept we can't (and shouldn't) do anything to stop the drain of players to AR, I don't accept the above comparison at all. The players the Aussies are taking are some of the very best players we produce and the Aussies only want them because they excel at our game. I'm absolutely delighted that these lads can go and live a dream life as pro sportsmen in a great country but it is a worrying development for the future of our game. Of course football will survive and things will move on but I can't help but wonder about what these players would have brought to our game and the pieces of magic that we will never see.

[stephenite]

I've said it before - young men want to be full time professional sportsmen, and throwing all the scholarships or other 'benefits' at them is not going to change the fact that young men want to be full time professional sportsmen.

If the GAA and it's members want to stop these young men becoming full time professional sportsmen in the AFL than the only way we can stop it, is to allow them to become full time professional sportsmen in the GAA - it really is as simple as that.

The issue is that no one (or at least not that many) in the GAA want to see full time professionals playing in the GAA, we can't have our cake and eat it too.

It's my opinion that there is nothing that can be done to stop this, the key words (if you hadn't already noticed!) are full time professionals and as an association we are long way off having those words used to describe our players

[Gnevin]

I love how the AFL taking 3/4 players are year is shocking yet lose more players to

xbox
soccer
rubgy
drugs
drink
speeding

every year

While I accept we can't (and shouldn't) do anything to stop the drain of players to AR, I don't accept the above comparison at all. The players the Aussies are taking are some of the very best players we produce and the Aussies only want them because they excel at our game. I'm absolutely delighted that these lads can go and live a dream life as pro sportsmen in a great country but it is a worrying development for the future of our game. Of course football will survive and things will move on but I can't help but wonder about what these players would have brought to our game and the pieces of magic that we will never see.

They are only the "best" because of the age/level they get to .We all know many great young fellahs who stopped playing at 15/16 when they had talent to burn or went to play soccer . The extra 2/3 years and playing at minor makes the lose seem greater

[Zulu]

I wouldn't accept that Gnevin, all sports lose players to 'drink' and other sports/attractions, the difference here is that football and AR are very similar sports and a guy who excels in one is likely to excel in the other. We are basically developing prospective elite performers for another code and then when the cream of that talent reaches a stage where they are about to become the best players in the country the aussies step in. While I fully accept that there is nothing to be done about this I don't think that it is the same thing as losing players to drink, soccer or something else.

[Gnevin]

I wouldn't accept that Gnevin, all sports lose players to 'drink' and other sports/attractions, the difference here is that football and AR are very similar sports and a guy who excels in one is likely to excel in the other. We are basically developing prospective elite performers for another code and then when the cream of that talent reaches a stage where they are about to become the best players in the country the aussies step in. While I fully accept that there is nothing to be done about this I don't think that it is the same thing as losing players to drink, soccer or something else.

Its the same thing in my opinion and its been happening for a hundred years.

[western exile]

Who is Ricky Nixon anyway? Can someone enlighten me pelase.

Does this help?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Nixon

He is generally thought of as a bit of a gangster Down Under.

[thejuice]

Ricky Nixon talking on Sportsound

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/default.stm

he mentioned that someone from Ireland called him up to give abuse, now lads theres no need for that kinda thing. Danny Murphy opposes the resumption of the IR series

[Billys Boots]

I could do the Kilkenny scouts job from home.

Are ye telling us that none of the Kilkenny hurlers could be seen as a prospect?

[Leo]

I love how the AFL taking 3/4 players are year is shocking yet lose more players to

xbox
soccer
rubgy
drugs
drink
speeding

every year

While I accept we can't (and shouldn't) do anything to stop the drain of players to AR, I don't accept the above comparison at all. The players the Aussies are taking are some of the very best players we produce and the Aussies only want them because they excel at our game. I'm absolutely delighted that these lads can go and live a dream life as pro sportsmen in a great country but it is a worrying development for the future of our game. Of course football will survive and things will move on but I can't help but wonder about what these players would have brought to our game and the pieces of magic that we will never see.

They are only the "best" because of the age/level they get to .We all know many great young fellas who stopped playing at 15/16 when they had talent to burn or went to play soccer . The extra 2/3 years and playing at minor makes the lose seem greater

We can't dismiss lightly the fact that AFL are intent on recruiting the cream of the crop. This process has accelerated this year because of the outstanding immediate impact of Martin Clarke of Down. While others have done very well (Kennelly) or reasonably well (O'Halpin), Clarke has been a sensation in Australia and now all the clubs are queuing up. The latest target is another exceptional young Down player Paul McComiskey who hasn't even played a full senior game yet (same with Clarke). No sport likes to lose any talent to another but we have opened the doors wide to losing our very best. We are one step away from using the resources and labour of GAA clubs up and down the country to provide a production line for a rival sport. Madness!!

What I find amazing is that the GAA are even considering a rerun of the Aussie/International Rules fiasco that should have been well and truly buried for all sorts of reasons not the least of which is that we are providing an invite to the carpetbaggers to come right in and rip us off. Unbelievable stuff. What any of this does in the name of promoting the GAA has always defeated me. It is now a crisis.