Ireland v Australia, Rules Test 1, Breffni Park, Saturday 19 October 2013

[Zulu]

Ah come on Indiana, all the players you mentioned have played in the IR, Cooper isn't really suited to the game and has club commitments so we're talking about 2 players on this occasion only. I don't think Bernard Brogan or Cluxton will refuse every invite should the IR continue. I'll have to take your word on the other 3 players but even if they are All Stars they would necessarily make the an Irish team.

I don't disagree with your final point however, if it turns out that neither country can get their best (or close to) team out then it will lose it's appeal and be worthless but that hasn't quite happened yet and I would give it another series or two to establish the likely future pattern. I wouldn't deny that it seems to be a fading concept but it's still far superior to the shinty/hurling compromise but I hear nobody complaining about that.

[Farrandeelin]

I'm tired of listening to people defending this charade as if to criticise it is an imprisionable offence.

Nonsense, nobody has a problem with criticism of IR the issue is some posters are coming on here and making the same points, some of which are quite daft, over and over again. If a soccer supporter was doing the same about football or hurling your call them a WUM and say we should ignore them.

While some of your points are valid others are weak and if yhe best players continue to make themselves available and crowds are still good then I see no point in abandoning it. More to the point I fail to see why you and others get your knickers in a twist over it. It's two games and is successful in many ways.

I'd be disappointed with the crowds to be honest.

[Zulu]

Yes this year, but overall they have been good. In fairness you'd be hard pressed to get 28,500 at a lot of genuine GAA fixtures so even a poor IR crowd is decent compared to many other games held this year.

[Jinxy]

We're all Irish Zulu.
We're not all from Dublin or Meath or Galway or Cork.
Therefore the available pool of attendees is at its maximum for an 'international' event.
And it still only got 28,000.
Comparing it to county v county or club attendances is a bit misleading.
The majority of GAA related traffic on twitter for example the last two weekends centred on club games all around the country.
Remember them?

[rodney trotter]

28,000 on a miserable night in October was fairly good after a poor enough contest in the first test. 17,500 was the figure for the first test but that wasn't including u16's..

[Zulu]

We're all Irish Zulu.
We're not all from Dublin or Meath or Galway or Cork.
Therefore the available pool of attendees is at its maximum for an 'international' event.
And it still only got 28,000.
Comparing it to county v county or club attendances is a bit misleading.
The majority of GAA related traffic on twitter for example the last two weekends centred on club games all around the country.
Remember them?

Sure the Irish soccer team have got less than that. Ireland were almost sure to win, we all knew the Aussie team weren't the best they could field and the previous test series was poor yet there was still a decent crowd.

Nobody is arguing it is a perfect game and an unqualified success but we're not all trying to pick ridiculous holes in it like you are. It is what it is and at the moment it has enough going for it to continue IMO.

You've failed to address any of the points I've made to you especially re your support for one compromise sport while practically demanding the end of another (far more successful) one.

[Jinxy]

Listen, the shinty/hurling is a bit of fun but if it was gone tomorrow I wouldn't shed any tears.
Nor would most hurlers I'd imagine.
They have a bit of perspective about the whole thing.
The IR series is terrible to watch, does NOTHING to promote either code (and if you don't believe me check out any aussie rules board and see if you can find any positive comments about the GAA or gaelic football) and only draws a crowd because it is:
a) a novelty
and
b) promoted nationwide in the print media, radio and on TV
You only have to listen to the crowd to know that the majority in attendance are kids, probably brought along by their clubs for a day out.
If it does go, very few people will lament its passing.
The players will miss it, the officials will miss it, the 'product' merchants who believe intercounty football IS the GAA will miss it.
Everybody else will be quite happy to watch the club championships progress.

[easytiger95]

If the concept worked, it would be easier to defend. As it is, the balance is never right (and all the complaints from the Irish side about Australian thuggery has affected this). It is now a neutered game, which is all it can ever be given we have removed any possible advantage the Aussies may have had in this code.

Only the Aussies coming back will save it - but why would they show the interest in it? One way would be to go with the Oval ball in Oz and the O'Neills in Ireland - the touring side can go out for maybe a little longer, play more warm-up games against feeder or senior clubs, and maybe make it more like a Lions tour (given the difference in rules interpretations between Southern and Northern hemisphere rugby, I think it is an apt analogy). Maintain the strictness of the discipline and really emphasize the skill aspects. We expect the Aussies to adapt every year - why don't we?

I think for pure curiousity value, a lot would watch just to see how the Irish lads would fare. Maybe the first couple of away trips would be massacres - but I honestly think the fitness gap is very small now, and regular picks on the international team would get used to it.

[Zulu]

Listen, the shinty/hurling is a bit of fun but if it was gone tomorrow I wouldn't shed any tears.
Nor would most hurlers I'd imagine.
They have a bit of perspective about the whole thing.

Perspective on this is something you certainly lack. Everyone here defending the IR would also accept if it was gone in the morning they'd be fine. If the best hurlers always played the compromise rules, shinty was a major professional sport and crowds of 60K went to their games then you can be sure the hurlers would view it the same as the footballers view the IR.

The IR series is terrible to watch

An opinion only. Though I agree this series has been poor but there have been great games in the past so as a game it isn't as bad as you like to make. However, your opinion or mine on the quality of the IR is irrelevant to whether it should continue.

does NOTHING to promote either code (and if you don't believe me check out any aussie rules board and see if you can find any positive comments about the GAA or gaelic football)

I have and I've seen plenty of positive opinions, however, this is again irrelevant as I don't think IR was ever conceived to promote either sport here or Oz.

only draws a crowd because it is:
a) a novelty
and
b) promoted nationwide in the print media, radio and on TV

You'll be sure to publish your research on this when you get the chance. Suffice to they're not the only reasons.

You only have to listen to the crowd to know that the majority in attendance are kids, probably brought along by their clubs for a day out.

Well lets hang everyone ever involved in this, the last thing we want is kids going to Croke Park.

If it does go, very few people will lament its passing.
The players will miss it, the officials will miss it, the 'product' merchants who believe intercounty football IS the GAA will miss it.
Everybody else will be quite happy to watch the club championships progress.

Who or what are product merchants? And it's always good to establish your bona fides by referencing the club games.

Nothing you've said justifies your constant moaning on this, the shinty is a bit of fun but the IR isn't you claim, nonsense. You seem to understand what the shinty is about but not the IR, they are both the same but the football is the bigger and more popular of the two and that makes it a bad thing?

[Jinxy]

Zulu....



























IT'S A LOAD OF SHITE!

[Farrandeelin]

Atta boy Jinxy, you tell em!

[Zulu]

Zulu....



























IT'S A LOAD OF SHITE!

Well you've me convinced....

[Sidney]

We're not all from Dublin or Meath or Galway or Cork.
Therefore the available pool of attendees is at its maximum for an 'international' event.
And it still only got 28,000.
Comparing it to county v county or club attendances is a bit misleading.
The majority of GAA related traffic on twitter for example the last two weekends centred on club games all around the country.
Remember them?

It got 57,000 in 2000, 71,000 in 2002, 60,000 in 2004, 82,000 in 2006 and 60,000 in 2010.

Do you think they were good size crowds?

There clearly needs to be serious discussion between the GAA and AFL about how to make the concept work, but the fact is the concept has worked in the past, and a hell of a lot of people have had very good things say about previous series. 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2010 even. It can certainly work again.

You have to come up with something better than just saying "it's terrible to watch". Your opinion, and one not shared by a lot of people.

I can just as easily say I was watching the Wexford football final on the internet yesterday (which I was) and in my opinion it was appalling stuff. Abolish the Wexford football championship, so.

The GAA is a "product" by the way, like it or not, it needs to market itself in a competitive market, and the inter-county scene is the shop window of the games. International Rules can be an extension of that if played and promoted like it has been in the past. 

[Jinxy]

We're not all from Dublin or Meath or Galway or Cork.
Therefore the available pool of attendees is at its maximum for an 'international' event.
And it still only got 28,000.
Comparing it to county v county or club attendances is a bit misleading.
The majority of GAA related traffic on twitter for example the last two weekends centred on club games all around the country.
Remember them?

It got 57,000 in 2000, 71,000 in 2002, 60,000 in 2004, 82,000 in 2006 and 60,000 in 2010.

Do you think they were good size crowds?

There clearly needs to be serious discussion between the GAA and AFL about how to make the concept work, but the fact is the concept has worked in the past, and a hell of a lot of people have had very good things say about previous series. 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2010 even. It can certainly work again.

You have to come up with something better than just saying "it's terrible to watch". Your opinion, and one not shared by a lot of people.

I can just as easily say I was watching the Wexford football final on the internet yesterday (which I was) and in my opinion it was appalling stuff. Abolish the Wexford football championship, so.

The GAA is a "product" by the way, like it or not, it needs to market itself in a competitive market, and the inter-county scene is the shop window of the games. International Rules can be an extension of that if played and promoted like it has been in the past.

Do you genuinely not understand the difference between the two things?

[Sidney]

Do you genuinely not understand the difference between the two things?

Yes. One was transmitted on live TV nationally and got a much larger crowd than the other.