I see Central Council have voted to continue/resume the series. The only sensible decision I suppose if we want to have any influence on the traffic of young players.
i'm delighted to hear that, like you said its the only sensible decision. the next problem is for ireland to be competitive.... :(
Shame it's such a crap game.
If this is ok to post, some opinion about afl and the gaa in this podcast
http://squareball.podshowcreator.com/
Personally, I think the international rules are a great event for families and children. With a few rule changes I think this could become a long term event, and if the afl and gaa form a relationship maybe we will get to keep some of our more talented young players.
Heard it is likely that Joe Kernan will be Ireland's manager.
Quote from: magickingdom on March 17, 2008, 04:04:30 PM
i'm delighted to hear that, like you said its the only sensible decision. the next problem is for ireland to be competitive.... :(
Due to the amount of Irishmen in the AFL i would imagine Ireland will be quite competitive as half your team will be professional athletes and they will have the advantage of playing both Aussie Rules Football and Gaelic Football.
Quote from: Imposerous on March 18, 2008, 10:20:43 AM
Heard it is likely that Joe Kernan will be Ireland's manager.
Sean Boylan is still the manager
I think it is a good thing to continue with the series, the public have taken to it, and there are not necessarily GAA supporters so the more through Croke Park and those exposed to the GAA message can only be good. The fear is and I believe it is something the GAA cant stop is the loss of a generation of players to Oz. It is a consequence of the success of the GAA development and the continued increase in training and professonalism in training.
The thing I most look forward to is seeing Tadhg and the other exiles doing their stuff up close.
I agree hound. BTW Setantatart live coverage of the AFL season @ 9.30am tomorrow - Port Adelaideat Geelong.
By the weay we have not lost a generation to the AFL - its not the 50s with everybody getting on the boat - we have lost a small number.
Quote from: stephenite on March 19, 2008, 05:22:08 AM
Quote from: Imposerous on March 18, 2008, 10:20:43 AM
Heard it is likely that Joe Kernan will be Ireland's manager.
Sean Boylan is still the manager
I hope sense prevails and he gets appointed aswel.
I used to be such a fan of the IR but the Croke Park fiasco just turned me right off.
It's not a game worth watching if we effectively have to strait-jacket the Aussies just so we can make it look like we can live with them on a playing pitch.
In the 80s we had players who were much more used to kicking the ball generally, could take a wallop without crying and rolling about like a big girl, and could give one back to Aussies who were then only semi-pro and not as conditioned as now. In short, it was a fairly even contest but we're making a mistake in using the 80s as a reference point to make a case for contining the games in the present day. Chalk and cheese.
In the modern era though, gaelic football has regressed into an unedifying orgy of handpassing and its traditional physciality has been heavily diluted by ridiculously over zealous, free-a-minute refereeing (while ironically, disciplinary systems are still a mess); so bottom line is there's little or no point playing this rules game where they call it 'international' but only the Aussies are 'compromised'.
I don't mean the Aussies should be allowed take our heads off or maul us/bully us like they did under Sheedy because that was unacceptable, but there are other innately physical aspects to their AFL game, that are legal in AFL, and we won't allow them into the IR game either. Aussie fans have a legitimate case when they bemoan how gerrymandered the rules are in IR.
That's as basic an ackowledgement that physically we shouldn't be on the same field as these guys as you're ever likely to need - i.e. please weight the rules in our favour and don't be too rough because we're not able for it - so I say bin it and don't revive it until there's about 30 Irish lads over there playing AFL week-in, week-out, and then field a side of Irish born AFL players who can truly go all out in a proper no holds barred contest that would be REALLY worth watching. An added bonus is zero disruption to club games back home if or when it happens.
Anything else is just a watered down embarrassment IMHO, and a poor reflection on the skills and physicality of our own game when set against what are true professionals who train every day. It's not our fault we can't train like they do or aren't as strong but why step into the lions den if we can't hack it?
its not gaelic football so I am really genuinely puzzled what interest anybody has in it
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.
Quote from: magickingdom on March 17, 2008, 04:04:30 PM
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 :P
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.
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.
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.
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.
Quotecavanmaniac 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...
Quote from: BallyhaiseMan on March 19, 2008, 07:58:10 PM
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
Quote from: Lilly on March 20, 2008, 02:07:38 PM
Quotecavanmaniac 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.
Quote from: cavanmaniac on March 21, 2008, 12:07:30 PM
Quote from: Lilly on March 20, 2008, 02:07:38 PM
Quotecavanmaniac 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Quote from: Jinxy on March 21, 2008, 12:50:03 PM
Quote from: cavanmaniac on March 21, 2008, 12:07:30 PM
Quote from: Lilly on March 20, 2008, 02:07:38 PM
Quotecavanmaniac 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?
Fair enough, I misinterpreted what you said.
(http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/images/smilies/liverpool/handshake.gif)
No worries.
QuoteOur 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?
That's reason enough as far as I'm concerned.
Quote from: Zulu on March 21, 2008, 10:25:25 PM
QuoteOur 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?
That's reason enough as far as I'm concerned.
Well how about we should be looking at the Aussies and seeing how well they do thinkgs and trying to learn from them...
That's my point DFS, if their players are fitter, faster, technically better and with a greater awareness of game play then it can only be good for our lads to compete against them. I think it would be great if the GAA could come to an arrangement with the AFL where coaches from here could go over there and observe what clubs do for a few weeks. Speak to their coaches and fitness specialists to find out how they prepare their teams pre-season and during their championship season. Likewise some of their top coaches could come here watch what we are doing and offer advice on how we might improve things. Aussie Rules is Australias top game in a sports mad country that invests heavily in sport research. Considering AR is the closest sport in the world to football so we surely we can learn a huge amount from them.
You can learn a lot from them, but what you can't learn is how to shoehorn a full weeks worth of preparation, training and recovery into a few hours (which is what our players have to work with).