GAA Press Release
23 May 2008
GAA Press Release
International Rules Tour
As previously announced today was the final date acceptable to the GAA in terms of the AFL confirming arrangements for two International Rules Test games between Australia and Ireland in October next. The AFL stated however that they are close to finalising venues and logistics for both Tests but require a few more days to confirm arrangements. The GAA has agreed to accede to the AFL request for a little more time and is hopeful that the Series will resume in October and that relevant details can be announced by next Thursday.
fingers crossed the games are going to be played along the East coast in October as i will be out there for 3 weeks around then!! ;D
More than likely it'll be Melbourne and Perth again. The former as the home of the AFL, the latter cos we're here of the huge support in preceding years for the game and the large Irish community.
really looking forward to these games so i hope the afl can get the 2nd test sorted out. i really believe these games with the right approach can become huge - look at the hype about munster (and rightly so imo as a munster man!) today and 10 years ago no one cared..
Its not football, hybrid games generally don't survive. i cant see myself amking a re-appearance to watch these games again after the last series.
waste fo time- let the aussies play a few lads from mountjoy , a kind of ancestors rematch. that would cool their interest a bit.
Quote from: Tankie on May 24, 2008, 05:50:40 PM
Its not football, hybrid games generally don't survive. i cant see myself amking a re-appearance to watch these games again after the last series.
its is football, just like soccer rugby union/league or gaa. you just dont like it...
not really it's a bastardised version of wwf and boxing with a football thrown in to make it legal. i don't know why they don;t go the whole hog and organise a ring in the middle of the telstra dome and invite the undertaker and co over form the States. Sooner the experiment is abandoned the better, wouldn't watch it if they put it on in my backgarden.
Quote from: magickingdom on May 24, 2008, 07:40:48 PM
Quote from: Tankie on May 24, 2008, 05:50:40 PM
Its not football, hybrid games generally don't survive. i cant see myself amking a re-appearance to watch these games again after the last series.
its is football, just like soccer rugby union/league or gaa. you just dont like it...
It isn't football, its a hybrid of gaelic football and aussie rules, went to see it in Croke Park, saw what I came to see and what everybody else came to see, fights, it was crap otherwise. Complete waste of time, don't know anybody that actually plays the sport outside of this so I don't see the point, to be honest the GAA look desperate the way they're hoping it'll continue
Quote from: Moose on May 24, 2008, 09:30:59 PM
Quote from: magickingdom on May 24, 2008, 07:40:48 PM
Quote from: Tankie on May 24, 2008, 05:50:40 PM
Its not football, hybrid games generally don't survive. i cant see myself amking a re-appearance to watch these games again after the last series.
its is football, just like soccer rugby union/league or gaa. you just dont like it...
It isn't football, its a hybrid of gaelic football and aussie rules, went to see it in Croke Park, saw what I came to see and what everybody else came to see, fights, it was crap otherwise. Complete waste of time, don't know anybody that actually plays the sport outside of this so I don't see the point, to be honest the GAA look desperate the way they're hoping it'll continue
every sport has to starts somewhere and 80k turned up in croke park that day. they werent all there for the fights..
It's junk sport. The fact that people turn up in their thousands to watch it is no recommendation of quality. People watch Gladiators in their millions.
I used to be a fan of IR too, but I copped on and now I hate it with the zeal of the convert. Most of all it's dangerous and unsupportable to put amateur players, untutored in shipping the tackle, in against professionals, professionally conditioned, who are experts at it. I can't think of any physical contact sport where effectively untrained amateurs are allowed to compete with the very top level professionals in a game where physical contact is of the essence.
Worse, these professionals have proved their propensity to behave like an indisciplined rabble and there is no incentive for them not to so behave, nor any effective sanction when they do. In essence, they are licensed to commit assault with a dangerous weapon against people who have no effective defence against it. I strongly fear it will end in a serious injury or worse.
This is not some sort of soft whining about physicality. I deplore the fact that the physicality is being systematically removed from gaelic football. This is something completely different, because of the inequality in physical conditioning, but more importantly in expertise and preparedness. The gaelic player is not habitually braced to take the tackle and the result could be catastrophic. That only finally came home to me when we all feared Graham Geraghty's neck had been broken in Croke Park.
Hardy, I'm with you 100% on this. I have no interest in exposing our players to such risk when they are in no way prepared for it. Where are the GPA on this issue? Have they made a statement about it? I think they have, but I can't really remember what they said.
Obviously, all players would love to represent Ireland, but they are not representing them in GAA in this game. Because there is no real competitive outlet for international representation, they have settled for this bastardised game which is neither fish nor fowl.
No doubt the Aussies have committed to clean up their act a bit, which is good, but the central tenet of the game is still a tackle which is completely alien to GAA players, and in the heat of a game, you will revert to type. Which means they won't be looking for the hits, and won't expect the sort of tackle they will be on the end of.
I think it's madness myself.
Couldn't agree more with the previous two posters. There was a time when I thought this game had a future but I must admit I was gravely mistaken. Its simply a pointless exercise and may in fact be damaging to the GAA.
QuoteWhere are the GPA on this issue?
My take on it is that they think its helpful for their case in achieving their ultimate aim so they're happy for it to go ahead.
I know lots of our players love to get a chance to represent our country, but at what?
It certainly isn't Gaelic Football.
If this hybrid game ever stood a chance of going anywhere it would been firmly established by now. Is there even one single club in either Oz or in Ireland that actively plays the game?
I think it is as far back as 1967 that an Aussie team came here first and played both Mayo and Meath in an early version of the game and what progress if any has been achieved since then? (Is it really that far back? I may have my year wrong but it certainly was decades ago.)
Whatever about the crowds that turn up at games and their motives for attending, does this game itself show any signs of catching hold in either country?
Has the GAA ever shown the slightest readiness to develop our own game in, say, London or New York and give it a genuinely international dimension? Both cities have a large enough Irish base to build on both there are many other centres worldwide where the GAA would stand a realistic chance of establishing viable centres.
I honestly see little or no merit in continuing with this international series of dust ups and donnybrooks that is leading to nowhere after more than 40 years of messing about.
Lar, you have your year right. Harry Beitzel of Aussie Rules and Peter McDermott of Meath were the prime movers and Beitzel brought a team to Croke Park to play the new All-Ireland Champions, Meath at Gaelic Football, not IR, and embarrassingly hammered them. I don't know the extent of the effect that Meath's celebrations had on their form, but it was a big shock for the All-Ireland Champions to be beaten at their own game by a team who had never played the game before. The following Saturday (the first ever Saturday game in Croke Park?) the Aussies beat AI semi-finalists Mayo by a narrower margin. The following year, Meath toured Australia, playing five games of Gaelic Football against the top AR sides and winning all five.
Quote from: Aerlik on May 24, 2008, 05:26:02 AM
More than likely it'll be Melbourne and Perth again. The former as the home of the AFL, the latter cos we're here of the huge support in preceding years for the game and the large Irish community.
The AFL are pushing to have one of the tests in Sydney - big push on promoting the AFL in Western Sydney with a view to establishing a new team there. However, with the Rugby League World Cup, Cricket tests and other bits and bobs they're struggling to find a venue
Quote from: magickingdom on May 25, 2008, 03:37:56 PM
every sport has to starts somewhere and 80k turned up in croke park that day. they werent all there for the fights..
Croke Park is also sold out for Westlife and Celine Dion. Enough said.
I went to the Croke Park game - my first time seeing an IR game and probably went along out of curiosity/result of very good marketing. I didn't think it could get worse than Brush Shiels pre-match 'hilarity', but it did. The game itself, with or without the fighting, is just dull - very stop/start. I wouldn't go again.
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 26, 2008, 09:07:37 AM
Hardy, I'm with you 100% on this. I have no interest in exposing our players to such risk when they are in no way prepared for it. Where are the GPA on this issue? Have they made a statement about it? I think they have, but I can't really remember what they said.
Obviously, all players would love to represent Ireland, but they are not representing them in GAA in this game. Because there is no real competitive outlet for international representation, they have settled for this bastardised game which is neither fish nor fowl.
No doubt the Aussies have committed to clean up their act a bit, which is good, but the central tenet of the game is still a tackle which is completely alien to GAA players, and in the heat of a game, you will revert to type. Which means they won't be looking for the hits, and won't expect the sort of tackle they will be on the end of.
I think it's madness myself.
While I take on board the points made by Hardy earlier and AZ above, the fact of the matter remains that the Irish players are generally in favour of it (and those who aren't simply make themselves unavailable). Therefore I think people are exaggerating the physical downside.
IMO the tackle is not, and has never been, a problem. I think it is a good "compromise" between the two sports, its a great way to encourage players to release the ball, and the Irish players are well able to take a tackle.
The problem has been the fouling, and in particular the fighting! There has never been a big enough deterrant in the compromise game to penalise thuggery. The second biggest problem has been different interpretations of the rules by the Irish and Aussie refs.
When played properly it can be a very good game, a game where good fielding and good kicking is usually rewarded handsomely.
I've been at the last 3 series on these shores, enjoyed the first 2 but just couldn't get into the last series and if it comes back next year I doubt I'll be going. I'd be much more interested in the GAA devoting their resources and marketing to the Inter Provincials.
Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on May 26, 2008, 01:56:34 PM
I've been at the last 3 series on these shores, enjoyed the first 2 but just couldn't get into the last series and if it comes back next year I doubt I'll be going. I'd be much more interested in the GAA devoting their resources and marketing to the Inter Provincials.
whats the inter provincials got to do with it? there not mutually exclusive
We heard all this talk from those who dont like the international rules this past few years and how the inter pros should be brought back and how it would get big crowds instead - the inter pros took the int rules slot last year and only 10,000 turned up - arguement over. I dont understand why people who dont like the game just dont watch it. The 80000 who turn up and the large tv audiences obviously like the games so why should they be denied to keep a few of you happy who dont like the game. The players also want it and I'd say they are as good as people as any to judge whether its too dangerous - how many players have suffered serious injuries that have kept them out for 3+ months as a result of the games?
The point about the Interprovincials is that it must be marketed, with a big sponsor and free from Club commitments. Then it could be a success. Simply putting it on the same weekend as the aborted IR games was never going to be a panacea for the ills it has.
Quote from: magickingdom on May 26, 2008, 05:52:23 PM
Quote from: Croí na hÉireann on May 26, 2008, 01:56:34 PM
I've been at the last 3 series on these shores, enjoyed the first 2 but just couldn't get into the last series and if it comes back next year I doubt I'll be going. I'd be much more interested in the GAA devoting their resources and marketing to the Inter Provincials.
whats the inter provincials got to do with it? there not mutually exclusive
I'd rather see the Interprovincials given the boost as well - they could be a great addition to the GAA calendar if done properly. Although you're probably going to have difficulty getting crowds where Ulster or Leinster are not involved.
Quote from: Tyrone Dreamer on May 26, 2008, 06:14:27 PM
We heard all this talk from those who dont like the international rules this past few years and how the inter pros should be brought back and how it would get big crowds instead - the inter pros took the int rules slot last year and only 10,000 turned up - arguement over. I dont understand why people who dont like the game just dont watch it. The 80000 who turn up and the large tv audiences obviously like the games so why should they be denied to keep a few of you happy who dont like the game. The players also want it and I'd say they are as good as people as any to judge whether its too dangerous - how many players have suffered serious injuries that have kept them out for 3+ months as a result of the games?
The Interpros were not properly marketed this year. I'm not saying they'll ever get 80,000 people, but they can certainly be more successful than last year. As for the IR series, it would be interesting to see if it would get 80,000 people again.
Also, how many players really want the IR series? How any are actively coming out in support. I remember Benny Coulter saying he wouldn't be back after seeing what happened to Geraghty last time out. That said, they'll always manage to find enough willing players to make up a team - but would we ever know how many weren't interested?
As for the 'danger' argument, it's one thing getting an injury from play, but to get an injury from violent behavious is not acceptable.
QuoteThe point about the Interprovincials is that it must be marketed, with a big sponsor and free from Club commitments. Then it could be a success. Simply putting it on the same weekend as the aborted IR games was never going to be a panacea for the ills it has.
I think the Interprovincials have had their day AZ, it is only when people care about who wins any particular game that you get big crowds. That is why (in part) league and early championship games can fairly small crowds and I just don't think too many people will ever again care about the inter pro's. International contests will always attract big crowds and I think if the IR is played in the right spirit it could have a place in the calender.
There is definately player support - i think the pressure from them was one of the reasons the gaa are allowing it to go ahead. Canty was on a few weeks saying how much he'd look forward to it if picked and the likes of Cavanagh have given their support to the game. Was their not something about a vote after the last one with most players saying they wanted it to continue?
You're very probably right Zulu, mores the pity. The point I was making was that it has no chance at all of attracting big crowds the way they are 'marketing' it at the moment. If ever a game cried out for free kids tickets, etc etc, it is these.
Such a pity too.
Imagine the contests that were going on when we were too small to go, or before we were born. Imagine the contests you could have now, if the lads went at it hammer and tongs.
Paul Galvin, Gooch, Declan sullivan teaming up with James MAsters. Nicholas Murphy with Darragh O'Sé. Padraig Joyce picking out passes for Conor Mortimer. Eamon O'Hara winning ball for David Heaney. Ciaran Whelan feeding Dessie Dolan, Mattie Forde or Niall McNamee. Benny Coulter thriving off the driving runs and layoffs of Sean Cavanagh. Ronan Clarke setting up Tommy Freeman.
In these days of many well known players, from even the 'weaker' counties, it's an awful pity they aren't coming together for a serious, serious tournament.
Agreed AZ - free tickets for kids is one of the ways forward - get around the schools and clubs. Keep all other tickets at €10, students and OAPs at €5. 30,000 at these prices is better than 10,000 at championship prices.
One of the problems last year was no Leinster involvement - would it be totally ridiculous to run off a few games in one day? Short games, ensuring all provinces are involved on the day? (I'm thinking out loud here - if anyone has any other suggestions, please shout!)
Quote from: Maguire01 on May 26, 2008, 08:27:08 PM
Agreed AZ - free tickets for kids is one of the ways forward - get around the schools and clubs. Keep all other tickets at €10, students and OAPs at €5. 30,000 at these prices is better than 10,000 at championship prices.
One of the problems last year was no Leinster involvement - would it be totally ridiculous to run off a few games in one day? Short games, ensuring all provinces are involved on the day? (I'm thinking out loud here - if anyone has any other suggestions, please shout!)
i would hate to ever see the day the inter provincials go but they are now in a different life stage then they were before. they will never again get big crowds but if structured right as was said on other threads and with the same slot every year maybe tied in with the all star awards they could get decent crowds. they were in pp in dublin a few years ago and got 7-8k over the w/e. if the inter pros die then munster/ulster/conaught/leinster people will only be able to identify with the rugby teams..
Quote from: magickingdom on May 26, 2008, 08:48:32 PM
Quote from: Maguire01 on May 26, 2008, 08:27:08 PM
Agreed AZ - free tickets for kids is one of the ways forward - get around the schools and clubs. Keep all other tickets at €10, students and OAPs at €5. 30,000 at these prices is better than 10,000 at championship prices.
One of the problems last year was no Leinster involvement - would it be totally ridiculous to run off a few games in one day? Short games, ensuring all provinces are involved on the day? (I'm thinking out loud here - if anyone has any other suggestions, please shout!)
i would hate to ever see the day the inter provincials go but they are now in a different life stage then they were before. they will never again get big crowds but if structured right as was said on other threads and with the same slot every year maybe tied in with the all star awards they could get decent crowds. they were in pp in dublin a few years ago and got 7-8k over the w/e. if the inter pros die then munster/ulster/conaught/leinster people will only be able to identify with the rugby teams..
I believe there could be life in the interpros if they were marketed correctly. But we'd have to make it fashionable, build it up. You'd initially want to pick players based on their name rather than their current form. You'd want a Leinster forward line of the two Brogans, Keaney, Jayo along with Geraghty and Dessie Dolan. You'd want plenty of pictures in the papers about Geraghty and Dolan playing with the Dubs. You'd want Whelan and maybe the infamous Thomas Walsh in midfield. You'd want Cluxton in goals, Fay at full back and one defender each from Laois, Offaly, Kildare, Louth and Wexford. You'd want some uproar from the midlands that there's too many Dubs on the team. It might not be the best Leinster team available, but it would get a lot more media attention and more punters through the gate than a team picked on its merits!
the key to the interprovincials is having the likes of gooch, donaghy, canty, joyce, meehan, higgins, mc gighan, clarke, doherty, brogan , geragthy and dolan out and on the one team. i guarentee you, if marketed correectly with all the best players available, you'd get 60,000 in croker for it. If the gaa were in charge of marketing coca cola for a year it would cease to exist within 12 months.
Is there a 'marketing manager' per se in the GAA? It seems to me that even the ads for the All Ireland Championships etc are done by sponsors, or RTE, or TV3?
QuoteIf the gaa were in charge of marketing coca cola for a year it would cease to exist within 12 months.
Classic!
There has to be some way the interpros can be revamped. The potential is massive, its just developing a formula and then marketing it correctly.
And the thing is, it's not rocket science, or it shouldn't be. Some of the ideas in the last few posts here are perfectly viable. Of course, one of the problems re availablilty of players is in regard to the club games, especially the provincial championships, and even some county finals.
Once the weekends are set aside accomodating the maximum number of players possible, preferably in the slots taken up for the IR games, then it should be straightforward to market and promote the games. When we look back at the likes of Ring, one of the first lines on their role of honour is 'Railway Cups'. That's the way it should be.
Not rocket science but organising when (and where) the semis are played for both games is an issue as is the possibility of a province not having a team in the final or either game thus reducing the interest.
if you can get 75,000 for a national league game involving tyrone and dublin with largely experimental teams on a cold february saturday night you can do it for this. there was 30,000 kids at that game and that's who this should be aimed at, coming to see their favourite players playing. you can definitely do it if the country's elite players are playing. that's a major problem with the interprovinicials it has no date in the calendar and it often involves players who wouldn't be anywhere near the team if others were available. need to promote them along similar lines to the NBA allstar games in the states.
My dad said people went to the railway cup not to see their provinces playing but to see the country's finest players playing against each other, because it so rarely happens in the all-ireland series.
Quote from: AZOffaly on May 27, 2008, 09:33:17 AM
And the thing is, it's not rocket science, or it shouldn't be. Some of the ideas in the last few posts here are perfectly viable. Of course, one of the problems re availablilty of players is in regard to the club games, especially the provincial championships, and even some county finals.
Once the weekends are set aside accomodating the maximum number of players possible, preferably in the slots taken up for the IR games, then it should be straightforward to market and promote the games. When we look back at the likes of Ring, one of the first lines on their role of honour is 'Railway Cups'. That's the way it should be.
here we go again, why that slot az? theres 51 other weeks to do it. a w/e in december would do fine if it were tied in with the all stars.
Quote from: INDIANA on May 27, 2008, 10:34:48 AM
if you can get 75,000 for a national league game involving tyrone and dublin with largely experimental teams on a cold february saturday night you can do it for this. there was 30,000 kids at that game and that's who this should be aimed at, coming to see their favourite players playing. you can definitely do it if the country's elite players are playing. that's a major problem with the interprovinicials it has no date in the calendar and it often involves players who wouldn't be anywhere near the team if others were available. need to promote them along similar lines to the NBA allstar games in the states.
My dad said people went to the railway cup not to see their provinces playing but to see the country's finest players playing against each other, because it so rarely happens in the all-ireland series.
i take your point indiana but i think the days of huge crowds for the inter pro are gone. 10k in pp or enniskellen or tralee is the top of the tree in my book and thats with alot of work..
I agree with magickingdom, I don't think any amount of marketing will get the crowds to return for the interprovincials. I went to the Tyrone/Dublin league game because it was the first game under lights and many people who never go to GAA games went with their kids. I couldn't see myself or many non-GAA folk regularily going to a gloryfied exhibition game. At least the IR games has the intrigue of our best footballers pitting themselves against the best footballers of Australia and of course everyone likes to beat the Aussies in sport so there is the possibilty of widespread interest. I'm afraid not only would I not promote the interpro's but I'd get rid of them altogether.
but what does the IR promote anymore? it's legalised wwf, boxing and a football thrown in between the punch ups to give the lads a breather. Messing about putting professionals in against amateurs particularily when the pros look upon the series as a glorified piss up in the evenings with kicking the shit out of hapless amateurs thrown in for daytime antertainment.
When dealing with Aussies you're not dealing with the sharpest tools in the box anyway, and this gives them licence to potentially injure our players. You would need a personalised health insurance policy to play in that series again before taking on those turnip heads . It's anon runner in my view 95% of people go for the punch ups, that's the reality, and when it gets to that stage it's time to scrap it because it's just sad.
Yeah magickingdom, I say that weekend because I'd do away with the IR. I don't like it, and I don't think it bears anything more than a passing semblance to the game the players are supposed to be representing. I know other people like it, and fair enough, but I don't.
Zulu - I don't understand how you can call the Interprovicials "gloryfied exhibition game"(s) and then turn round and laud IR as "our best footballers pitting themselves against the best footballers of Australia". I can accept you like IR but I think the above is not a strong position to take in that argument.
QuoteI'm afraid not only would I not promote the interpro's but I'd get rid of them altogether
The players feel strongly that they should be retained and take them very seriously. You have regularly spoken up on players issues - do you not think it would be a pity if players didn't get a chance to represent their provinces?
Colm Cooper has no interest in playing International Rules following his experiences with the hybrid game three years ago.
The series, which was scrapped last year, is likely to be given the go-ahead when the AFL report back to the GAA with dates and venues for the two tests on Thursday, but the Kerry ace doesn't foresee himself being part of the Irish travelling party come October.
He said: "There's a lot of talk about whether it will or it won't go ahead.
"A lot of the players are anxious for it to go ahead, but at the moment I really am just concentrating on Kerry.
"Later in the year, I wouldn't know how I would feel about it, but it's not something that's too appetising to me. It comes at a time in the season when you're just finishing with the county and then you're playing with the club. If you add three weeks in Australia, it's very demanding."
He added: "I nearly got concussed in it before and maybe I don't have the build for it. The way it has been played over the last few years, I found it difficult to deal with the physical side of things. It doesn't appeal to me.
"These guys are professionals and training every day, we have to go to work in the morning. We don't get the opportunity after championship games of sleeping in the way they do. They live a professional lifestyle."
Guess what's back!!
Press Release
29 May 2008
International Rules
The GAA and the AFL have confirmed that there will be a two-game International Rules Series between the countries in October of this year. The games will take place on October 24th in Perth and October 31st in Melbourne . Details of the stadiums to be used and other arrangements with regard to the Series will be confirmed at a later date.
*Groan*
What's the point? If we win, what does it prove? If they win, what does it prove?
The only possible justification I can see for it, from the GAA's point of view, goes like this. The AFL must see some commercial benefit in this, otherwise they wouldn't be involved - they are a business, after all. We should therefore exploit their interest in it by extracting from them an agreement to end poaching of our best players as the price of our continued participation in it. If that achieved an end to the player drain that threatens to turn the GAA into a nursery for professional football, it may be worthwhile. But I still fear a broken neck or worse for one of our players and that would be an unacceptable price to pay.
I am stating now that the GAA is negligent in exposing our amateur players to the danger of serious injury by organising and sanctioning competition with professionals in a full contact sport and if the unthinkable ever happens I will point out that they were warned.