Ireland V Austrailia International Rules Official Thread 2008

[cavanmaniac]

Gallagher did very well in nets. I for one am eating humble pie on his selection, hope he keeps it up as he'll have an increased workoad in the second test.

[Jinxy]

In this game players rush their kicks because they think if they hang onto it more than 2 seconds they'll be nailed. Thus a player getting the ball with his back to goal cannot shoot unless he has marked the ball or has a 5 metre exclusion zone around him. It's baffling to hear so many people talking about our poor shooting as some sort of indictment of players skill levels as gaelic footballers. A huge number of points in gaelic football are scored by a player gaining possession and working half a yard to get a shot in. You can't work that half a yard in IR. This effectively means that much of your scores (outside of set shots) come from picking up breaks near to goal or working an overlap through the middle. Pretty much every one of the fantastic points Seán Cavanagh kicked in the All-Ireland final would not have been scored in IR because he would have been eating turf before he got a chance to shoot. Players have to get this idea out of their heads too that kicking a behind from 50m out is some sort of achievement. When you get into their half, you have to work a decent scoring chance instead of just kicking the ball away for the sake of 1 point. I watched the highlights on RTE there and I have to say the jerky, hesitant demeanour of the Irish lads is in sharp contrast to the way the aussies carry themselves. This is purely down to the tackle. The Irish lads are all tensed up wondering where the tackle is going to come from. The aussies just get on with the game, safe in the knowledge that most of the Irish lads couldn't tackle their granny. The highlights themselves were quite boring. The full game must have been seriously hard work to watch.

[DoYerJob Linesman]

Gallagher did very well in nets.

[ONeill]

Thought Joe McMahon was excellent in terms of winning ball, using ball and tackling. Glynn was also mightily impressive. McDonnell was a shambles and caused umpteen turnovers.

[DoYerJob Linesman]

Shot stopping was fine.  Distribution was poor, put his teammates under alot of pressure with slack passes under no pressure.

[Zulu]

It wasn't a brilliant spectacle by any means but as the game went on it became better and was fairly entertaining, the second test should be much more exciting. I would however disagree with your assumption that the poor Irish technique was down to being 'tense' there were plenty of examples of Irish players messing up basics from frees or mark situations. The lack of movement when on the ball of our players was also particularly striking and that had nothing to do with the rules but the IR punished our lads staticness more than football does.

[cavanmaniac]

I think Gallagher did a good job overall, the Aussie guy was a clown with the obvious allowance that he's new to an unfamiliar role.

@ Jinxy, good post, this is of course a huge factor but I reckon it's something our own game can benefit from. In these days of mass defences, getting an accurate shot off quickly would be a great weapon to have.

It only part explains some of the poor kicking though and I'm not talking about shooting either, some of the attempts at fairly basic passes (Cullen, O'Mahony) were embarrassing, and even Donaghy and a few others managed to overcook very easy handpasses in non-pressure situations when good scenarios were unfolding.

As an aside, Bradley, Kevin Reilly and Meehan would be the three players I'd drop for next week.

[Zulu]

I'd be inclined to give McDonnell a rest, I thought he was poor.

[cavanmaniac]

Yeah he'd be close to the cut as well, was very poor in 1st test but he's always worth hanging on to because the Aussies are wary of him from other years plus he could notch 9 points in the blink of an eye after having a quiet game. I think the hard miles are starting to show on him though, he peaked a few years ago but can still be a special player on his day.

[Puckoon]

Anyone got a link to any highlights?

[The Real Laoislad]

Sean Cavanagh is a pussy


http://www.aflonline.com.au/forums/index.php?showtopic=9056&st=60&start=60

[thebuzz]

As an aside, Bradley, Kevin Reilly and Meehan would be the three players I'd drop for next week.

Funny that. I thought Meehan and Paddy B would have been brilliant at this game. It just shows you how completely different it is from football. The Gooch didn't take to it either when he played.

[BallyhaiseMan]

didnt notice Meehan much except for him kicking one behind, so cant comment on him.
Wasnt Stevie's best IR match,but to be fair to all in the FF line with the exception of a few balls in, the service was terrible,Id say there were stretches of about 5/6 minutes the ball didnt even get into the Aussie Half.
Id be critical of Paddy Bradley because of the lack of sharpness he showed the Paddy Bradley we know at his peak,would not have been caught like he was from behind,And missing such a great chance could end up being so crucial in the overall context of the series.

Team that started was

David Gallagher
Aidan O Mahoney
Finian Hanley
John Keane
Ciaran McKeever
Kevin Reily
Bryan Cullen
Colm Begley
Graham Canty
Enda McGinley
Sean Kavanagh
Joe McMahon
Benny Coulter
Kieran Donaghy
Stevie Mac Donnell

with Donaghy moving to midfield,for the throw in
if i were to pick a team to start the next day it would be

David Gallagher
Aidan O Mahony
Finian Hanley
John Keane
Ciaran McKeever
Graham Canty
Colm Begley
Martin McGrath
Enda McGinley
Leighton Glynn
Sean Kavanagh
Joe McMahon
Benny Coulter
Kieran Donaghy
Stevie McDonnell

[BallyhaiseMan]

Just to note from AFL online.

BEST
Australia: Murphy (18 possesions, 4 overs) Selwood (27 possesion), Thomas (19 possesion), Pendulbery (13 possesions), Harvey (22 possesion, 1 over), Rodan (9 possesions, 1 over), Simpson (25 possesions),
Ireland: Cavanagh (9 possesion, 1 goal, 2 overs), Canty (21 possesions), Donaghy (14 possesion, 1 over), Begley (16 possesions), Gallagher (25 possesion), Joe McMahon (26 possesion), Glynn (19 possesion, 1 goal, 1 over), McKeever (23 possesion)

[Zulu]

On that Aussie website they are calling our lads pussy's which is a bit harsh IMO but there can be no doubt we have veered towards the soccer 'simulation' malarky and staying down when we should really be getting up and on with it.