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

[From the Bunker]

Quite surprised to see Paul Conroy there. Had a fairly poor season for Galway. I heard him receive some pretty serious abuse form the Galway fans during the Cork QF. Is he that player the fans love to hate??

He was our best player all year by a country mile and he is an All-Star nominee!  You must surely be confusing him with someone else?

Only sorta poor game Conroy had was against Mayo. And even then he was one of the few shinning lights. Jez, he finished the season well and is well worth his place!

[Jinxy]

Thank God Kevin Reilly isn't involved.

[From the Bunker]

Thank God Kevin Reilly isn't involved.

Yeah, after all the hardship he has been through.

[mylestheslasher]

Thought Cavan would have 1 player on it. First test in breffni it would have generated more interest to see a local player involved. I'll be going anyways.

Think Mackey was in the training panel alright but must not have made it.

Have said it before and it may come with Saffron tinted glasses but I am always mystified why James Loughrey is not on these panels. He is one of the best athletes in Ulster (now Munster), has super handling skills from basketball and can evade tackles very well.

Yeah himself and Givney were in the training panel. Mackey got a knock 2 weeks ago against Cavan Gaels in the championship so I presume that's why he is out. Though I thought he would have recovered by the 19th.

Loughrey is a quality player

Think a lot of people in Cavan wont bother go to this. Having a Cavan player on the panel might have enticed some like me but I won't be driving half way across the country to watch now.

[Wildweasel74]

panels looks pretty good, though is colm boyle of  mayo not abit small for this, Some guys injured, some guys in club football not involved, Seamus O`Shea with his speed might been better suited than the brother, brendan Murphy of carlow, MD McCauley likely another involved in club football, Cooper and E bradley probably 2 lads could been there, Did martin Clarke  not make himself available or is he injured

[Wildweasel74]

On another note looking at the team, it could be the biggest team to represent the country depending on selection, some very big men in there

[stew]

Disappointed that McKeever is going to play in this abortion of a game but happy as hell Clarke won't be near it.

Not a Kerryman in sight, speaks volumes about their focus and fair play to them for it.

[The Worker]

James loughrey would be ideal for this game.

[rodney trotter]

McKeever was terrible against this year against Cavan, although I didn't see him play in any other games. He is a regular with the International Rules anyways. Captain in 2011 down Under. Played decent then

Few of the Kerry players have club commitments. Martin Clarke injured and Tommy Walsh. Big spread  of players, 15 counties

[Sea The Stars]

I don't know why people think players are more likely to sustain injuries in these two games. You think all the games a player might play throughout the year, all the training, all the weights, some probably play other sports in the winter. Don't see why players would not play because of the fear of injury.

Looking at the team, there a number of surprising inclusions, Kevin McLoughlin, Ciaran Byrne, Johnny Doyle, Ciaran Kilkenny, Michael Shields, Ross Munnelly, Daithi Waters, wouldn't have expected to see any of them. But I don't know what's going in trials and training.

Biggest omission is Kevin Reilly. Maybe opted not to play himself. A veteran of four series though and in his prime, you would think he would have been one of the first Paul Earley was on the phone too. 

[Captain Obvious]

I don't know why people think players are more likely to sustain injuries in these two games. You think all the games a player might play throughout the year, all the training, all the weights, some probably play other sports in the winter. Don't see why players would not play because of the fear of injury.

Because they will be up against professional athletes that apparently hit harder than any gaelic footballer. Its no place for the smaller,lighter player thats for sure.

[Redhand Santa]

I could never work out why some people got so annoyed by these games. It's not like anyone is being forced to watch them. To me it's a nice opportunity for players to represent their country and to pit themselves against professional athletes from another country. It has attracted good crowds over the years and has produced some decent games. It's always good to see the very best players come together.

It's a decent enough Irish panel and by the sounds of it a decent squad from Australia. It needs to be after a poor showing the last time in which Ireland actually physically dominated them. The Irish teams are much more physically strong than the teams that got bullied for a few of the series and it would be good to see a bit of the physical element return (obviously within reason).

It would actually be good to have 2 threads on the game. One could be used so the anti int rules boys can articulate how much they hate the games and wouldn't cross the road to see it. They can discuss how it ruined the railway cup which was such a success in terms of crowds last year when the int rules wasn't played. The other could be used to discuss the teams and the games.

[CD]

Quite surprised to see Paul Conroy there. Had a fairly poor season for Galway. I heard him receive some pretty serious abuse form the Galway fans during the Cork QF. Is he that player the fans love to hate??

He was our best player all year by a country mile and he is an All-Star nominee!  You must surely be confusing him with someone else?

Only sorta poor game Conroy had was against Mayo. And even then he was one of the few shinning lights. Jez, he finished the season well and is well worth his place!

It was definitely him that the Galway fans around me were having a go at - they gave him serious abuse throughout that game - I was really surprised because I had always thought he was a really good player. He was poor in the second half of that game in fairness - looked knackered after 40 minutes. It was nothing compared to the abuse Joe Sheridan got and I heard a lot of Cork fans having a go at Aidan Walsh as well and Tyrone fans slating Colm Cavanagh. It always bugs me when I hear that - these guys are all out bursting a gut!

[muppet]

I could never work out why some people got so annoyed by these games. It's not like anyone is being forced to watch them. To me it's a nice opportunity for players to represent their country and to pit themselves against professional athletes from another country. It has attracted good crowds over the years and has produced some decent games. It's always good to see the very best players come together.

It's a decent enough Irish panel and by the sounds of it a decent squad from Australia. It needs to be after a poor showing the last time in which Ireland actually physically dominated them. The Irish teams are much more physically strong than the teams that got bullied for a few of the series and it would be good to see a bit of the physical element return (obviously within reason).

It would actually be good to have 2 threads on the game. One could be used so the anti int rules boys can articulate how much they hate the games and wouldn't cross the road to see it. They can discuss how it ruined the railway cup which was such a success in terms of crowds last year when the int rules wasn't played. The other could be used to discuss the teams and the games.

Can't figure it out either.

I think netball is crap, but I don't seek out netball threads on websites to tell them how awful I think their game is.

[ballinaman]

panels looks pretty good, though is colm boyle of  mayo not abit small for this, Some guys injured, some guys in club football not involved, Seamus O`Shea with his speed might been better suited than the brother, brendan Murphy of carlow, MD McCauley likely another involved in club football, Cooper and E bradley probably 2 lads could been there, Did martin Clarke  not make himself available or is he injured

Boyler will hit harder than half the lads on the panel.
Surprised to see McLoughlin and AOS involved considering they are still involved in club championship.