International Rules

[zoyler]

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.

[magickingdom]

i'm delighted to hear that, like you said its the only sensible decision. the next problem is for ireland to be competitive....

[Maguire01]

Shame it's such a crap game.

[squareballz]

If this is ok to post, some opinion about afl and the gaa in this podcast


http://squareball.podshowcreator.com/

[go4goal]

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. 

[Imposerous]

Heard it is likely that Joe Kernan will be Ireland's manager.

[ykickamoocow]

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.

[stephenite]

Heard it is likely that Joe Kernan will be Ireland's manager.

Sean Boylan is still the manager

[youbetterbelieveit]

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.

[Hound]

The thing I most look forward to is seeing Tadhg and the other exiles doing their stuff up close.

[zoyler]

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.

[marty88]

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.

[cavanmaniac]

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?

[Maximus Marillius]

its not gaelic football so I am really genuinely puzzled what interest anybody has in it

[thejuice]

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.