Ireland V Austrailia International Rules Official Thread 2008

[Zapatista]

Exactly. We don't need this to tell us Fermanagh can't shoot.

Steady on Zapatista. Malachy will be working his magic on the Fermanagh forwards over the winter months. I have it on good authority that the Fermanagh players will be wearing a special type of shooting boot next year. Our inability to score will be a thing of the past.

I have full confidence in ye.

Nothing to worry about anyway as according to some here the best in the country cant shoot. I'm just bunging Fermanagh in with the best in the country

[bridgegael]

getting back to the game itself,  one thing i didn't like was the irish playing the ball back and forward near he end to waste time,  no call for it!

[HeaveHo]

I think Boylan outcoached Malthouse tonight. Boylan had the big lad at full forward and he was a hard match up. The Aussies erred in not playing a similiar size forward and bringing in a large defender to pick the big lad up. The small speedy forward line of the Aussies struggled until late in the game.

[HeaveHo]

getting back to the game itself,  one thing i didn't like was the irish playing the ball back and forward near he end to waste time,  no call for it!

I disagree Bridgegael - good tactics methinks. The Aussies were coming on strong and the Irish lads were kicking into a strong breeze and had an extra man. It happens every other week in AFL. I don't like the tactic either but it can be effective.

[Zapatista]

Time to embrace

Kavanaghs goal was fantastic. A real contender for goal of the season He was absolutley delighted with himself too.

[cavanmaniac]

Today's scorers if anyone's interested in the stats. That we scored three goals to their none and still only finished 1 point up on a team that uses a different shaped ball 49 weeks of the year, is somewhat of a poor reflection on Ireland's kicking skills. Then again, gaelic football is essentially a handpassing game with the odd kick.

In about 74 minutes of play, we managed the grand total of 6 points in gaelic football terms, a paltry three from open play. This is in keeping with the pattern of recent series, our kicking skills or lack of (which can be seen even at home) are very harshly underlined in this game where our lads don't have time to steady themselves or can't rush past an opponent into space for shooting when in possession.

There's alot to be learned from Aussie tactics and support play and shooting under pressure if we'd open our eyes and see this for the learning opportunity it is.

Ireland
Sean Cavanagh 1-2-1 (13)
Leighton Glynn 1-1-1 (10)
Steven McDonnell 1-0-1 (7)
Kieran Donaghy 0-1-1 (4)
Ciarán Lyng 0-1-0 (3)
Paddy Bradley 0-1-0 (3)

Behinds: Meehan (2) Coulter, Cullen, Joe McMahon (all 1 each)

Australia
Murphy 0-4-0 (12)
Campbell 0-2-2 [8]
Thompson 0-2-0 (6)
Harvey 0-1-1 (4)
Montagna 0-1-1 (4)
Osborne 0-1-0 (3)
Bodan 0-1-0 (3)

Behinds: Brennan (2), Motlop, Hayden (all 1)

[FermPundit]

I thought the Irish players over played the hand pass at times today. On numerous occcasions they got caught in possession and tackled. In the next test they should utilise the short kicked pass and take the mark. I thought the Australians did this really well this morning.

[bridgegael]

getting back to the game itself,  one thing i didn't like was the irish playing the ball back and forward near he end to waste time,  no call for it!

I disagree Bridgegael - good tactics methinks. The Aussies were coming on strong and the Irish lads were kicking into a strong breeze and had an extra man. It happens every other week in AFL. I don't like the tactic either but it can be effective.

it might be effective but does nothing for the game as a spectacle.

[HeaveHo]

getting back to the game itself,  one thing i didn't like was the irish playing the ball back and forward near he end to waste time,  no call for it!

I disagree Bridgegael - good tactics methinks. The Aussies were coming on strong and the Irish lads were kicking into a strong breeze and had an extra man. It happens every other week in AFL. I don't like the tactic either but it can be effective.

it might be effective but does nothing for the game as a spectacle.

Totally agree - does get the crowd booing which can be a bit of humour. Lot of Irish folk there tonight - I reckon 1 in 3 was an Irish supporter - good for the atmosphere. Some of the lads look like they had some long lunches before coming to the game - all good natured stuff.

[Zulu]

There's alot to be learned from Aussie tactics and support play and shooting under pressure if we'd open our eyes and see this for the learning opportunity it is.

Exactly, if I were coaching an inter county team I'd be out in Australia to watch the movement of the Aussie players, there are All Irelands to be won if lessons are learnt.

I thought the Irish players over played the hand pass at times today.

We always do, in this game and in our own game. Irish players generally drift over to the man in possession which means he often has 3 or 4 teammates within 5 yards of him, this means all his options are a fistpass distance away. We need to coach an awareness of space into our players, make players realize the need for alternative options and the ability to work the ball out of tight spaces and back into the open.

[ziggysego]

Must be alot of Dubs out in Australia at the moment, as a lot of fans arrived late to the game. Happy the AFL started the game on time all-the-same.

[eyeswideopen]

I watched this mornings game with an open mind and have to say both teams would have benefited from a warm up game. They took a while getting used to that rules. Pat was sore on the Irish lads in order not to show bias. While the Aussie ref was a homer.
Also felt that when the Irish heard the whistle for a mark they automatically stopped instead of using the option to continue. Had Coulter not stopped to take a mark in the first 5 mins he was in for a goal. All in all i did enjoy and am looking forward to next weeks test.

[BallyhaiseMan]

For Ireland

David Gallagher was outstanding.
John Keane also outstanding
Aidan O Mahony has a nighmare opening quarter and a half, but was solid after that.
Thought Kieran McKeever and Graham Canty also worked hard aswell.

Colm Begley got on a sight of ball,and worked hard
Kieran Donaghy, was very good in the air,Its a pity we couldnt afford him to play Full Forward for the whole 80 minutes.
Sean Kavanagh kicking 1 goal and 2 overs and playing a captains part.
Leighton Glynn for me was the best Irish Player on show,Terrific workrate and finishing.
Joe McMahon worked hard,gave a great ball for the goal,
Benny Coulter was also a good outlet, he set up a couple of overs with good play and Great fielding,but he missed what should have been a certain score early on.

I think Tom Parsons,Bryan Cullen , Kevin Reily,Pearse O Neil John Miskella and a seemingly overweight looking Paddy Bradley to be honest just werent up to it, Wasnt impressed by any of them.
Especially suprised to see Paddy Bradley get run down so comprehensively in the 4th quarter when in on goal.

i thought Austrailia were at least 8-10 points a better team,Only for some sloppy play by the Aussies constantly handpassing the ball over the side line for one,wed have been in trouble.
There were a few Irish Guys who just werent up to the standard,and some of them were ones who alot on here were confused about being picked.
The standard of kick passing was poor and as has been mentioned before,We handpassed lads into trouble far to much.

[orangeman]

Started slowly and was missing the 'biff' but as the game progressed I started to enjoy it. The players seemed to too going by the smiles on Cavanagh and Donaghy during their interviews.

The wing mirrors were evident early on among the Irish players but they started to forget about it as the game wore on. Must be hard for the Irish to naturally release the ball so quickly.

I'd imagine Aussie pride will get the better of them next test and we'll see a few dust-ups.

I seen quite a few later on in the game as well.

[The Biff]

Started slowly and was missing the 'biff' but as the game progressed I started to enjoy it.

Aw shucks!