Why International Rules is the black jellybean of sport
Columnist By Michael Filosi, 31 Oct 2011 Michael Filosi is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- AFL, International Rules series
Sometimes it is all too easy to join the mob and add your voice to a growing chorus and the International Rules Series between Australia and Ireland was hammered by all and sundry last week.
Every man and his dog had something bad to say about it ahead of last Friday night’s first Test.
So, to the detractors of International Rules, let’s put a few things in perspective.
The International Rules Series is not the highest achievement available to AFL players, and it is never likely to be, but that does not mean that the format does not have a place on the sporting calendar.
The greatest achievement for AFL players remains Premiership glory, but in the absence of State of Origin football, the closest thing to representative football any AFL player will achieve is representing Australia in the International Rules Series. And that counts for something.
International Rules is a sporting oddity of sorts, an amalgamation of Australian Rules and Gaelic football, where the DNA of both games has been spliced and brought together in a format where players from both countries can compete on an even footing.
I wonder if those who panned the International Rules Series have ever bothered to watch a match? The sport is quick, skilful and highly entertaining. As a spectacle, it is top notch viewing.
It is true that the series does not have quite the same interest around it as in years past, but all things in life will ebb and flow to some degree. Whether the downturn in interest is a sign of a terminal decline or only temporary remains to be seen, but it is worth persevering with the competition at least until the sport’s vital signs can be better established.
It is also true that the best players in the AFL are not playing in the matches and, heaven forbid, a few lesser names have even scored a spot in the Australian side, but does it really matter?
The fact that very few top-line AFL players took to the field should not be of any great concern. No one from AFL House suggested that we would be seeing the best AFL players in action for Australia, and the sport tends to suit smaller running players rather than big key position players in any event.
The Australian side is largely a mosquito fleet while the lumbering big men have been left out.
The International Rules matches also help to answer a few of those nagging questions that sports fans can spend hours pondering.
How do the athletes in my favourite sport compare to those in other games? How would my favourite sports star fare in a different code of football? How transferrable are skills in one sport to another?
Unfortunately for AFL fans, not all of the answers were all that encouraging based on Friday night’s result.
The International Rules Series might just be the black jellybean of sport.
Plenty of people find its peculiarities jarring on their sporting palate, but to many these oddities make it all the more appealing.
Fans of the hybrid game admire its quirky charm, and are happy to defend its oddball nature to its detractors. Sure, it might not be to everyone’s sporting taste, but like a bag of jellybeans with no black ones, the Australian sporting calendar wouldn’t be the same without it.
Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelFilosi
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- AFL, International Rules series
October 31st 2011 @ 9:06am
BigAl said | October 31st 2011 @ 9:06am | Report comment
“The International Rules Series is not the highest achievement available to AFL players”…
You’re right there! – it would have to be retaining their professional credibility and integrity at the same time as setting themselves up for life during that narrow window of opportunity that their natural born talents (& hard work) have given them.
And, at the end of their career still be in (reasonable?) good health.
October 31st 2011 @ 9:51am
guido said | October 31st 2011 @ 9:51am | Report comment
I do enjoy watching International rules, and of course I prefer it when Australia wins.
But, could we play just one game (for the hell of it) with a Sherrin, no other major rule changes just to see what happens. Would the Irish be alright with that as an experiment? It’s not as though most players would not be familiar with an egg ball, rugby is a major sport in Ireland.
October 31st 2011 @ 2:03pm
Michael Filosi said | October 31st 2011 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
IGuido, f the International Rules series was played with a Sherrin, I suspect that the Australian side would completely dominate and the result would be too one sided.
October 31st 2011 @ 3:04pm
John Alexander said | October 31st 2011 @ 3:04pm | Report comment
Maybe a game or two on an oval (i.e. ellipse) Michael?
October 31st 2011 @ 4:06pm
Michael Filosi said | October 31st 2011 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
That’s a great idea, I wonder how that would affect the Irish team playing on an oval rather than a rectangular field?
October 31st 2011 @ 5:18pm
Lachlan said | October 31st 2011 @ 5:18pm | Report comment
wouldn’t change anything, the Irish go straight down the guts.
I say completely scrap the International Rules series. But if something like that is to stay then there should be 4 or 2 games played, in which 1 or 2 are a footy game and the other 1 or 2 are Gaelic Footy.
I say scrap it and play a knockout type carnaval in different places around the world or something.
BTW State of Origin in the middle of AFL season over a 2 week period. 3 Divisions. (1, 2, 3) promotion and relegation system. 1 game on friday night and one saturday night and the same the following week. to start off with Victoria vs Western Australia, South Australia vs Tasmania, New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory vs Queensland/Northern Territory.
October 31st 2011 @ 7:19pm
stabpass said | October 31st 2011 @ 7:19pm | Report comment
Very big difference IMO between punting a rugby ball for touch, and kicking a sherrin to a man on a lead, and BTW a sherrin is a fair bit smaller than a rugby ball.
There are very good reasons why the All blacks use Ex AFL players as their kicking coaches, there are very good reasons why ex AFL players are used as punters in the NFL, and historically the drop punt was a kick perfected by AF players, along with a whol;e host of other kicks including the banana (checkside), that are now used in other codes of football.
October 31st 2011 @ 7:28pm
Guido said | October 31st 2011 @ 7:28pm | Report comment
Very true, and I don’t want to sound petty but I think the AFL guys have made a lot more compromise than the Irish in the International Rules mash up.
I know theyre not professional and they dont tackle as hard but I think something has to be tweaked to keep it interesting.
October 31st 2011 @ 7:49pm
stabpass said | October 31st 2011 @ 7:49pm | Report comment
Interesting, Gaelic fans seem to be saying the opposite, and that the game is to much in favour of AF.
Thinking about it, the mark probably does not favour the Australians as much as we think, the Irish are better judges and kicks of the gaelic ball, so therefore should be able to adapt to kicking and marking as good as/or better than the aussies.
The ball is the key IMO, played with a Sherrin/burley etc the Aussies would judge, mark, kick, handball much much better, and you would see one almighty flogging.
What we really need to hear from is a collective group of footballers who have played both games at the highest, and gauge their opinions, but whenever you read articles about new Irish rookies etc , the shape of the Australian football is the biggest obstacle, not fitness, peripheal vision, teamwork, travel etc.
My sport of preference is AF, but this game has the capability to be a world wide game, and quickly, but for obvious reasons, neither the GAA or the AFL really have the need, nor want to drive it.
November 2nd 2011 @ 9:55pm
Mario said | November 2nd 2011 @ 9:55pm | Report comment
”My sport of preference is AF, but this game has the capability to be a world wide game, and quickly, but for obvious reasons, neither the GAA or the AFL really have the need, nor want to drive it.”
Keep dreaming…
October 31st 2011 @ 10:31am
stabpass said | October 31st 2011 @ 10:31am | Report comment
I am probably one out here, but i think it’s a great game, very fast, open, end to end stuff.
Lets face it, every football code at one stage or another was in exactly the same position, ……. a new code, with no history and a combination of rules from here, there and everywhere, so that really should not be an excuse for not liking it.
The PE teacher at my sons primary school has the kids playing it ATM, albeit, with a few differences, one main one being that you cannot kick the ball off the ground, when players are trying to pick it up …. for obvious safety reasons.
Dont get me wrong, my preferred code if AF, but this game is a lot easier to pick up than our Australian game, and could be quite easily marketed around the world and do very well.
October 31st 2011 @ 10:34am
guido said | October 31st 2011 @ 10:34am | Report comment
Gaelic football is already more popular around the world than Australian football. Just sayin.
October 31st 2011 @ 10:40am
stabpass said | October 31st 2011 @ 10:40am | Report comment
There is no mark in Gaelic football, or tackle, these are very big differences, particuarly the tackle.
And whilst i think there is a London team in the Gaelic football league, and from memory New York ?, there are no big Gaelic programs in South Africa, PNG or some 50 AF teams spread across the USA.
But you could be right, interesting exercise to undertake, 4 or 5 gaelic clubs here in Perth, but all long established.
October 31st 2011 @ 10:43am
stabpass said | October 31st 2011 @ 10:43am | Report comment
Sydney is the hotbed of Gaelic sports in this country, because of immigration, and who have at times hopped on board with the Swans.
October 31st 2011 @ 10:51am
clipper said | October 31st 2011 @ 10:51am | Report comment
is it though guido? I’m not saying one way or the other, but do they play it professionaly anywhere in the world? I know they have a couple of teams representing the Irish diaspora from London and New York, but Ireland is smaller than Australia, and has similar competition from the other footy codes that Australia has.
October 31st 2011 @ 11:48am
Brian said | October 31st 2011 @ 11:48am | Report comment
Its better than AFL
October 31st 2011 @ 11:51am
Ben Carter said | October 31st 2011 @ 11:51am | Report comment
Hi Mike – watched game one on the telly. Decent enough, well handled by the refs etc. I’ve always found it peculiar that some Aussie Rules fans reckon their sport is the greatest thing in the galaxy (which they are free to think) yet they deride the IRF concept because it’s not real footy.
Yet if this, to me, is the nearest/only way they’ll ever get to seeing an international version of their beloved sport, then why not? When played properly (and not used as an 80-minute exercise in cross-country assault) it’s fantastic, free-flowing, unique stuff.
And I agree that more countries could put together a decent IRF team – and perhaps it could be considered, one day long-off in the future, as a viable sport in itself… Australia, Ireland, England, New Zealand, Scotland, USA, Canada, South Africa, etc, etc…
For once, why don’t footy tragics ask ‘how about we try it’ in relation to the concept, rather than ‘don’t bother because it doesn’t fit my idea of what footy should only be’… I hope game two is equally enjoyable, and that both teams don’t use the phrase “more physical” as a euphamistic excuse for bashing each other up before the first ball-up, etc…
October 31st 2011 @ 11:55am
kick to kick said | October 31st 2011 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Personally I lament that International rules will never be able to evolve through the week by week process of playing in a competitive and high pressure competition. As a game it’s design is interesting because it combines the marking, tackling and toughness of Australian rules with the non stop flow of Gaelic football. It manages to avoid the static congestion around the breakdown which bedevils the rugby codes and incraesingly Australian Rules. It has the potential to be fantastic but no game can evolve without the passion and commitment of a regular competition.
October 31st 2011 @ 12:15pm
Ads said | October 31st 2011 @ 12:15pm | Report comment
I have always thought it was a good game to watch, but the series lacks a decider. There are only 2 games played and the result relies on aggregate scores after the 2 games so it can be 1-1 but decided on aggregate. So for starters why not play best of 3?
The away team usually wins i.e. when Australia play in Ireland most of the All Australian named players want to play because they are getting a free trip away and play a few games while they are over there. Hence Australia usually wins. When the series is played in Australia most of the stars are away on holiday, so the team is backfilled with whoever happens to be in Australia at the time. Problem with this is it cheapens the honour of playing for your country as any ring-in can get a guernsey. Secondly, the crowds stay away, as they did Friday night and who can blame them – lack of any real stars, players who have never played international rules and it was a terrible game. The result was obvious by quarter time.
I propose they play 3 games every year. One game of AFL, one game of Gaelic and one game of combined rules (i.e. the game that currently exists). This way you will get a result via playing a best of 3, and the AFL players get to see how good they are at AFL against another team. Similarly the Irish players get to see how good they are at Gaelic. Both countries will benefit in the long term as they adjust to the different code and the decider is a game of combined rules. I would pay to see that. In the long term at least you have another international team to play AFL against. I agree the pinnacle is still winning the premiership but this format might add some more interest
October 31st 2011 @ 2:06pm
Michael Filosi said | October 31st 2011 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
Agree, playing only two matches and having the series winner be the team with the highest aggregate score is an issue which needs to be addressed. Having a third match would certainly help with this problem. Essentially the two matches comprise an eight quarter match, rather than two separate matches at present.
October 31st 2011 @ 2:29pm
Galaxy Hop said | October 31st 2011 @ 2:29pm | Report comment
Watching it over the years (not being much of an AFL fan) I’ve always liked how they play it on a rectangular field. To my mind the AFL could well be a better sport played on a rectangular field too–it could have the flow and intensity of netball, with kicking and tackling
October 31st 2011 @ 5:35pm
stabpass said | October 31st 2011 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
Completely diagree, i reckon IR should be played on a oval ground, an oval ground invites so much more freedom.
October 31st 2011 @ 3:06pm
Droppa said | October 31st 2011 @ 3:06pm | Report comment
I like black jelly beans!
October 31st 2011 @ 3:57pm
Ben said | October 31st 2011 @ 3:57pm | Report comment
Couldn’t agree more. I love International Rules!