International Rules is much ado about nothing

I always found it mad looking at the biff and look of the 1980's/early 90's aussie Rugby League players against the GB team and then seeing the aussie rules players taken on the irish GAA players.Always thought the 3 sports should of been the same. Oh shit and then there was Hurling which made me so confused i was quite happy to follow Rugby Union. Crikey imagine trying to explain to a yank/South American/European/Asian/Middle Eastern all the different codes of footie(as well as Hurling). GULP.

The game is much more closely related to Gaellic football than Aussie Rules - so they have a distinct advantage. The Aussie Rules players' instincts have to change a lot more, so I'm not surprised they lose. The goals are the same as Gaellic as well. WHat exactly is different for them? Not much. What is different for us? Heaps . .. The ball, the goals, the rules - they may as well go and play gridiron against the Yanks, or Soccer against the Poms. Stupid. Why not have a football that is oval/elliptical? I bet we'd cream 'em. I watch the game for about 5 minutes, and then boredom sets in. That's about all I can handle. It's pretty boring compared to Aussie Rules. No good overhead high marks - something is just missing in the game. I reckon' give this crap the arse now and let the boys have a rest.

I'm not a huge follower of Gaelic Football and so I'm not familiar with many of the players representing Ireland at this game but I do take a mild interest when the national team is playing. Why watch it? Well, first off it is comprised of two genuine national teams. Unlike rugby league where the team representing "Ireland" in the world cup (sic) is really made up for the most part of Aussies and Englishmen with Irish grannies. And also, even though it is a one off series and effectively a demonstration sport, there is little doubt that the games are contests. Both sides want to win. Even the skullduggery of the last two series was at least evidence that the results mattered. It will never get the country to grind to a standstill, like a vital World Cup soccer match might, or even a rugby world cup semifinal might (not that we know yet). But it's nice to be able to beat the Aussies at something. Even if by only a point. :)

Thanks Dave - great article!

Dave, Just spent the last 3 days in northern NSW, the general consensus from the locals is that Aussie Rules fits well between soccer and rugby. Auskick is very well received up here. thanks for the article. Redb

Redb MC Pip Here you go a treat for all your hard work - from The Times in London (didn't know where to place the copy but you've all posted on this blog so... "From The TimesOctober 22, 2008 England named European champions of Australian Rules footballKevin Eason, Sports News Correspondent They are still reeling from the success of Great Britain at the Beijing Olympic Games and smarting from the rejuvenation of the Poms as a sporting power in the world again. But there is more bad news for the Australians, for it seems that we are turning out to be rather good at their national game. England are the new European champions of Australian Rules football, that bizarre mix of soccer and rugby with a bit of basketball thrown in. In fact, the Australians will probably be alarmed to discover that Aussie Rules is catching on fast in England, with the number of home-grown players up to more than 6,000 from virtually a standing start in little more than three years, an astonishing rate of growth. A national league is being founded and Sport England, the organisation pledged to get the nation off its collective behind and on to the sports field, has given the sport a £75,000 grant. The nation that gave us Kylie and Crocodile Dundee appears to be in danger of divesting itself of another treasured national asset if the Poms continue to improve at this rate. England Dragonslayers took part in the fledgeling EU Cup of Australian Football, which featured 12 teams, last weekend and emerged as victors, slaying Croatia in the final for some revenge on the country that defeated England's football team in the round-ball game's European Championship qualifiers. Brian Clarke, the general manager for Aussie Rules UK, the sport's governing body in Britain, said: “It really is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. We find lots of people might not want to play football, as they know it here, or rugby, which might be too physical. Aussie Rules is a combination of both. It has been taken on in many of the rugby clubs and proving very popular, so it is catching on fast.” The typical European version of Aussie Rules is nine-a-side, unlike the professional 18-a-side game played Down Under, but that is only because there is not the depth of playing squads in this country - yet. For England play the full-size game on Saturday against Wales in Cardiff. " Love the description of the game "bizzare mix of football and Rugby with Basketball thrown in" :) Note MC the British Govt is even handing out money ($200,000 equivalent) so no more complaints re Govt handouts to football here!! Watch out the Poms are coming :)

To John Bushby, If you dont care why write an article? 'SMDHSFB' :-) Redb

I remembered my main gripe about the IR game. Too much sameness of player type across the field. AFL at least retains the scope for 'big men', pack marks and ruckwork are greater features of AFL. The IR game, not nearly so.

Dave - no worries - - actually, the Herald Sun I think publishes the round total, last years comparison I think and stuff like that, so, normally it's not hard to see how it's tracking. The Soccer stats seem more guarded in that respect - - which is my main reason to ensure that guess work doesn't rule the roost - - -that's all. However, on a club by club basis - - I am interested to do some revision from the perspective I've applied to the HAL - - however, overall, we know that since the last 2 AFL seasons have been successive record highs, that the drops of some have been more than countered by the others........and that's what the HAL are missing in spades this season thus far.

MC I enjoy your stats but as you know we can twist them round as we please. Will look forward to the AFL analysis next year from rd 1 if there is even the slightest decline in attendances :)

JohnB - depends on exclusivity regarding 'converting OUT' of Aust Footy. Re converting in, it's possible mainly for kids who've grown up with say a combination of soccer and basketball, eachof those sports is too specific stand alone, but, combined, cover the broader range of skill sets (although miss out on full body tackling for example, so, a bit of junior rugby in there might help too). to convert OUT of Aust footy to say, soccer - means turning off a lot of skillsets. Also, turning off a lot of intuitive and instinctive play.....to cater for the off-side restrictions. Games like soccer and rugby are sometimes a little harsher on mistakes and therefore less embracing of 'risk taking'. Aust footy is effectively all about risk taking. - - - however, what HAS been seen, is that for cross training - Aust Footy can be very, very beneficial. More and more (especially OUTSIDE of Aust), aspiring Rugby players play Aust footy in the off season to increase their fitness base and improve kicking skills and ballHANDling skills (i.e. in both Rugby codes, the tendancy is to catch the ball on the chest rather than with clean hands). - - - I've indicated previously, Aust Footy probably has a broader base (variety) of skills/attributes - - thus, can be more forgiving on specific deficiencies - - this is no put down.

JohnB In Melbourne, for 150 years, we've played cricket in summer and footy in winter. The list of sportsmen that excelled at both at the highest levels is quite long. In the last two decades or so, with the increasing emphasis of specialisation kicking in at around the age of 17 and the increasing professionalism demanded of both sports, the opportunity to play both well into your 20s is all but gone now.

the best source of attendance stats - for the A-League - I've gotten them directly from the A-League website, and collated them over time in an XL workbook with suitable statistical review. From a purely statistical perspective, the HAL offers some unique opportunities. So - I can't direct you anywhere with respect to the home team by home team round 1 to round 8 year on year comparisons. AFL and NRL stats most commonly via {http://} {stats.rleague.com/afl/afl_index.html} I gather to satisfy Dave, I need to get a bit of club by club attendance variation x number of rounds into season etc happening for the AFL.......when I get some time. This site has some really good info, including historical club membership stats year by year - {http://} {footystats.freeservers.com/Daily/Diary.html}

Michael C - just to clarify - my comment was in response to the line in the article "What advantage is there for the Irish to continue in this Series?". To paraphrase my comment - perhaps one advantage is that there are Irish people who like the game. Incidentally, why do people think it would be difficult for junior Australian rules players to convert to other sports? Are you saying that as a result of their contact with Australian rules they're completely and irredeemably lacking in basic skills that would be translatable to other games, and have lost any ability to pick up new skills? Seems both a pretty severe put-down of Australian rules, and pretty unlikely to be correct.

MC interesting points. By the way, where do you grab all those attendance stats you're constantly bombarding us with? (asking for professional reasons)

Pippinu - It's Ricky Nixon pushing the Irish recruitment wagon - - but, perhaps a more defined 'pathway' is the preferred option anyway. The Irish hopefully will soon be overtaken by recruiting of kids from South Africa, PNG and elsewhere. Then, see what the Irish do to retain their chance to play a compromise game. btw - - there's some evidence that suggests their 'native' game wasn't nearly so clearly defined until after the Melb/Australian game had evolved sufficiently such that certain GAA rules were put in place more to create a distinction. btw - The author puts it this way The difference to Australia is that AFL does not produce players that are suitable to be poached by other codes. At all times, presently, this is a major advantage for any AFL 'internationalisation', the capacity to 'convert' juniors into Aust Footy is far greater than converting them out - mainly because of other codes tending to be more narrow ranges of skills (more 'speciality' skills), so in the GAA vs AFL equation, this along with the AFL being the professional body - - gives us the position of power. I know there's been thoughts of including a US team and make it a 3-way IR competition, but - on this front, the IR game is still seen as too similar to Gaelic and wouldn't promotionally do anything for AFL OUTSIDE of Australia and Ireland. That's one of the main stumbling blocks for IR going forward - - it could actually be a future 'world game', except, the main money behind it (AFL) don't really want to overly promote it. I think it suits for this 'phoney way' type approach to these matches.

KB - sanity is an objective measure for many of us. ah......early lunch over,.......back to work!!! (I was hungry)

KB - you’re bored - aren’t you? LOL :D MC, hmm... maybe; but I do remember it was you who said that you blog to keep your sanity while fulfilling your day to day mundane work responsibilities... :D ~~~~~~~ KB

JohnB - 'perhaps there are others in Ireland like him'........... well, they're back again..........which suggests there are others in Ireland like him, they've drawn 80,000 or so to Croke Park.........which suggests there are others in Ireland like him. - - - - KB - you're bored - aren't you?

Yep, I have to agree with this article it lacks credibility and I would also add that the recent IC lacked creditability as well. Although it was a nice notion to enter the Peace Team; that was a beautiful concept.. Alas, the AFL did not go far enough with not including an amateur Marn Grook Australian NT indigenous team.. That was a disgrace... 8) ~~~~~~~~ KB