The 'mark' will no longer be unique to AFL

Professionalisation of GAA can only help the the Irish Association Footballing folk, I tell you regardless of the ball that's used it's the amateurisim controls that keeps Gaelic Football alive, as it was Amateurism that gave the IRFU the successes of the early. And I'm against Amateurism too...but that's another story Association Football's not big iN Ireland but that's only because of the Indigenous game, sounds familiar doesn't it ;) I actually love the concept of the universal mark, but to add it to the Irish game would be the same as signing the cheque for Irish talents to come over to Vic and play AFL football

Brett, Faulkner?....oh yeah they use that ball in the little league in Adelaide dont they? :-) Mate if the SANFL became the AFL then you crow eaters could use your ball. VFL = Sherrin - the Kangaroo brand and one true Australian football. Getting your hands on the Sherrin sounds a lot better than get your hands on the 'Faulkner'. :-) Footy should never ever go to the round ball - International Rules - it is a silly game anyway (Monty Python accent). But seriously, who would ever want to see the death of the torpedo or the thundering drop punt. Any move towards Australian Rules in the GAA can only be a good thing. Redb

Was sitting here imagining what would happen if they decided to change the ball from round to ovoid in Gaelic Football. The IRFU would love it - they'd slowly pick off all the players who had exceptional handling, passing and kicking skills and recruit them to rugby. As the game changed, slowly but surely the GAA would fall into the enemy's hands, a massive infrastructure of stadia would be available, Croke Park could become the real rugby HQ, Lansdowne can become the home of Leinster, (and rent it out to the soccer boys every now and then), massive local funding and corporate sponsorships pour into the game, and within ten years, Rugby in Ireland would be the dominant national sport, and have actually have a proper tilt at winning the WC. 2018 and the cabinet trophy in IRFU has to be replaced to make room for the the Triple Crown, 6 Nations, Millenium Cup, Heineken Cup, European Super League Cup, and little ole Willie Webb's cup itself.....aaaahhhhhhh....... .....and then I woke up..... Oh well.

Sherrin? Nah, it's a Faulkner mate. That's the name synonymous with footy in South Australia. And Burley in WA. But alas, like all things VFL, we were forced to succumb to the Vic brand. Would love for Gaelic football to evolve towards Aussie Rules, just as football has been evolving towards Gaelic in some respects. If the two codes united and really embarked on spreading the game I believe they'd have considerable success. But in this modern era rules can always change, but I don't believe the ball can - it's too late. And because of that the 2 games will never become one.

MC I"ve got a big collection of footies at home, as I'm sure you have. But I make a thing of using up my older ones before touching the spanking new Sherrins (for very special occasions only, like the kick around Australia earlier this year). Anyway, I have a really well worn Kookaburra - talk about slippery - these mongrels are bloody slippery when the leather gets worn (plus they get rounder with age, as I'm sure you'd know). Some of the well worn footies we had as kids were very, very close to being round!! Another kiddy memory was kicking a plastic footy with the wind as opposed to agaisnt the wind - plus the ends of those plastic footies were even harder than a Gaelic footy! :)

oikee - given you live up there, I'm just glad you didn't tell me you've got a coon in the fridge.........I wouldn't know how to take that. I like me' King Island dairy soft cheeses.............

The way the ball is abused in aussie rules you cant blame the ball, :) anyhow i have a quick little Christmas story for you to enjoy, i will get back to you after X-mas to let you know it pans out, I have just wrapped up a kilo of Colby cheese in wrapping and put it back in the fridge, my mrs will think its chocalates, (i have bought her chocalates but they are hidden) so will see what happens . Well she keeps telling me how good Colby is, :)

oikee- RUssell Athletic I think is how they are often known. ..............btw - - - when recently there was published in the Age the 10 commandments of AFL.............of which we had a little critique, I've often looked at soccer with their effectively plastic balls replacing the traditional leather...............for me, only the traditional leather Sherrin really does it. However - I've often felt that a slightly weathered (i.e. by half way thru the 2nd qtr) Sherrin is when it's at it's best, for kicking as well as general handling. That's one of the things people pick on the 'missing' of what they might judge an easy shot - - but, with the bucket of balls now, it's no longer a case of a single 'match ball', and when more games are played at night - - it means players are MORE often handling a shiny new ball with a bit of dew on it................now...............I don't know if you've tried to open the bowling with a brand new kookaburra after having just applied sunscreen and so still have greasy fingers...........................it ain't easy. Thus - I'd suggest to KB and some others, often the removal of the hands from the equation is a simplification of the process by the removal of another variable.

Just read the next story, we have all heard of spalding, but Russell i have never heard of M.C, i had better get down to the sports store and have a look, sorry, i buy my gear on the net, my mrs has bought me a enough jerseys to fill a team. Maybe she uses me as a guinea pig, studying my habits, she finds it fascinating how i find great pride in being a queenslander.

Good story, thanks for that M.C now i will tell you about my 1st encounter with a piece of dried up looking pig shit that i use to own, it was all i had at the time and i can still remember the day i sent it sailing over the roof-top only to land in my bedroom window, true story, i heard it smash the window as did my old-man and he came running out the front door, so what did i do? i sat beside the fence whisling and pretending like nothing had happened, he came over to me looked at the window and asked what had happened." I "as you do said "what", which he saw the window and said "who broke it", in which i replied "what window" and you know what happens after this, i was only 6 at the time. Anyhow getting back to that piece of pig shite, we had the centenary celebrations this year as you know, anyhow i travelled up to harvey norman and had a look, you know what i saw, yes that same piece of pigshite i use to kick around was on display in a cabinet. Now dont laugh, i swear it was the same ball, gee it brought back some good, "and bad" memories. :)

oikee - so you understand a little more fully the iconic nature of the 'sherrin' : Thomas William Sherrin grew up as one of nine children in a close family. Tom Sherrin didn’t follow his father into carpentry but decided to become a saddler, repairing and manufacturing horse saddles, bridles and other leather equipment. The saddlery where Tom worked was in Wellington Street, Collingwood. In the 1870s this area was dominated by tanneries and clothing and shoe manufacturers. Tom was involved with a small club close to work called the Britannia Football Club. Australian Rules Football was a game derived from many fine sports including Irish Gaelic football, rugby and soccer. In its infancy, the game used rugby balls imported from England. The physical torture these balls endured in this tough, vibrant and robust new game created considerable wear. They were regularly sent to Tom’s saddlery to be repaired. Tom had to pull the ball apart in some cases to complete the repair work, and one day had a brainstorm which was to revolutionise the ball. The rugby ball was elongated, and used to wear heavily on the ends. Tom created a new shape and developed a pattern that made the ball rounder on the points. The ball was still oval in shape, but it bounced more evenly and was easier to kick. His design was quickly accepted. Tom scraped his pennies together and in 1879 built a small factory at 32 Wellington Street in Collingwood. T.W. Sherrin Pty Ltd was now established, and Tom employed a small band of tradesmen to produce enough footballs to keep up with the strong demand. The design of the new ball were so widely accepted that the National Football League of Australia eventually used the size and shape of the Sherrin football as the standard. When Tom passed away in 1912, the business was left to Tom’s nephew John Sydney Sherrin, who had served his apprenticeship with the company as a teenager. After his death in 1941, the War Department instructed young Tom (Syd’s son) to carry on the family business, and discharged him from duties with the Air Force. Tom was a very likeable man. He had a great association with the Collingwood Football Club and eventually became president between 1963 and 1974. The Collingwood FC recognized the magnificent services of the Sherrin family in 1976, when they named their new stand at Victoria Park, “The Sherrin Stand”. During the 1960s, Tom battled with his football business. He felt he had to double the production in order to absorb running costs and still remain profitable. Without growth, T.W. Sherrin Pty.Ltd. would stagnate, and he could not see a bright future for the next generation of the family. He finally sold the business to Spalding in 1972. Tom stayed on as manager of the Sherrin division of Spalding until his death in 1978. The Sherrin takeover by Spalding appeared on the front page of every major newspaper in Australia and made news bulletins in Europe and America. In July 2003 Spalding were bought by Russell Corporation who to this day produce the most famous brand in football from their factory in Scoresby Victoria. To this day the balls are produced with the same craftsmanship and labour intensive process.

oikee - "Sherrin", as in T.W.Sherrin, The first Australian rules football was invented by T.W.Sherrin in 1880, when he was given a misshapen rugby ball to fix. He designed the Sherrin with indented rather than pointy ends to give the ball a better bounce. Sherrin began production in 1897 in a workshop in Collingwood, which had produced sporting goods since the 1880s. The sport known as football, or 'footy', was rapildly increasing in popularity, and Sherrin footballs soon became the icon for being the first ball made for Australian rules football. Sherrin footballs still remain the most popular among leagues, players, and footy fans.

You imagine a sucker punch being changed into a mellon punch, sounds like something you would drink, then again after you have been sucker punched it seems like your on the turps. :)

Nice one, and i have seen a few weild looking ones go through, the ball being egg shaped, now i dont want to talk to load because i dont wish to attrack the football (soccer0 mob, but why get rid of the word soccer, how can we say footballed into the goal, soccered like you said sounds so much better. :)

Oikee in the modern era we are seeing some unbelievable soccered goals in the AFL - stuff you never would have seen when I was a kid (a long time ago) One that always comes to mind was the skipper of my club, Brad Johnson, about 5 years ago. He was directly in front, but just inside 50, and he was about to be pummeled from both sides, so he's whacked off the carpet, and it's spun like a torp, staying about 5 metres off the ground all the way and split the sticks - damn fine effort!

Yes i will take your word for it PIP, what i did like about these games was the predicability of the ball and also the fact you could soccer the damm thing. I loved that. :)

Oikee the funny thing is that while I was thinking of something to describe how it felt, a medicine ball was the first thing that came to my head. But - the truth is - the Gaelic footy is waaay harder!! I'm not kidding mate, she's a mongrel thing to kick!!

Either way what you have to do is channell the 2 games closer so the overlap between the 2 can compete. Mind you i could easily get wrapped in the International game, its very good, and i never say that aussie rules is very good. To me it has lots of faults but i see they made a move to get rid of the backside, :) (behind)

Hey PIp, you just made me chukkle, i had a vision of you standing there and they swapped the Gaelic ball for a medicine ball. :)

Good post PIp, and i dont wish to insult you but the 1st time i heard the word Sherrin was on this blog and i think M.C used the word, i knew what he was talking about but a ball being called a sherrin? No sorry, i must not get out much, then again i do live in Queensland. :)