International Rules Series will be a cracker

Apparently the IR series will be broadcast across Europe to a potential audience of 100 million or so.

Players to watch in the First Test. Goodes Green Reiwoldt Jack The ever reliable Fletcher being well ever reliable. Go Aussies.

Australia had a warm up game last night against a university selection and won 105 to 12, including 4 unders, which is a pretty big win. http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2010/1021/australia_ucc_cit.html

Here's a good article from the Irish Times on the IR series, from an ex-player: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/1020/1224281543362.html " I remember John O’Keeffe, the Irish manager, got the idea for my second series that he would throw me in at full back. I wasn’t too impressed with the idea and was even less impressed when the Aussies sent Barry Hall in to mark me. Apart from being a man mountain, Hall was aggressive and he was a trained boxer. Trouble. The first thing was that a ball broke about 10 or 15 yards away from us and I busted a gut to get there first. I had no hope if I got there second. And I had even less hope if Hall and I got there at the same time. So I sprinted out toward the Cusack Stand as if my life depended on it. Even at that I remember thinking as I got to within about five yards of the ball, and could hear Hall’s footsteps shaking the earth behind me, that if I picked the ball up I was dead. So just as I got to it I stuck the foot out and did a Johann Cruyff style pull back. It was so perfect and so filled with fear that my gear almost kept on going after my body had stopped. I avoided the hit but I could feel dead Kerry footballers spinning in their graves. Ground ball might not be the perfect cup of tea for people who don’t like the series but it has got us out of trouble many times. "

A couple of games played in Japan and Canada in the mid/late 80s do shine as beacons in some respects - and certainly, these beacons seemed to be ignored. I guess though, the VFL moving towards becoming AFL had so much on its plate, locally, in selling licences to interstate sides to shore up financially struggling Melbourne VFL clubs, that any chance at that time of doing anything in Japan, Canada, the US (with good 'penetration' via ESPN) and PNG (just prior to the phase of Murdoch backed RL effectively blanketing the country) - any chance was lost. However, there's a nice story about how footy in Japan got started because of two Japanese Uni's playing the curtain raiser - - and from there, has developed a league with now a 20 plus year history and the B&F named after the Aussie journo (with minimal footy pedigree) who coached them. Back in those days, the game was a little slower than today, less use of interchange, more on field rotations, and it was a little more 'thuggish' with video review and the like just starting (after Leigh Matthews clocked Neville Bruns) back in 1985.

No need for conspiracy theories. SBS cannot broadcast Gaelic Football because Setanta Sports is the exclusive broadcaster of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Australia, covering all major Gaelic Football and Hurling from Ireland. During the Championship season, Setanta Sports endeavours to broadcast every GAA match televised in Ireland. Source: http://www.setanta.com/au/Our-Sports/GAA/ 1. PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP Live and delayed games every week from May to July. 2. ALL IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIP Live and delayed games every week from June to September. 3. NATIONAL LEAGUES Selected live and delayed fixtures from February to April. 4. ALL IRELAND CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP Coverage of the traditional annual St Patrick's Day Finals in March.

Yes - it's a bit of a mystery. It's ok to denigrate, it's ok to show gross ignorance - but make a comment fully backed by commercial reality and emperical evidence - that some sports can fund themselves and others can't, and that at least on that premise, the one that can has perhaps as much right to exist as the one that can't, and, well.... I also note that on another post you referred to the once common practice, going back to the very birth of all of the modern footballs, for clubs to meet and agree rules before a match could proceed. One could argue this is the true tradition of football, and it is difficult to imagine a purer objective than a game being played solely for the enjoyment of players and spectators - and for no other purpose. Anyway, to the credit of the Roar editors, they took down a whole lot of comments that were clearly intended to inflame code wars (written by the usual suspects), and they have to be commended for that.

I find it befuddling that Mister Footballs comment above re hundreds of sports has been voted down. It's astounding. However, one can only deduce that if the message is seemingly a valid one and not offensive - then, it is apparent that people are playing the man rather than the ball again. That all becomes a bit ho-hum really.

Sean Fagan always has an answer for such questions: - rugby used to do hanballs - clubs would sometimes agree to not playing offside - there are precedents for touching the ball on the ground as you run - people used to take hangers all the time

dj There was never a real concerted effort, no strategy, no follow up action - it was pretty much done on a whim. An AFL Commissioner retired recently after 10 year in the job, and he was quoted as saying that he can recall spending about 15 minutes, in all his time as a Commissioner, discussing an overseasn strategy.

After doing some research I discovered that AFL has been trying to spead its roots around the world for a very long time. What does puzzle me however is after really good success with great croweds in both Japan and Canada, why didn't the AFL make more of a push into these regions? 9/10/1987 Vancouver, Canada B.C. Place VFL post season exhibition Melbourne v. Sydney 32,789 (record to date) 3/11/1986 Yokohama, Japan Yokohama Stadium VFL post season exhibition Carlton v. Hawthorn 25,000 Link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_exhibition_matches Just wondering if anyone could get me some insite into what the game was like between 80 and 90

Besides, what about the off side rules?, both Gaelic and Australian football have no off side rules

its doubtful that union would agree

technically, you could argue it is three - Ireland/Uk and Australia It's a wonder that it hasn't been dubbed the British International Rules Series already - give it time.

Please, please don't tell me you put up a picture of a leprechaun....

I have watched a bit of it, dont mind it, except for the lack of tackling it makes good sense, agree with MF here, used to be quite a bit of it on SBS, maybe it's not "worldly" enough now for SBS.

One would hate to think that the era of experimentation is past. The IR matches are in a way a reminder of the mid-late 1800s as people from differing backgrounds in London, or Melbourne, or in Pittsburgh. Let's not start sounding like Charles H. Duell Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899, stating assuredly that "Everything that can be invented has been invented." From a sporting and cultural perspective, let's hope that we haven't yet reached the high water mark.

It is 2 nations.....

There once was a young man from Peking Although not quite as tall as Yao Ming Kicked the sherrin a treat Bananas off both feet And was promptly crowned, the new King. (move over Wayne Carey !!.)

Gotta start somewhere, are not the Kiwis RL champions.