Rules may need luck of Irish to survive

As far as the future of the game goes, if my response to watching a few minutes the other night is any gauge, it's already over. Without the oval ball it really does resemble aerial ping-pong. What few seem to realise is that the pill is a bit part of the drive of AFL players. Call it totemic, call it atavistic, but the pull of the Sherrin (or whatever less agate you can name, though I'm not sure about the Burley) is massive. We spend our lives making it the object, to the extent that as kids we walk around handballing it and kicking it to ourselves as we roam fitfully around our 20-square suburban hell-hole homes, our rapidly shrinking 1/4 acre blocks. The colour doesn't seem to matter (although I saw a green one recently in my son's hands, and it did feel distinctly strange, but that could've been the pseudo-hologram effect of the paintjob), but the shape patently does. So I don't blame the AFL players for not having the desire required to get their hands on a giant ping-pong ball before one of those surprisingly quick Irish buggers. Bouncing round balls a for following in a singalong, not kicking through the big sticks. And as for the goals, don't get me started on the whole stupid net thing...if I want a net, I'll go fishing.

Fragglerocker some worthwhile suggestions there. On the skirmishing, there's an underlying expectation that the Australians should take it easy because they are hardened professionals. It's incorrect on two fronts: 1. in this series, the Irish came with the bigger, stronger bodies and were more than capable of looking after themselves; and 2. as you know from your rugby background, you can't play a contact sport holding a bit back, it's impossible (I don't give that a reason why the Australians lost, they were hopeless and an embarassment, but I say that as a general comment).

As a fanatical rugby supporter who doesn't mind watching the occasional AFL game, I would really like to see the international rules concept survive. However this won't happen until the AFL treats it seriously, both the result, and the opposition. It's plain to see that professional Australian players won't stop the disgraceful thug tactics until there is a judiciary in place that can impose suspensions that carry over into their big money day jobs, in other words the regular AFL season. But all this is purely academic........the tournament won't survive in it's present format. Here's a suggestion: The largest crowd ever at an international rules game in Australia was in Melbourne in 2003. The reason was obvious - there was an Ireland v Australia Rugby World Cup match at the same venues the next night, and the Melbourne Cup was run earlier in the week, so every Irish expat in the country went to Melbourne and 'painted the town green' for a week. No problem getting top AFL players when you can guarantee a full stadium. Nowadays Rugby would struggle to get a decent crowd to an Australia v Ireland match in Melbourne, and the AFL struggles getting people to international rules. So recreate 2003! Every two years, alternating between Australia and Ireland, host both matches on the same weekend in Melbourne cup week when in Australia, or during October/November in Ireland (not much chance of getting the St Leger rescheduled every four years). The AFL makes money. The ARU makes money. Of course the alternative is simply cancel the whole international rules concept.

Are we talking about a footy or a condom??

No, I'm thinking more about the Gilbert Virtuo ball used at the recent RWC in NZ. It's features include: 'Copolymer 'air-loc' Bladder Multi Matrix 3D Grip Ellipse Truflight™ Valve Reaction Laminate Construction Performance rubber surface Hand Stitched Pre Kicked'

You mean like the Gilbert 'Fatso' ball used in the 2000 RL World Cup http://bit.ly/vgCvG8 (Not a great pic but all I could find)

Why don't they play IR with a Gilbert Rugby ball? Ir's larger than the Sherrin and has a more predictable bounce but it is not round. Then neither team would be advantaged by the shape of the ball.

...you could add to that cold pies and warm beer at the footy

TC Buses and Trains being on time if you are running late ... and being late if you are on time... spring to mind...

Mark there aren't too many things that have been produced in Australia on a continuous basis for 130 years, in a near identical form, in fact, there's probably nothing else.

Can't be serious TC. You just can't be. There are so many problems with that statement. You have to be hoping for a bite.

:) Our national game is played with our last remaining national icon: The Sherrin.

It seems that Australians cannot even win now in a version of their own national game!

I think the AFL has to get serious about global development of their game or shut up shop and stop pretending that they are into anything else other than playing with themselves :-) and be blessed :-)

Copperface Jacks a good night club? Talk about a beverage-through-the-nose moment! :) :) :) Happily I am now too old to be frequenting that den of iniquity with its big hair, fake tan, skirts a size or two too small for the wearer and all the other usual accouterments of the flashy and trashy. Nothing you couldn't find on Bondi Beach in much more inviting weather. Made my day with that one, mate. :)

Roll on the 2014 International Cup where the standard continues to improve. Perhaps one day not too far off we can have an Australia vs the rest of the world using a sherrin. The 'world team' out of this years International Cup if augmented by Rugby WC style player eligibility criteria could serve up a pretty decent side (inclusive perhaps of Rodan, Carlile, Naitanui, Edwards, Pyke, Kennelly, Touhy, O'hAilpin, Hanley, Kerr, Moran). The PNG side included fellows like Don Barry who has played a couple of years in the Bris Lions system, and guys on Int Rookie lists like Meli, Labi, Simon, and a couple of guys who were in the GC Suns TAC/VFL systems in Susuve and Pirika. Dylan Wolfgramm from Fiji came into Essendon District League and played really well at Avondale Heights, and Irelands player of the tournament in the 2011 IC Mick Finn also happened to win the B&F in the Northern Footy League (formerly DVFL) Div 1. These guys aren't hack players. There's real talent there and perhaps an All Australian Amateurs side vs a 'World' team might be verging on a real international contest with a sherrin. Perhaps the AFL themselves are less concerned about the hybrid version, as, I do believe they are becoming more aware of the possibilities.

we went to celebrate a friend's birthday - don't think I'd be fussed again unless Australia put up a decent team. It didn't seem as though the Australians really put in much effort - unlike the Irish who never stopped trying. Int'l Rules has always been played with a round ball, that hasn't stopped us winning in the past. It was like the A team playing the B team. One team seemed to want to win and the other couldn't really care less. If what it takes for Australians to stand pround and represent their country is for it to be played overseas where there is a good nightclub - then it might as well be scratched, and deservedly so.

The rules have actually become more slanted towards the Irish as the series has evolved in the past 10 years. Tackles are a lot more restricted, shirtfronts are not allowed, the flickpass is legal (which is a throw in Australian football and used solely by the Irish) and probably the most significant rule change was that you can only handball 4 times before you have to kick it. That was brought in a few years ago when Australia won a series based on minimal kicking. Generally whenever Australia wins the Irish have a sook, threaten to scrap the series and they change the rules to prohibit Australia in the next series. All those rule changes, added to an Australian squad containing no elite players and a lot of fringe players, produced the result of the last couple of weeks. In the end, the series should be about a bit of fun for spectators and what should be a quick, running game that's a bit of a novelty where all the best players get together. But if a 4th rate team is going out there then it's not going to generate much interest.

' Without a shadow of a doubt this hybrid is very much weighted in favor of the Irish which is born out in the frustration displayed by Australian players. Time to give this IR the short shrift.

I watched a little bit a few nights ago for the first time & my first impression was to be surprised that the game is played on the rectangular field. It seemed to me that the odds are stacked too far in favour of the Irish what with the round ball being the biggest advantage ( obviously you have to choose so the rund ball it is ) but from my small taste it just looked like a game where one team was right at home & the other feeling a tad uncomfortable about being there. It made me think of what I imagine a game played between two rugby league & union teams but to only one set of rules, the other guys would have many of the skills required & could compete but overall they would be just off the pace & instinct of the game. The rectangular field also seemed to restrict the Aussies in that they couldn't really open up the play & use their full range of skills, combine this with the round ball & I had the feeling that they weren't able to charge onto the ball the way the irish did with confidence & it took the edge of the contest. As a first timer I would watch again but only because I would watch either game in it's original form & it is a curiosity but I did wonder what exactly were the AFL getting out of it ? after all it can hardly be spreading the good word about the code internationally if it isn't actually the code & thus where does it lead ? If I was an international viewer who flicked over & caught it on tv, what would I think ? would I think i was watching Aussie Rules ? perhaps I had seen Gaelic football before so would I just think that it was an international & the Aussies weren't as good as the Irish at their national game ? because this was certainly closer to what it appeared than any sort of Aussie Rules. International Rules would be a better used term if we took the actual game we play here to other nations & played developing countries such as South Africa & PNG to spread the code, at least it would be AFL.