With the Australian Indigenous side in Ireland for the International Rules series, it’s worth remembering that there is a genuine Australian Football competition in the same country.
The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland traces its history back to September 1999, when the Belfast Redbacks were founded by Darren Nutt and Ian Bracken.
In October of the same year, the Demons were formed in Dublin. Today, the league consists of six men’s teams and three women’s teams.
The league uses the standard Gaelic football pitch, with cones tapering the corners in to at least resemble something of an oval.
The number of players per side can vary between 12 and 14 depending on who is available. The national side generally plays on a standard oval with 16-18 players on the field.
The President of the ARFLI, Cian Quigley, enthusiastically tells me that there are 200 club players in the Irish competition, with about 15-20 expatriate Australians on average.
Quigley says there used to be more, but the global financial crisis reduced the numbers.
Not only is Quigley the President of the Irish league, but he has been the captain in its last two International Cups, as well as being on the 2005 tour.
Ireland has competed well at the International Cup, having won it twice in 2002 and in 2011, and has 18 wins from 26 games.
Quigley remembers the trip fondly, saying of the vast surface of the MCG, “I couldn’t believe they made pitches so big”.
The captain says that they have a strong team for the 2014 cup and would very much like to be the first team to win three cups.
The 2014 side is expected to have more Australian-based Irish players than Irish-based players.
It’s not a cheap trip. Quigley says that the cost-per-player will be more than 3000 Euros, but adds that “even without playing on the MCG the experience would be unbelievable”.
Quigley sees merit in the International Cup as a means of spreading the AFL message and making the game truly international. He says that the cup is a great way to bring all kinds of people together.
AFL Europe has been a blessing according to Quigley, particularly in the branding and promotional sense, although there is a minor financial contingent.
The International Rules matches give the Irish Australian Rules players a chance to see the Australian guys up close, while the ARFLI will get the chance to attend some AFL/GAA events while the Indigenous team is in Ireland.
Quigley says that even though the GAA has its own relations with the AFL, it would be preferable for the ARFLI to have their own ties than rely on the GAA to cross-promote.
He rates players like the Lions’ Pearce Handley and Carlton’s Zach Touhy highly, and says it’s unfortunate that Tommy Walsh didn’t have a great time at the Swans.
He gets truly excited, however, when talking about Port Adelaide’s new Irish signing, Daniel Flynn.
Flynn is the first Irish player to be drafted from the ARFLI, having played for the North Leinster Giants. Although he also played high level Gaelic football, he spent parts of 2013 in the ARFLI in anticipation of being drafted.
Melbourne hosts the International Australian Football Cup in August 2014.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
wont know until i speak to him haha
Titus
Guest
Cool.....is he French?
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Ive got a scheduled interview with the head of AFL France set for Monday afternoon.
Ronny
Roar Rookie
Perhaps the French gave the English tennis, and the English gave the French rugby ... wonder who won out of that !!. At a guess something to do with the two countries upper class bored sports fraternity ( many years ago) who introduced sports to each others countries to enable them to play internationals.
TW
Guest
Wookie, Ok - Point taken. Have you got France on your list. It has always fascinated me why they go for Rugby (Both Codes) unlike their neighbours the Germans and the Spanish. The French team rocking up for the last Cup in 2011 was a highlight. They intend to be there next year if all goes well with their fund raising.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
To be fair TW, AD didnt go to the NRL for the idea - the AFL has had Indigenous All Star Matches in Alice Springs and Darwin on and off for some years. They play off against another regular AFL team.
TW
Guest
The GAA and the AFL aka Andrew Demitriou have a tenuous relationship at the best of times. Everybody will recall when the very physical International Rules matches (Chris Johnson) occurred a few years ago the GAA wanted out. It was AD who got them back on side. When AD goes from the AFL so will the IR concept at an International level. It is his personal baby. Andy was very impressed with the NRL Indigineous All Star matches. That is where the idea for this current IR tour came from. Ireland as everybody knows will always remain an possible AFL recruiting source. However their National Aussie Rules teams tend to dominate at an International level having won several trophies including the International Cup which I reckon should be called the "Tom Wills Trophy".
Avon River
Guest
#Zug Italy has yet to attend an international cup. They are minnows in the full sense of the word even by European standards. The key in Europe is there's an annual Euros 9 aside tournament (this year in Bordeaux) and that can include expats and is often an intro level for new comers or B or C teams from the 'bigger' (yes I'm being small l liberal with the word) nations. This yr 14 teams from 13 countries with 280 males and 40 females playing (there was a womens 'div' with France v Crusaders). Of the nations there the following have been to Aust at least once for an Int Cup (no expat Aussies and can't use Aussies of the ethnic parentage so despite having Danish parent I couldn't play for Denmark) : Finlnad (08), Spain (05), France (11), and Ireland (all 4) and England (all 4 as part of Grt Brt side). Now they run a full(ish) ground European Champs the year before an Int Cup year. Held this year in Dublin. This year saw Croatia and Germany involved ( niether has yet managed to get to an Int Cup but no doubt could raise a squad of Aussies in Melbourne of suitable ethnic origin were RLWC criteria applied) along with Grt Brt, Ireland, Sweden & Denmark. I've not made any indication to suggest that Italy has any significant participation. The irony is neither Italy or Greece do and yet their Australian based communities have been very involved in the game. Not much calling to return 'home' I guess.
zug
Guest
That might be so in Denmark which from what I understand has a small local league. But in Italy I know from first hand experience only a couple of years ago that ex pats fill the sides. Claims of large local participation in Italy is totally false, which makes me suspicious of participation claims in other nations.
Avon River
Guest
#Mike Serious??
Avon River
Guest
There have been other mods over the years too such as watering down tackling/bumping. The game now is closer to Gaelic than ever. It's been a rolling handicapping system to keep it competitive. Another key is the shorter qrtrs. In the AFL we see how much experienced midfields can out last younger mids in 'red time' of each quarter. This is where the benefits of years of professional conditioning kicks in. 20 min qrtrs with no time on nullify an awful lot of that potential advantage.
Titus
Guest
What the hell is a "soccer field"?
Avon River
Guest
#zug 15 yrs ago yes. But over the last 10 yrs what used to be 80% expats is now switched to 80% locals. Most obviously in countries with junior programs or long term involvement in internationals. The International Cup has been run every 3 yrs since 2002 and we've seen the game spread by non Aust expats ; such as to Iceland (of all places) by Icelanders who had played in Denmark.
Avon River
Guest
The AFL hasn't invested money to establish or grow the game in Ireland (not directly anyway). Like elsewhere in Europe it's started by expats or returned tourists. It has been in the AFLs interest to NOT undermine the GAA. Mainly as it would not be AFL to step into the created vacuum but rather rugby or soccer. And certainly Irish migration to Aust since the gfc has seen seen many young Irish heading to Aust such that the Syd womens AFL includes the Shamrocks team.
Floyd Calhoun
Guest
Doubt that very much John. Both encounters would be farcical at best. There would be cricket score margins. The Irish attempt at full blown Aussie Rules, despite the handfull who have shown they can adapt, would be bad enough. But the opposite contest would be even more lop-sided. It would be absolute mayhem. So, no to that suggestion.
Penster
Guest
I do, to be sure to be sure.
Rising Power
Guest
A series or two ago a rule was brought in limiting the number of consecutive handballs to four. There is no such limit in Gaelic or AR. Why was the rule brought in you ask? Because the Australian side figured out that handballing their way up the field minimised the turnovers that would occur if they kicked it, and they started winning games, sometimes in a canter. The Irish thought that was unfair so the rule was brought in.
John
Guest
The AFL and GAA should consider scrapping the International Rules series, but continue the annual Australia vs. Ireland contest, splitting the two test series between one Australian football game and one Gaelic football game. Australia have become good enough with the round-ball that they can simply adapt to Gaelic footy, while there are enough Irishmen in the AFL for Ireland to be competitive at Aussie rules, in addition to the plethora of talented Gaelic footballers who could adapt to the Australian game.
ciudadmarron
Guest
And now the gaa is to blame for holding it back... I suppose this explains why the Irish diaspora have failed to make it popular despite bring beyond the control of the gaa. Surely you can see that an argument which says popularity = quality of sport is not particularly helpful to you.
ciudadmarron
Guest
And now the gaa is to blame for holding it back... I suppose this explains why the Irish diaspora have failed to make it popular despite bring beyond the control of the gaa. Surely you can see that an argument which says popularity = quality of sport is not particularly helpful to you.