Ireland have survived an almighty comeback effort from Australia to win the International Rules Test at Croke Park in Dublin, and take back the Cormac McAnallen Cup.
REPORT: IRISH OUTCLASS AUSSIES
The Irish took control of the game early and kicked three goals in the first half that would ultimately prove crucial as they took a 20-point lead into the half-time break.
Aidan O’Shea kicked their first two goals in play while Conor McManus kicked the third from a penalty given away by Luke Hodge.
Australia looked sluggish in the first half – struggling with the round ball, and very poor in their defense in front of goal.
Perhaps, in retrospect, a week spent holidaying in New York was not the ideal preparation for the Australian side.
In the second half however, Australia got a bit more involved, and did the majority of the attacking. They had brought the margin back to 11 points by the final change.
A goal from Eddie Betts – with assistance from Jarryd Roughead – was very nearly a match-winner as it put Australia just three points down with a few minutes left.
In the end though Australia weren’t able to bridge the gap, and a late behind from Irish captain Bernard Brogan sealed the win for Ireland.
Harry Taylor was named the Jim Stynes Medallist as Australia’s best player, while Brogan won the GAA Medal as the best on ground for Ireland.
Final score
Ireland 3.11.5 – 56
Australia 1.13.7 – 52
Ireland host Australia at Croke Park as the two nations meet once again in the combined sport of International Rules. Join The Roar for a live blog of the game from 5:30am (AEDT).
For the second year in a row Australia will send an extremely strong side to Dublin after making the decision last year that only players with All-Australian honours would be allowed to represent their country at the event.
International Rules, essentially, is a combination of Aussie Rules football and GAA football, played by representative teams of AFL and GAA players.
Like GAA football, it’s played on a rectangular field, using a spherical ball. But like Aussie Rules, there is full-on tackling, and marking of the ball.
The scoring system takes a little from both – essentially each end will have the four posts common to Aussie Rules, but with a netted crossbar between the middle two, as in GAA.
A goal is when the ball passes under the crossbar through any means, and is worth six points. However goals are relatively rare.
The most common form of scoring is an ‘over’, which is exactly what it sounds like, kicking the ball through the middle posts, over the crossbar. That’s worth three points.
It’s also possible to score behinds – a single point – as in Aussie Rules, if the ball goes across the line between the outer posts, for any reason.
The Australian side is full of talent, with a distinctly Hawthorn theme at the top – Luke Hodge is the captain, Alastair Clarkson the coach, and Sam Mitchell also in the leadership group.
The most experienced player in the side – both in terms of AFL and International Rules – is goalkeeper Dustin Fletcher.
Fletcher retired this season from the AFL after becoming one of just four players in history to play 400 VFL/AFL games – this International Rules Test will be his last hurrah after injury denied him a farewell game.
Bulldogs Easton Wood and Jake Stringer are new additions to the team, as is Fremantle’s David Mundy and West Coat’s Andrew Gaff with all four having been named All-Australian for the first time this year.
The Irish team is lead by Dublin’s Bernard Brogan, who is widely regarded as the best forward in the GAA, and will be coached by Joe Kernan, known for coaching Armagh to their first All-Ireland Championship in 2002.
One player to watch out for from Ireland is Conor McManus, who proved a headache for the Aussies in the Test in Perth last year. He has scored 41 points in three International Rules appearances.
The Irish have decided not to field AFL-listed Irishmen this year, which means the likes of Pearce Hanley and Zach Tuohy will not feature, but some fans might recognise Colm Begley, who played 30 AFL games for Brisbane and St Kilda before returning home in 2009.
Who will win it? Australia proved too good last time but did have the home ground advantage.
The Irish have a few advantanges. For one, the game uses the round ball, with which they are intimately more familiar.
Ireland’s ability to score goals will also be a factor in their favour. AFL players just aren’t used to the goal-under-the-crossbar set up and last year went goalless while Ireland managed two.
However Australia does have some advantages of their own. One is that the game allows tackling as in the AFL – between the shoulders and thighs – something GAA footballers are not used to. That’s not any slight on the courage or toughness of the Irish, of course, but Australia’s tackling pressure is something they will have to adapt to quickly in order to win.
And of course, the big one is that AFL footballers are professional footballers, while the GAA – for all its prominence – is technically amateur. If the going gets tough, AFL footballers may have just a little more gas in the tank.
Ireland however will be keen to avenge their loss last year and have a positive record in the sport overall, so there’s not a huge distinction. It could go either way.
Prediction
The Aussies should win this one but it’s not beyond doubt.
Australia by 8.
Join The Roar for a live blog of the game from 5:30am (AEDT).
Wilson
Roar Guru
I think that it woud be fairer if the Aust where aloud to have a Soccer Goal keeper that I think could even it up
slane
Guest
Just out of curiosity, is it as embarrassing as a grown man engaging in code war rhetoric?
Zero Gain
Guest
I watched it for a while. Wow, how embarrassing the whole concept is. Hilarious really, that grown men appear to, sort of, take it seriously.
Casper
Guest
I don't know why people on this site expected Australia to just role Ireland. It's played on a rectangular field, with soccer goals as the main scoring option and a round ball. Doesn't really resemble AFL does it. It seemed like the process around scoring and defending the soccer goals is a telling factor. Throw in the fact that a lot of players would't have played a game for 8-10 weeks, haven't played any warm up matches, and have been on a jolly to New York, then its not a surprise to see that they would take a while to get into the game. The 40 year old goalkeeper Dustin Fletcher hasn't played since May. The Irish being amateurs doesn't mean that much either. They still train a lot, its just that they don't get paid for it.
Karlos
Guest
So the hardest,fastest,fittest and most skillfull athletes on the planets were beaten again by a pack of part timers. What a laugh you guys are.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Certainly the ball vs the tackling are the two key things which are meant to cancel out, and to some extent, over the course of 30 years or so, it's worked out that way - but this morning the Australians were absolutely hopeless with the round ball, both kicking, handballing and judging it in the air, whereas the Irish were very good with their tackling (and in fact, in their own game they are quite adept at very close marking and keeping some body contact). What if we reversed it and the game was played with no tackling but with a Sherrin - how do you reckon that would go? I think there's a very good reason why they keep it as is, because it's the only compromise which has some chance of a competitive scoreline - the other way would be a massive blow out.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Some years you get a good group of players together to travel to Ireland, and then when it's played in Australia the following year, you get plenty who don't bother - motivation is a bit of a mixed bag - they all looked pretty sluggish this morning.
jax
Guest
Free flights to NY and Ireland is a pretty small carrot in the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure how many players were in our squad but I'm quite certain that the majority of them didn't go for a free flight. The non-Vic based players take approx 40 free flights a year which is almost one a week so I think the allure of free flights has well and truly worn off for most of them by now as it does for anyone that has travelled a lot. I'm sure different players (and coaches) have different motivations but the overriding one would be representing Australia and mixing with their peers IMO.
slane
Guest
Half of the blokes had to come back early from their own holidays to go on the tour. Pretty measly carrot.
SM
Guest
The carrot was the trip, not 'representing their country' which was how they tried to paint it.
slane
Guest
Likewise you would be ignoring the size of the ground, number of players on the ground, length of quarters, limits on the numbers of handballs and stricter interpretation of off-ball physicallity that favour the Irish. Thankfully the AFL and the GAA have managed to fine tune the rules such that the last few series have produced thrilling matches.
jax
Guest
The soccer goals have a fair bit to do with it ie the one with the net. Ireland got 3 six pointers and Australia one.
jax
Guest
Why would an AA player with bundles of money forgo weeks of their annual leave for a free trip to NY? You can't be serious but I suspect you were, smh.
jax
Guest
Nic Nat wasn't available this year but dare I say Australia would have won if he had played. He would have given us silver service in the ruck just as he did in Perth and some of his taps would have resulted in scores. When you look at the margin and how static we were in the ruck it's hard to argue otherwise. Well played Ireland.
James
Guest
All I can say as a sports fan and with no dog in the race (GAA or AFL) and having played both codes but ended playing rugby league... is more the pity this game (international rules) isn't taken more seriously. It showpieces the best part of both codes. The issue of the ball is a non runner. I played GAA on a Saturday and Rugby on a Sunday and the ball was never an issue. I played in the half backs so kicking was an itergeral part of my game. If I made a poor kick, I sure as hell didn't blame the ball. The frustrating part of GAA for me was the lack of tackling. .... proper tackling. Playing rugby league and union suited me . I enjoyed putting in big hits.... yes for a half back. I also played rugby League in NewZealand and we do would warm up drills with mini rugby balls, tennis balls, golf balls.... and even marbles. The excuse of the ball not being round is tiresome. AFL is in my opinion probably closer to the ancient gealic game taken over on the convict ships... the hard physicality is part of the Irish phscye. this modern game in Ireland was drawn up to remove any similarities to rugby union , the game of the occupying aristocracy and as a result it lacks that ... Xfactor. I have watched these games over the years and apart from the pointless violence, the game is a fantastic spectacle of skills from both codes. Not to mention a chance for both nations players to represent their countries . Very few people in sport get a chance and for some it's a pinnacle of their sporting careers . Like I said , I have no dog in the race ...... just saying
Danny
Guest
If the round ball is no advantage, try the oval one & see what happens ... or if you're not in favour of that, lose the tackling, & change the ball... AFL were competitive before the tackling rules changed, it's only the ball that we can't seem to get used to !
SM
Guest
Are you just ignoring the tackling aspect which doesn't belong in the Irish game? That's just as much of an advantage for the AFL lot.
SM
Guest
You'd be seething if a player from your club picked up a serious injury in one of these joke contests. Thankfully no one did, so we can all move on for at least another year. But it does make me laugh that the only way they got these players to take part was the free trip to NYC.
Last Straw
Guest
Maybe AFL would be better off reverting to an amature sport like Gaelic football and preserving its rich history in those parts of Australia that enjoy it. After all AFL is just draining scarce financial resources and sporting talent from sports that Ausrtralia should be focusing its limited resources and capital and in which we can compete in more globally recognised sporting competitions, including the Olympic Games. We would do a lot better internationally, as well as attract more sport related tourism, if we were not wasting so much on a sport only half the country cares about and which has no real hope of expanding beyond its current small audience. Just watching the AFL draft makes me wonder why these kids are limiting their skills to such a small sport and not seeking a higher challenge. At the end of the day, no AFL player ever has or ever will achieve as much as a person who represents their country in elite sports around the world.
JVGO
Guest
How does the lack of interest from AFL fans affect the result exactly? Are they out on the park? Excuses abound. Congratulations Ireland, you have humbled the mighty AFL again (well not really, they'll still convince themselves that they are the greatest thing on earth).