The International Rules Series divides opinion.
A Fox Sports poll showed that, as of Saturday, 54 per cent of 3525 voters rated the exercise an expensive waste of money, while the remaining 1600 rated it as an important way to further spread the AFL gospel.
Up until 2014, with dwindling crowds and bad-tempered encounters, the contest seemed certain to be consigned to the sporting history books. But then the AFL introduced improved selection criteria for players to invigorate the concept.
And invigorate it, it did.
With the All Star rule in place, a 38,262 sellout crowd watched Australia win a close encounter 0.17.5 (56) to 2.9.7 (46) at Subiaco Oval last year.
The impetus provided by the revitalised concept was enough for the RTÉ match report to include the statement, “The series will surely survive as long as they continue to follow the template laid down in this game.”
And on the basis of the weekend’s action, it surely will.
Although Croke Park was far from full on a chilly four degree night in Dublin, the 38,387 who were present were treated to a thoroughly entertaining game, with the Irish prevailing in a thriller, 3.11.5 (56) to 1.13.7 (52).
The AFL ‘dream team’ featured stars all over the field, adding prestige to the occasion. While the GAA squad featured just nine All Stars due to injuries and club commitments, it did feature the three best forwards in the game; Conor McManus (Monaghan), Aidan O’Shea (Mayo) and captain Bernard Brogan (Dublin).
This year’s GAA Championship season had seriously underwhelmed on the field – with defensive domination and a proliferation of hand passing dominating over the favoured kicking game. The GAA disciplinary rules were under fire after a series of unsavoury incidents in matches went largely unpunished.
The Irish Independent‘s Eugene McGee, one of the foremost voices on the game, went as far as to say that Dublin and Kerry needed to “restore our faith in game” before the All Ireland Final this year.
Sometimes a distraction is needed from this negativity.
And Sunday morning helped provide it.
The match was devoid of the ill discipline that had marred previous series – and indeed this GAA season – and while this year’s Championship was dominated by cautious, defensive play, in this format the Irish displayed their full array of attacking options.
Coach Joe Kernan placed a big emphasis on kick passing and skill by picking players like Dublin’s Diarmuid Connolly for his first Ireland cap. And it showed. The GAA team swarmed forward curtesy of clean, incisive kicking across the park, shocking the AFL players with their intensity and accuracy.
Additionally, the tourists struggled to find the net – as expected owing to the unfamiliarity of the skill required – but with keeper Niall Morgan of Tyrone in fine form – notably denying Jarryd Roughead on the stroke of quarter time with a marvellous save – it was always going to be a tough ask.
The Irish had no such trouble. The 1.92-metre O’Shea was immense, scoring two goals and an over from open play. McManus added a penalty to complete the goalscoring, while Brogan settled for four overs to keep the scoreboard ticking over in his man of the match performance.
O’Shea brings a different dynamic to GAA football with his size, and is sometimes judged to be unfairly penalised by officials domestically. But the pharmaceutical company purchaser revelled in the physical contest against the Aussies, and his soaring marks were the equal of any of the professionals in the Australian code last season.
Australia’s scoring troubles weren’t alleviated until Eddie Betts punched a major score through in the final quarter, setting up the exciting finale.
But the Irish prevailed, reclaiming the Cormac McAnallen Cup and bragging rights on home soil.
One of the major criticisms of the International Rules Series is that it doesn’t mean anything.
Francis Leach even made the forthright assertion that allowing a representative match such as this to exist at all devalues the concept of a national shirt on ABC Grandstand’s Press Pass this Sunday afternoon.
But can representing your country ever really mean nothing?
Scoring the opening goal certainly looked like it meant something to Aidan O’Shea.
And Luke Hodge was well aware of the crowd excitement as he implored his fellow professionals to aspire to play in future International Rules matches, telling them they’d “be crazy” not to.
The Irish players loved it as well. Brogan said pre-game that, “It is both an honour and a privilege to … represent Ireland”.
“As Gaelic footballers, opportunities to play for Ireland and pit our skills against athletes from other nations and codes are few and far between.”
And that’s the main point. Who are we to deny players the opportunity to represent their country?
The AFL and GAA are two of the only major sports leagues in the world without this honour. The similarities in the sports are such that series like this are a viable opportunity to give the best players the chance to honour their All Australian selection – rather than just hang their decorative jersey on the wall.
And I’d say that anyone who actually watched the game on Sunday morning would have enjoyed it. Enjoyed the speed, the skill, the underlying plucky underdog story, and especially the entertainment.
Because what is sport if not these things?
The players want the International Rules Series to stay. I say, let’s enjoy it with them.
Bruce
Guest
Good on ya tren. Roy Masters would be proud of your almost factual analysis.
Republican
Guest
Simon There are clearly a variety of agendas represented here. There are those who resent Australian Footies domestic status and therefore are anti anything whatsoever related to it. There are those of the cringe persuasion who only understand status in terms of an international profile and as such are more than happy to see our code further compromised. There are those like myself, who view our code as more than simply a commodity to be dumbed down for purely commercial reasons. There are those who genuinely enjoy and support the hybrid fixture and who in their innocence, believe there is no ulterior motive by the AFL in particular, to further dismantle our code in the interest of a broader global tele footprint. This could include for eg. the sacrilegious move to the rooond ball. The AFL are poor custodians of our great game, perhaps not so much in terms of a commercial duty of care but certainly in respect of a historical and cultural one. Thanks for the article.
trenerry boy
Roar Rookie
That's precisely what I implied, you do catch on bwuce.
Bruce
Guest
tren....I'll think you'll find the Victorian miners took the Victorian game with them.......just the facts ma'am, just the facts.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Thanks for that.
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
Yes that's the impression I was under too Mister Football. I've only really got into the GAA stuff recently but I've really got into the hurling... Football less so because of the defensive dominance. I listen to the podcasts though and thats what I've been getting out of what's going on over there. In terms of forums: The Hogan Stand is one I normally go to, http://www.hoganstand.com/Forum/MessagePage.aspx?PageNumber=2&TopicID=95173 Or the gaaboard http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=bf9dd9efb4b36f7d3dc0624f5953c9ac&topic=26430.45 Then there are the comments on the 42.ie and the RTÉ match reviews... http://www.the42.ie/kernan-irs-2015-reaction-2459873-Nov2015/ http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2015/1121/748346-ireland-hold-on-for-rules-win-over-australia/
trenerry boy
Roar Rookie
That's what i thought, i knew Croke held about 80,000. Whatsmore i believe that the Union Jack on the Australian flag was a bone of contention when they first started playing at Croke Park, there was some talk about it.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I haven't seen much Gaelic football of late, but the commentators were saying how the game in recent years had become a lot more defensive, arguably, just as how our game has, but there was a time when both games were very much attack-oriented, at least on balance. Do you have any links to the GAA boards - it's always interesting reading the posts from the Irish perspective.
trenerry boy
Roar Rookie
They want to reintroduce marking or fielding as they call it into Gaelic football, a part of Gaelic that has basically died.
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
Some of the message boards are saying the GAA could learn from this style of game too - perhaps by including marks to encourage kick passing more and introducing the AFL style tackle to the game in Ireland. I'm not sure the ball change would get much of a look in mind... there'd be plenty of resistance to that idea!
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
There are some pretty strong opinions on here about this concept... It's really interesting to see the response it provokes amongst fans. A part of me wonders why though - is it similar to Francis Leech's opinion that it devalues an international jersey? Or are the main naysayers fans of codes that aren't Aussie Rules and don't like it for that reason? Personally, I love the concept (as was probably clear from the article) but I get why people are against it. After all, it is a sport that is played just once a year and I don't see how it spreads the AFL game to Ireland... Most are already aware of the AFL as that entity who steals their players - or at least offers a golden carrot to some players suited to the Australian game. Having read some of the message boards on GAA websites, a lot of sceptics actually enjoyed the game. And it was a good contest, that much is undeniable. Plenty on the message boards in Ireland are saying one Test wasn't enough and others who even think the game could learn from this compromise code in making the game more exciting, especially considering the dour matches in the Championship fans were subjected to this year. But either way, I enjoyed it, it sounded like the fans in the stadium enjoyed it, and there has been a good response from players and fans alike on both sides of the world.
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
"if anything, the Ireland vs Australia series is the true champion of the very origins of football itself." This is a great statement Mister Football, in that sense it truly is a marvellous concept! It's also a really relevant point in that this was used as a commemoration of the events of Bloody Sunday, and the pre-game commemoration was very moving.
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
I love the amount of feeling this seems to inspire in people. I had always assumed that people were largely ambivalent towards the idea, or weren't interested enough to bother, but there is genuine vitriol in a lot of posts. I have to agree that the "spreading the message" statements are a load of tripe. Spreading the game would mean playing full AFL games overseas. We can definitely agree on that. I'd prefer they went with the line that this game fosters the relationship between Ireland and Australia, and more specifically the GAA and AFL. There has been some crossing of players between the two codes, and lets be honest, they are similar. As for the USA trip - Clarkson is keen on playing a game there next year - and RTÉ reporting that it might be played there next year. And there is a precedent there, with there being a GAA team from New York who play in the Championship, and there was even a hurling exhibition played in the States on the weekend (albeit in Boston's Fenway Park). I think the New York trip was a fact finding mission for this possibility... Sometimes people need to just sit back and enjoy sport for what it is. Entertainment.
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
"And aren’t all games “made-up pretend” ones?" Couldn't agree more with that statement. Sport is fun, for peoples enjoyment, and that game was entertaining. Does it matter whether it means anything?
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
Croker holds 82,300 people, the bottom tiers were pretty well full and are a lot bigger than the top levels - no doubt the hospitality boxes were pretty well populated too. Just under half full seems about right to me to be honest...
Simon Smale
Roar Guru
Ye absolutely Tony - probably a problem with the language I used there. I simply meant to highlight that these are two major sports played at a high level where there was no higher representation available. Granted, that's not strictly true in GAA, seeing as the whole concept of both football and hurling is built upon a foundation of representation, be it your parish, county or province, but there is no international option. NFL is the same, and would be one of the others, but that fact notwithstanding, the GAA and AFL are two of the worlds major sports leagues that exist without a form of international representation. If the argument is that GAA and AFL aren't "major" sports, I would disagree. Domestically, both are incredibly well supported, and therefore "major" in their own countries. NFL has a larger global reach admittedly, and therefore you're right - it is probably the number one, but that doesn't mean that the GAA and AFL sports are not major in their own right ;-)
Wallaby thrasher
Guest
So. Now Australia cannot even win in a version of Australian rules! What has Dawn Fraser got to say about this?
Republican
Guest
Thanks Ron, for affirming me in this respect, tis a rare thing indeed. Good to know there is some solidarity of opinion out there amongst the Roar fraternity, albeit a sometimes silenced minority.
trenerry boy
Roar Rookie
That is a really good post, the points you raise are quite noteworthy, you obviously see things very quickly, i knew the Irish were honouring the 95th anniversary of Irish republicans killed by the British, but did not give it much thought really, but that milestone is of utmost importance to the Irish. Historically I can't but help think of Paddy Hannam when thinking of the Irish and the influence on Australian Football, arrived at the Victorian diggings in 1862, when Australian football was becoming huge on the goldfields, spent 6 years in NZ when thousands of Victorian miners migrated taking the Australian game with them, spent time in SA and also up at Temora in NSW and of course WA firstly at Southern Cross and then discovered gold at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. His history in Australia coincides with the places in Australia that Australian football have more or less taken hold.
jax
Guest
Gaff loved it and got a lot out of it. Anyone that says it's not an important experience is kidding themselves IMO. https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/afl/a/30164972/international-rules-experience-has-motivated-eagle-andrew-gaff/