Australia have drawn first blood in the International Rules Series, with a blistering third quarter proving the difference as the hosts were made to fight hard to shake off a plucky Ireland in recording a 10-point victory.
Six-pointers from best on ground Nat Fyfe and Luke Shuey proved the difference in the end, with the game also marked by a few spot-fires as both teams gave it their all in front of an entertained crowd at the Adelaide Oval.
But the win has been soured, at least for Collingwood fans, with captain Scott Pendlebury set to miss the second Test of the series, and potentially the start of pre-season training as well, with a broken finger sustained in the second term.
Fyfe was a class above all day, bringing Australia back into the contest after Ireland had broken clear early in the second term with a pair of overs, before producing the play of the day in the third: a curling strike that beat Irish keeper Niall Morgan before rebounding off the post for the hosts’ first goal.
Half-back stalwarts Michael Hibberd and Kade Simpson were almost as influential, with the latter bringing his own ball as he racked up 37 touches with customary composure, while Patrick Dangerfield, Eddie Betts and Chad Wingard were all dangerous with ball in hand.
But defender Robbie Tarrant was just as influential, taking Irish star Michael Murphy, who threatened to break the game open with two first-quarter overs, effectively out of the match for the rest of the game.
For the Irish, it was Conor McManus and then daylight, as the star forward booted seven overs for the match, while Murphy was impressive with two overs and a six-pointer in the first quarter and a bit before being nullified by Tarrant, finishing with two more overs in the final term.
As the match ebbed and flowed in a pulsating first half, where twice the Irish dominated the start of the quarter before the Australians took over the longer it went on, the only question was whether the Australians’ dominance in the time in possession stakes – they finished the half with almost double the visitors’ disposals – would be enough to outweigh Ireland’s greater quality in moving it forward.
And that question was answered in emphatic fashion as Ireland began to tire early in the second half, with Fyfe, Dangerfield and the silky Dayne Zorko running amok in midfield, and Ben Brown and Eddie Betts dangerous in front.
It was the Aussies’ turn to tire in the final quarter as Ireland, led by the ultra-impressive McManus, kept on coming, before a clever tap-in on the goal line from Luke Shuey finally put the result to bed.
Nevertheless, with the series to be decided on the points aggregate across the two matches, Ireland’s ability to score a pair of overs late to reduce the margin from 17 to 10 points by the final siren could prove crucial when the two teams head to Perth next week.
Leonard
Guest
Talking of World Cups, is the self-styled RLWC a fair dinkum WC, in the way that RU's is? Isn't RL played seriously in only three countries, here, PNG and GB (or specifically England)? Aren't RLWC teams such as Lebanon 'made-up' entities, rather than being a squad of your actual Lebanese residents in, like, you know, Lebanon, and chosen from teams in a competition in, like, Lebanon? (At least Australian Football's sort-of international competition is called an 'International Cup'.)
republican
Guest
........more power to you, Cat I concur with you 100% in this respect. Those who cannot value our wonderful domestic code are a growing cringe sub cult of global status anxiety, to be sure.........
republican
Guest
......the hybrid favours the Irish by a long way, to my mind while I prefer the dynamic the Sherrin brings to the spectacle. The roooond ball is more akin to watching a floating balloon being delivered at times............
jonboy
Guest
Good call,,,Fyfe needs tol be used like Pav,stay deep forward with a occasional run on the ball,as Scott did within a few games with Danger,who in one game booted 5 goals 7 behinds......Neale,Blakely,Mundy,Hill and occasionally Walters and Bennell will get the job done as well as ready to go GUN young mids in the Draft,,,,,it is obvious leave Fyfe lurking deep forward.
dontknowmuchaboutfootball
Guest
I've long been in favour of playing Fyfe forward more. I'm of the opinion that you play brilliant game-breaking players in whatever part of the ground you could do with a brilliant game-breaking player. Freo's midfield is plenty strong enough without Fyfe, if he's needed up forward. If the mids are struggling, then you send him back. All it take is good on-field leadership and a responsive coaching team.
Don Freo
Guest
Mundy's age is not a barrier. He is as classy as always. Johno, I reckon Stephen Hill is at his best and a competition elite when he plays in and under. That was his role last season before he did his hammy. I love to know what Jonboy thinks Scott does with Dangerfield. Do you think Danger doesn't play midfield any more,Jonboy?
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Is this the football World Cup? I thought I saw a few hand balls there which weren't paid as free kicks.
Aligee
Guest
Have seen plenty of WAFL, Eadt Perth which are the Eagles reserves ft beaten regularly so do Peel which are thx Dockers reserves. There are many WAFL players who obviously would not star in the AFL but have skill sets better than AFL listed players. BTW !!!!!!!!!
Hungry Jack
Guest
You too, are kidding yourself Rusty. WAFL isn't even second rate.
rusty
Roar Rookie
Hi hungry jack, I really enjoy your posts but would appreciate it if you could add some more exclamation marks. Cheers.
rusty
Roar Rookie
Wow. Great hissy fit hungry jack. The difference between many good wafl players and your standard afl player is opportunity. That’s it.
Stephen
Guest
Someone will know if the deliberate rule applies in the SANFL - if a player deliberately carries the ball out-of-bounds? The article posted indicates a 35% drop in boundary throw-ins and an 8% increase in scoring - since the SANFL brought in the 'last disposal' rule. I suspect the AFL would be delighted in these numbers. And the lessons learnt from the SANFL will come into AFL rules - sooner rather than later. For memory, it was trialled in the AFL pre-season games recently? Stay tuned.
Daz
Roar Pro
Rugby (league & union), football (soccer), netball, basketball, hockey and pretty much all field ball sports apply similar rules. Of course, repeatedly kicking the ball into the opponent for it to go out over and over defeats the whole purpose of the game which is... you know... to score goals...
Aligee
Guest
I base my belief on the fact that is far easier to play than Australian football, the game itself is far easier to market to the world as it has many characteristics similar to soccer which may appeal, it is higher scoring and IMO far more exciting than soccer but also has the net type goal which soccer fans drool over. Not saying it will ever become a world type game but IMO it certainly has that type of appeal. As far as the type of gear I am on, it is good stuff, you should try some, either that or extract that twig stuck somewhere the sun ain't shining.
Hungry Jack
Guest
You don't get it Aligee! To say WAFL and AFL skillsets are similar is mind blowingly ignorant! To perform these skills at high speed, high pressure for longer duration sets AFL players apart! Your premise would mean you could take any WAFL player and get them AFL fit and they'd be up to it. Waffle! Your observations aren't worth anything!
Cat
Roar Guru
Why does a game have to be 'world wide' to be successful or enjoyed by people? I fail to see what being 'international' brings.
Hungry Jack
Guest
IR has absolutely zero chance of becoming a world wide game! How ridiculous! What are you basing this outrageous belief on? What are you on?
GJ
Guest
Not 100% sure. I believe the deliberate ruling applies. Watching the games the players understand the rules. You don't see them all looking to the umpire for him to make a decision, or pleading for a free kick. They are all to busy getting into position for the ball to returned into play. You don't hear any gasps of exasperation or yelling of abuse at the umpires from the crowd. Peoples thoughts have already moved on. Its not perfect, however seems to work better than the existing deliberate rule in the AFL.
Aligee
Guest
At WAFL level it is generally the fitness that is different, the skills between WAFL and AFL listed players from my observations are very similar. AFL players should have a fitness edge and strength edge to the Irish, but I didn't notice it yesterday TBH.
Aligee
Guest
Happens now, have seen players handball onto other players legs near the boundary hoping that the ball will richochet off the opposing players foot and getting s free kick for out on the full