International Rules 2011

Parouisa wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Thought it said volumes that Kevin Reilly was chosen to mark Australia's dangerman - the six foot ten giant. Reilly acquited himself well. He was probably our best player.

I expect his phone is ringing with multi million Aussie dollar offers as we speak.

I'll fight them for him..

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

Series has a future after this without a doubt. Great to hear representatives from both nations speak so highly of it.

Aisy for Duffy and the rest of "the suits" to blow about the jolly. 16oz. sirloins, endless bottles of Beaujolais and a fair scatter of Castlemaine XXXX do tend to encourage continuance...Spoofers to a man.

This "International Experience" has as much appeal as Gay Mitchell.....**

** It goes without saying that I've never seen a minute of it.

Boxtyeater wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:

Series has a future after this without a doubt. Great to hear representatives from both nations speak so highly of it.

Aisy for Duffy and the rest of "the suits" to blow about the jolly. 16oz. sirloins, endless bottles of Beaujolais and a fair scatter of Castlemaine XXXX do tend to encourage continuance...Spoofers to a man.

This "International Experience" has as much appeal as Gay Mitchell.....**

** It goes without saying that I've never seen a minute of it.

having had the unenviable pleasure of sharing a dinner table with one of the above at the Ramor CLG fundraiser , I can confirm that Miwadi is glared at as it was the creation of belezebub - If you were sponsoring the XXXX and claret consumption it would not be too shattering an experience on the phoca.
That aside the Ramor CLG was a rather pleasant evening including an enjoyable bit of repartee from two members of team of millenium. (Meath and Kerry)

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Of the future of the International Rules series, AFL star James Kelly says -
"It would probably make it a bit easier if it’s in Ireland. The boys get a bit of a trip over there and get to go to Copper Face Jacks. But hopefully some of the guys see that we didn’t perform that well [this year] and want to put their hand up in a couple of years’ time."

Says it all really.

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So this is what our GAA players are up against. Not only professionals, but also cheats. It is both a good reason to abandon this farce of a hybrid game, and also to impose a quarantine period on GAA players returning to Ireland from a stint in the AFL.

This rears it's head again, this time in Breffni Park for openers. Aside for my contempt for it overall, I'm surprised there hasn't been a Cavan man or two selected for the panel. Killian Clarke would/ought have been in with a shout, but from an economic perspective it would have lured a few thousand Cavan supporters into the ground to swell the coffers and meet some of their distant cousins.....

Leitrim, like Kerry, have turned up their noses at the entire charade, preferring in our case to fight amongst ourselves rather than antagonise decent folk who are enabling our finest young folk "live the dream"....**

** That's if acting the jennet and picking apples is really living the dream..

Boxtyeater wrote:This rears it's head again, this time in Breffni Park for openers. Aside for my contempt for it overall, I'm surprised there hasn't been a Cavan man or two selected for the panel. Killian Clarke would/ought have been in with a shout, but from an economic perspective it would have lured a few thousand Cavan supporters into the ground to swell the coffers and meet some of their distant cousins.....

Leitrim, like Kerry, have turned up their noses at the entire charade, preferring in our case to fight amongst ourselves rather than antagonise decent folk who are enabling our finest young folk "live the dream"....**

** That's if acting the jennet and picking apples is really living the dream..

Yeah, in what is a money making scam, a bit of local interest may have put a few hundred more on the attendance, although Killian Clarke would want to be adding a stone of muscle before being considered.  Cian Mackey would have been the man to stir the Breffni passions.  Or Seanie, as I dare say plenty would have come out to see him square up to the aussies.  

Two Tyrone men are two too many, especially when one of them is over 30 and has had a hard year, and the other had a serious knee injury that kept him out all summer.

Look at the cultural aspect a minute here.

Our visitors will get a chance to visit the market in Clogher where all kinds of accessories are available to buy, from ancient spears and machetes to chain-saws...
They can spend a day or two hunting bush tucker and/or fishing in the many local hills and dales that abound locally.
Larry Reilly will probably host some form of Caveman Cavanman banquet where the Aussies will be forced to consume vast amounts of local food and drink (sponsored).

Pageants displaying the ancestral survival instincts of Breffni folk will be re-enacted. These will possibly be themed on such arts as peeling oranges in your pockets, the 3 card trick and multitudinous money accumulating schemes. Tomsmith will possibly be the project manager on this one...

Expect Omar to be in on the hustle here somewhere...

The novelty aspect of this farce will be the indigenous Australian selection.  I fear that the GAA have missed a trick by not going for a similarly native squad, filled with red haired and pale skinned warriors.

The Gooch, Peter Harte, Johnny Buckley would be a decent start, and it would also have meant a place on the team for the aforementioned Cian Mackey.

11 counties represented in the ireland squad, all from division 1 & 2. And people justify this event by saying that it gives players from lesser counties a chance to play for their country...  

I was at the Carlow final last Sunday (Rathvilly V Old Leighlin) with OL being victorious. Not staggering fare, with what appeared to me to be a very small crowd for a county final.

Brendan Murphy of Rathvilly is a lad who would prosper in a stronger county. Strong and hard running, he badly lacks support in club football and thence is forced to try for the score himself. He could do with a bit of shooting practise before claiming a place in a forward line in the higher echlons. He had a crack at the AFL a few years ago I'm told and indeed looks well suited and fit for purpose there.

We were having a few scoops, the BIL and myself, in the company of Rathvilly folk in the aftermath, none of whom were previously known to me, when I enquired as to why the mentors persisted with Murphy at full/forward for the duration of the game.

"Those three Petrol Pumps aren't fit to train ivy up a wall" I was informed.**

** The Rathvilly mentors are, apparently, habitually referred to as Petrol Pumps....Classic!!

what a load of cack that was last night - Aussies very poor with the round ball and obviously instructed not to be making any big hits.

Irish made hard work of a facile victory - time to put an end to this, i have no problem with players being rewarded with an end of season jolly or being picked to represent their country but there has to be something more worthwhile than this.

At full strength the Aussies are too much for us and we cant handle them. We then dilute their team and their options in terms of tackles and it resembles a game where the result was pre-determined before a ball was kicked.

Deep in my heart I'd love to deny Bocerty's opinion, because his opinion is generally wrong in my book, but this was a crock of sh1t from start to finish.

It doesn't warrant examination from any aspect, the Aussies were worse than Fenagh on a bad day and the Paddies knew they had it in the sack from the off.

No kudos for McKeague, who got mugged handier than a Granny at the ATM...Cavanagh enhanced his prowess in the tackle ratings (how Ciaran McManus must have cringed), Zach Tuohy looked athletic and Paul Flynn exuded all the finer attributes ie: bravery, ball-winning ability, use of possession and scoring prowess.

A failed project, that must be revised, in the condemnation to obscurity of the Railway Cups, to acclaim some respect and input from the weaker counties.

Arguments in favour of the International Rules, and my rebuttals:

It is a chance to see the best GAA/AFL players represent their country
I think the Gooch played once.  Bernard Brogan, Tomas & Marc O'Se, Stevie O'Neill, John Doyle pretty much the same.  We aren't seeing the stars of the GAA, certainly not when Zach Touhy and Ross Munnelly are there.

As for the Aussies, they brought a star-studded side to Ireland in 1998, and it has been diluted ever since.  This time they had virtually no big names in their indigenous selection.

It gives players from smaller counties recognition
Only 11 counties are represented in the current Irish squad, and all of them will be in the top 2 NFL divisions next year.  There are no players from smaller counties being represented.

The GAA and AFL want to make it work
They don't.  The AFL sent over a gimmick squad this time, and even then only togged out 21 players on Saturday night (you are allowed 23)!

The GAA have no interest, or they wouldn't have sold the rights to TG4.  Seriously, the sport is played bi-annually, and no-one is too sure of the rules.  Surely the smart thing to do would have been to have 'educational' commentary in English, so that viewers could grasp what was happening.  (As an aside, the players too could have benefited from knowing the rules.)

The players enjoy it
I'm sure they do, with an all expenses paid trip to Australia to play for.  And even if that isn't the carrot, of course the players will want it.  Mixing with other top GAA players is much more fun than slogging it out at club training instead.

The public turn out to watch it
Ever hear the expression about a great crowd and a hanging?  Even allowing for the short-of-something-better-to-do souls who went to Breffni last weekend, attendances here are on the decline.  10 years ago youd've had 80,000 in Croke Park - I suspect we'll see nothing of the like next week.  

Crowds in Australia have fallen even more sharply.  A combined 110,000 people watched the Australian series in 1999, but only a combined 35,000 showed up in 2011.

Something to mull over here, quite witty actually.

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I attended this on Saturday night. Never went to one before but offspring pressure, €30 for 1+2, short commute and pleasant autumnal evening swayed things.

The most striking thing about this thing is the atmosphere, decent crowd but there could have been 500 there for all it mattered. I left at the 3/4 mark to beat the rush at Roma Chippy.
From what I saw Murphy could probably excel at any slant of this code despite preserving for greater deeds on Sunday.
Some decent Mullaharon banterb about Cavanagh,s prowess in the comprised tackle.

OMAR wrote:
Some decent Mullaharon banterb about Cavanagh,s prowess in the comprised tackle.

They have been using compromise rules in Mullahoran now for nigh on 50 years. Ahead of their time those boyos. All good at the Roma chippy

Well, hopefully that will be the end of that, then. Although, I fear the brain trust will try and repeddle it in 2 years time.

As an aside, it's easy to see why the Aussies were sniffing around Glenswilly a few years back - Michael Murphy would have been a superstar in the AFL.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Arguments in favour of the International Rules, and my rebuttals:

It is a chance to see the best GAA/AFL players represent their country
I think the Gooch played once.  Bernard Brogan, Tomas & Marc O'Se, Stevie O'Neill, John Doyle pretty much the same.  We aren't seeing the stars of the GAA, certainly not when Zach Touhy and Ross Munnelly are there.

As for the Aussies, they brought a star-studded side to Ireland in 1998, and it has been diluted ever since.  This time they had virtually no big names in their indigenous selection.

It gives players from smaller counties recognition
Only 11 counties are represented in the current Irish squad, and all of them will be in the top 2 NFL divisions next year.  There are no players from smaller counties being represented.

The GAA and AFL want to make it work
They don't.  The AFL sent over a gimmick squad this time, and even then only togged out 21 players on Saturday night (you are allowed 23)!

The GAA have no interest, or they wouldn't have sold the rights to TG4.  Seriously, the sport is played bi-annually, and no-one is too sure of the rules.  Surely the smart thing to do would have been to have 'educational' commentary in English, so that viewers could grasp what was happening.  (As an aside, the players too could have benefited from knowing the rules.)

The players enjoy it
I'm sure they do, with an all expenses paid trip to Australia to play for.  And even if that isn't the carrot, of course the players will want it.  Mixing with other top GAA players is much more fun than slogging it out at club training instead.

The public turn out to watch it
Ever hear the expression about a great crowd and a hanging?  Even allowing for the short-of-something-better-to-do souls who went to Breffni last weekend, attendances here are on the decline.  10 years ago youd've had 80,000 in Croke Park - I suspect we'll see nothing of the like next week.  

Crowds in Australia have fallen even more sharply.  A combined 110,000 people watched the Australian series in 1999, but only a combined 35,000 showed up in 2011.

Excellent points TC, hopefully this comp will now die and comps in the mould of the Aer Lingus Hurling Fest will prevail for overseas clubs.