Oct 05 2007
International Rules Football Is Dead
Folks, I think it’s time we accepted the fact that the International Rules Series between Australia and Ireland will never be played again.
The Gaelic Athletic Association has made it clear that last year’s on-field violence remains unacceptable, and the AFL’s reaction to the GAA canceling the series this year — widespread talent-poaching — may be even worse. The AFL and GAA are going to hold talks about it, but that’s all they are, and these talks mainly consist of talking about when to talk.
All the talk in the world won’t revive this series if the GAA doesn’t really want it. What are they going to do, tell their boys that snipers will be in place to shoot anyone coming to blows? This series has been marred by fights for years, and after what happened in Croke Park last year, what makes anyone think the next game will be any different?
It was fun while it lasted, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking this football code is anything other than another relic of football history. We’re more likely to see a test match of Austus or Punch Football before we see another International Rules test match. It’s done, folks. Let’s move on.
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Football codes aren’t just rules/laws written down in books. Football codes are living cultures. As such, you will have culture clashes when you attempt to mix these cultures. Just because gaelic rules and aussie rules had some similarities, does not mean you can overcome these cultural differences with compromise rules.
Just because the skill-less Aussies and their kick and catch game got tired of losing to amateurs . The managers sent them out to use their superior strength to beat the Irish doesn’t mean a Compromise can’t work . It worked fine for years .
In the simple words of an Aussie.
Harden the f*#k up Ireland.
In the simple words of a Ref , Stick to the fucking rules Aussie .
Sure I am biased being an Aussie, but to me there was as much of the fighting was started by the Irish as the Aussies. The Irish obviously lost. The Aussie teams have actually gone for less muscle and more run. I don’t think it is finished. Generally I think the Irish like it, their management not so much. There are two things at stake here for the GAA to continue - the revenue generated from the series and the Australian recruiting of their young guns. Without the IR series they can have no say in how Aussie Rules recruits their youngsters - it is the only bargaining chip they have. IR will be back!
Rather than kill the series - change the rules! There are only 2 teams that play them anyway.
Why not reduce the contact level (and hopefully the potential for biffo) but change the ball to a Sherrin.
The reduced contact will favour the Irish but the ball will restore the balance and favour the Aussies.
This simple solution is to enforce the 3 man in rule and to apply a sin bin for rule breaking . The level of contact isnt really the issue for the Irish as they normally off load the ball before the tackle ,its the stuff that players wouldn’t get away with in the AFL that they think is fine in IR .
IR died years ago, when it stopped being a “compromise” and turned into Gaelic football.
The last series was a farce. I mean, seriously people, it was Gaelic with behind posts. Tackling was the only thing that made it even remotely Australian. The series had over time leaned more and more to the Irish game until there was nothing Australian left in it. Aussie players were having to not only adjust to the round ball, but were required to solo it and couldn’t even pick it up off the ground. Not exactly what you’d call compromise rules. Take out the mark and tackle and try to tell me what is left of what is arguable the better sport ?
And the irony of it all is that Australians still beat the best of the Irish at their own game ! All of the bickering is basically because the Irish are sore losers. They’d be champing at the bit to play if they were still winning.
Lets just cut the pretence and start entering the poorer AFL clubs in the All-Ireland finals as an off-season junket. They’d no doubt win hands down.
Dave, speaking of Aussies playing football overseas, I sent you an email with a story about Rugby League in the states.
The pick up off the ground was still in IR and the bounce was also allowed .
Take out the Mark and the Tackle out of Aussie Rules and what are you left? Not much . If you used an oval ball IR wouldn’t be far from Aussie rules on a rectangular pitch !
Win an All-Ireland your having a laugh sure we are the ones going over their out playing the Aussie’s at their own game , A game the Irish lads have never played before Clark , Halpin, Kennelly all over their showing you how too play your game .
And the end of the day IR is still very close in terms of overall balance Aussie ahead by one one think?
Carro Wilson’s article today in The Age indicates the SOO is dead and will not feature in 08. This is one more sign that the AFL is likely to be keen to have IR on board their fixture.
I have lived in Ireland for 2 years now. Every weekend around the country you see far worse violence on the GAA pitches then you have seen in an International Rules game.
The first game in Galway last year was a farce. No one wanted to tackle and all the commentators both Irish and Aussie said it was a passionless, insipid affair.
I was at Croke Park for game 2 and the level of violence was exageratted beyond belief to cover for the Irish poor performance. I went with a heap of Irish friends and they all thought both sides were to blame.
Remember when Ireland win you dont hear any of this whinging but they are real sooks when they lose. The carry on in the media following the game and Brennans outburst made me ashamed of my Irish heritage.
I have been at several IR series games. For me its nevr been that great, it falls between two games awkwardly. While its great that it allows both codes a chance to represent thier country, it feels like it was thought up by some executive thnking about the money that could be made. (*by the way in responce to an earlier comment, the GAA doesnt really need the IR for revenue purposes, its already ridiculously rich*)
It needs solid rules which are really lacking and need to be understood and interpreted the same. It was very clear from the 06 games that the officials were on different pages.
The worst thing about the IR series is that its really soured relations between Ireland and Australia to a certain degree. Sadly certain members of the Irish media had made themselves spokespeople for Ireland in Australia. The media went overboard, like some frightened mothers at a playground fight (your Johnny hit my poor Michael).
As Buster said, it got embaressing. Thankfully the players were smart enough to stand up and say they wanted to keep playing. But GAA decision-makers werent impressed, ironic perhaps considering the violence that breaks out at GAA games every other week, “but lets not talk about that”. The associations need to stop pointing fingers and start coming up with ways to stop players from trying to take heads of each other.
Also the difference between both codes ultimately effects how both teams play the IR game. The chlothes line incident in 2005 for instance. A hit like that wouldnt even cross a GAA players mind, thier natural instinct is to shoulder charge. Even the wrap up tackle is alien and something that is difficult to learn given the time restrictions.
What makes it even more difficult is the fact that the GAA players have to fit learning these skills around their commitments to their county, their local club and their day job. AFL players who showed very little difficulty with the round ball in the 07 game would have more available time to master these skills. While there was theething problems in the earlier series i think tis may have been partially due to how serious the Australians took the series.