Message to OZ- IR is over

[RememberMe]

Giving the Aussies free reign to 'bump' those pissy little Irish guys, would only result in more tears than there are at present. Sheedy picked a team to destroy the Irish with a running game, yet they ended up knocking the girls' blouses a million different shades of black-blue. Can you imagine if Sheedy picked a team aimed at taking the Irish on in bumps? If Danyle Pearce gives the GAA players a hiding, imagine what Byron Pickett on a short fuse would do?

Also, I think by highlighting the fact that nobody even knows the rules for physical contact in the Irish game, that it is not 'our' fault that the Irish overreacted to their own interpertations of what is and isn't legal in terms of the biff. In fact, our interpretation has just as much validity as yours.

IMO, this game will never work, because of the Irish. If they win, they label us as pissweak and rub it in our faces, just as the English do on the rare occassion they actually beat us in anything. If the English lose, they don't care and nobody even really follows the Rugby/Cricket/Soccer (whatever the case may be). If the Irish lose, however, they get up in arms, point fingers and cry. After all, a British Penal Settlement can never beat England/Ireland etc in a fair game! Stupid ********s.

 

[Toots Hibbert]

Pay attention. There are greater restrictions on bumping in Gaelic football than in Aussie Rules. There's no move to introduce Aussie style bumping, rather the opposite.

 

[RememberMe]

Pay attention. There are greater restrictions on bumping in Gaelic football than in Aussie Rules. There's no move to introduce Aussie style bumping, rather the opposite.

Restrictions such as? 1 foot on the ground.. Dont think that would be too hard to handle... Shoulder to shoulder? Then after some Aus. player bumped a potato farmer in the front/back of the shoulder, the Irish would whinge and carry on. IMO, scrap this charade all together.

 

[Toots Hibbert]

Well maybe then you would see that IR is not just a slightly different version of our game. When Barry Hall takes a mark and lands and theres 2 or 3 guys waiting for him to harry him and push him out towards the sideline while he tries to make space for a kick or give the ball to another player in space having to hop or solo the ball every few steps, and if he loses possession, in order to regain it he must put his toe under the ball before taking it off the ground. Meanwhile his team mates aren't allowed shepherd anyone running to tackle him. Or down the other end, Stephen McDonnell races out to the wing and gains possession with Campbell Brown after him. He throws a sidestep (because Campbell can't wrap him up) and while the defender is off balance he cuts in towards the endline and heads for goal. Basically what I'm trying to say is don't understimate how much tactical difference the tackle and mark make the game. In gaelic football, the ball that bounces up into the forwards arms is perfect. In IR that same pass will get you half-killed. Next AFL game you're watching, when there's a tackle or mark, try to imagine how play would have progressed without them. Sounds odd I know but give it a try.

I agree that it will be a considerable challenge for the Aussies to master Gaelic but they certainly are capable of it. Consider the alternative to your imagined bit of play involving Barry Hall which I've bolded:-

"The ball is kicked to Hall he takes it on the full and is set upon by three Irishmen, his arms can't be pinned so he's able to find Pearce running past with a handball, he's got plenty of space because the Irish were drawn to Hall, he takes one bounce free from the fear of being tackled from behind, he handballs inboard to Davey who kicks the ball on to O'Keefe. O'Keefe's got a man rushing up from behind him but he takes one bounce and calmly pops the ball over the bar for three points. The Aussies run in to congratulate one another and make a mental note of the fact that the reduction in physical pressure opens up all sorts of opportunities unavailable to them in Aussie Rules."

 

[Horsebox]

It's an interesting point but I think GAA players are better equipped to defend a more free flowing style of game rather than the tactic of defending against a marking target. Also, intricate handpassing movements (which I hate) are more suitable for clearing your lines in gaelic football than IR as any misjudgement in timing will see somebody getting crunched, whereas in gaelic if your momentum is taken away you can offload to a runner coming by on your shoulder. I would recommend for anyone interested that they check out some of the GAA clips on youtube. A lot of the time, points are scored by forwards when they have defenders trying to get a hand in or tugging their jersey or using other types of distracting measures. While I was very impressed with the australian ability to kick overs, a lot of them seemed to be in overlap situations or from set plays where players had plenty of time and space to compose themselves before taking a shot. Pearce did get a beauty though with his left foot in the 2nd game which would have graced any gaelic match.

 

[D Mitchell]

I dips me lid to Toots and Horsebox for their exchanges on the previous page. Informative and interesting.

 

[cavanmaniac]

I agree. It was all going well until Remember Me crawled out from udner his rock in the pond.

It would make it a more level playing field if the tackle was done away with alright. As Grimreepah says it might be the only thing to keep the series viable (purely in the their skills versus ours sense, leaving thuggery out of it that is) seeing as the last two years have seen the Aussies leave us way behind in terms of general play. Ireland have been poorly prepared to a degree in the last two years so maybe we just look worse than we are at the moment but it's hard to escape the notion that under the current rules the Aussies can win this every year, whether they choose to play within them or not. If they turn up in the mood of the last two years we'd be doing well to get close to them, but it does look like there'll be rule changes so you'd never know, it might survive after all.

PS: Although other posts here pointing out that the current rules could still work, if implemented and enforced properly, is very valid also.

 

[D Mitchell]

... (purely in the their skills versus ours sense, leaving thuggery out of it that is) seeing as the last two years have seen the Aussies leave us way behind in terms of general play. Ireland have been poorly prepared to a degree in the last two years so maybe we just look worse than we are at the moment but it's hard to escape the notion that under the current rules the Aussies can win this every year, ....

So can Ireland. The Irish players have been less effective in the latter parts of the games because they tire more quickly than the Australians. The quality of goal kicking, for example, fell away dramatically. MacDonnell's two misses when in the clear. The number of times the ball fell short into Fletcher's arms. That's fatigue. The early violence took its toll but the continuous sling tackles and hard contact with the ground meant the GAA players didn't recover. Those aspects of the tackle are against the rules but tolerated and consenquently exploited by the AFL players. Take that out and you have a different oppoisition. Rules aside, the Irish were poor in team play. On two occasions, Bergin had shots at goal, both blocked by, repsectively O'Keefe and Fletcher, when there was another GAA player, in the first case, the bloke O'Keefe was supposed to be marking, off to the side with a clear shot at 3/4 of the goal face. Add 12 points to the Irish score in the second and thrid quarters and it's a different ball game.

 

[clobba]

OK now I am getting a bit confused I must admit, watched the IR a few years ago but basically lost interest since as it seemed pretty irrelevent to AFL (unless an injury had of occurred I guess) and AFL is the only non motor sport I follow.
Why exactly should I or any footy addict watch a game that has an absolutely miniscule resemblence to AFL when the tackle is removed, as someone said awhile back we might as well play them at their own normal game then.....and if thats the case why the hell are we bothering to send AFL players. Send some aussie Gaelic players or something, I just dont understand this insistance to play a mongrel game (and one if it has any chance to survive is apparently moving closer to Gaelic footy), is it some sort of insecurity about the fact there are no international games for our respective games?
I myself feel no need of validation for my code by it having an "International" component, we should just all go to our little backyards & play our own games knowing that we (each of us) have the best damn sport in the world (though of course us aussies would be right, & u mistaken deluded Irish peeps ).
I have now, after all this ongoing hoopla, decided I will watch another IR game the same day I bother sitting down to watch rugby/soccer/basketball/golf/tennis/cricket........i.e never.
I indeed hope that it dies a death soon rather than this stinging death of a thousand cuts, as at least then Andy & all his AFL corporate lackeys will not get to have their snouts in the trough on their end of season trips.

 

[cos789]

. Add 12 points to the Irish score in the second and thrid quarters and it's a different ball game.

Take away one miskick in the first test and the Aussies would have won that .
Aussies could have easily gone for more six-pointers in the second test .
We won - you lost . Get over it .

.

 

[belfast_bomber]

Add 12 points to the Irish score in the second and thrid quarters and it's a different ball game.

add balls to my auntie and she's my uncle

 

[premier]

OK now I am getting a bit confused I must admit, watched the IR a few years ago but basically lost interest since as it seemed pretty irrelevent to AFL (unless an injury had of occurred I guess) and AFL is the only non motor sport I follow.
Why exactly should I or any footy addict watch a game that has an absolutely miniscule resemblence to AFL when the tackle is removed

You just stated you don't watch it anyways.

as someone said awhile back we might as well play them at their own normal game then

IR is as distant from Gaelic Football as it is from Aussie Rules. The tackle and mark makes general game play approx 70% Aussie Rules and 30% Gaelic Football. Gaelic Football tactics/strategy simply cannot work when you have the tackle and the mark.

Please note i'm not saying get rid of the tackle, i'm simply pointing out that IR is just as different to gaelic football as it is to Aussie Rules.

 

[IRserious]

Removing the tackle would make this game farcical. There have always been problems because of the two Country's different approaches. The last two years have driven a wedge between the two. Work it out for yourself what was different about the last two years.

Retain the tackle, don't allow slinging or holding onto the player after the tackle, impose the rules and there might be a chance. BUT FOR CHRISSAKE GIVE IT A BREAK FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. When the Irish can say Kevin who? we can start talking again.

BTW, about our only experience of sport with tackling is watching rugby union where the tackle is well refereed. That's why this business of hitting guys late and holding them down infuriates the Irish. Maybe it's because league is so prominent in your country. They seem to sit on a guy for a long time after they complete a tackle.

What reason did Sheedy give for not continuing. Has he been told that he is a problem?

 

[D Mitchell]

He was interviewed on radio shortly after he returned and was asked about his continued coaching of the IR team. The commentators, from memory Dwayne Russell and Tony Shaw but I might be wrong on the latter, were surprised when he said that he would not continue. He gave 2 reasons(a) his obligations to Essendon; and (b) time to give someone else a go.

 

[Chewy]

With all this talk about changing the rules, eliminating the tackle and making this game closer gaelic football, has anybody stopped to think for a second about how our boys go over there, use THEIR ball and still beat them?

Imagine if we got rid of the tackle from IR. Also if we got rid of the behind posts, so we just had unders and overs. Let's even got rid of the mark. Imagine if we played totally by the Irish rules... but then also made them play with OUR ball.

They wouldn't touch the thing.

 

[King Elvis]

I have a simple way to fix the IR Series.

Tell the Irish to grow some balls.

 

[Dingo]

I have a simple way to fix the IR Series.

Tell the Irish to grow some balls.

well thats constructive and you wonder why the Aussies have such a bad reputation across the world.....

 

[RememberMe]

BTW, about our only experience of sport with tackling is watching rugby union where the tackle is well refereed. That's why this business of hitting guys late and holding them down infuriates the Irish. Maybe it's because league is so prominent in your country. They seem to sit on a guy for a long time after they complete a tackle.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. If you look at the statistics, AFL has more injuries than any other sport in the world. AFL players get the soft tissue injuries/knee injuries sustained in all running/pivoting sports. The tackle is, however, what makes AFL unique from any other sport in the world. In rugby union/league, gridiron, etc., contact is almost always front on. The player with the ball sees the guy coming for him, and can brace 99% of the time. In AFL, players can be hit from in front, from either side, and from behind.

It is the tackle from behind that has caused do much turmoil in the IR. Danyle Pearce did what is common place in the AFL by partially slinging Geraghty. Although it is legal to tackle from behind, it is not legal to ride someone into the ground. Even the slightest 'push in the backs' are penalised harshly these days. If you look at things from this perspective you will realise that there was little, if any malice in Pearce's actions.

 

[D Mitchell]

IIt is the tackle from behind that has caused do much turmoil in the IR. Danyle Pearce did what is common place in the AFL by partially slinging Geraghty. Although it is legal to tackle from behind, it is not legal to ride someone into the ground. Even the slightest 'push in the backs' are penalised harshly these days. If you look at things from this perspective you will realise that there was little, if any malice in Pearce's actions.

Geraghty gathered the ball and was running laterally across the ground, away from the camera. Pearce came at him from the direction of the Australian goal, from Geraghty's right. It looks like he had momentum up because he appears out of the right hand side of the screen running at high speed. It also looks like he had Geraghty in his sights for quite a few paces before he reached him. Pearce's tackle was from the side rather than the back. His first contact was with his hands to Geraghty's right side. His contact caused the ball to come loose from Geraghty's grip although it looks like Pearce couldn't see the ball come loose because he slid across behind Geraghty's back, changed his grip to clasp Geraghty around the torso, both arms pinned and then used his momentum to sling Geraghty to the ground finishing up by falling over the upper body of Geraghty, his elbow across Geraghty's face. Whether there was malice or not is opinion only. The tackle was well organised. If he had been properly instructed in what is acceptable in International Rules, he had plenty of time to ensure that his tackle conformed. The sling was not only unneccessary but he should have been instructed and trained not to apply it. Either he wasn't instructed, in which case Sheedy and Stynes have plenty to answer for, or he was, in which case he has a lot to answer for. Then again, no penalty was awarded against him.

 

[RememberMe]

Geraghty gathered the ball and was running laterally across the ground, away from the camera. Pearce came at him from the direction of the Australian goal, from Geraghty's right. It looks like he had momentum up because he appears out of the right hand side of the screen running at high speed. It also looks like he had Geraghty in his sights for quite a few paces before he reached him. Pearce's tackle was from the side rather than the back. His first contact was with his hands to Geraghty's right side. His contact caused the ball to come loose from Geraghty's grip although it looks like Pearce couldn't see the ball come loose because he slid across behind Geraghty's back, changed his grip to clasp Geraghty around the torso, both arms pinned and then used his momentum to sling Geraghty to the ground finishing up by falling over the upper body of Geraghty, his elbow across Geraghty's face. Whether there was malice or not is opinion only. The tackle was well organised. If he had been properly instructed in what is acceptable in International Rules, he had plenty of time to ensure that his tackle conformed. The sling was not only unneccessary but he should have been instructed and trained not to apply it. Either he wasn't instructed, in which case Sheedy and Stynes have plenty to answer for, or he was, in which case he has a lot to answer for. Then again, no penalty was awarded against him.

I saw the tackle, and obviously my and every other red blooded Australian's opinion differs from yours. Another thing I thought I'd mention, which has already been mentioned previously, is the intimidation factor. In Australian rules football, if a player is piss farting around with it, as if he has all day to do whatever he wants with the ball, the tackler will let him know about it, thereby sending the message, "the next time you pissfart around with it, you better watch the ******** out!"

It was obvious to anyone with any knowledge of Australian football, that the Aussies were approaching the game in this way. When the tackle is just about the only thing that remains from the AFL game, that the Irish are obviously not accustomed to, why not throw your weight around. It is the only obvious advantage that we have over the Irish guys, so why not use it?

Even though you still haven't given up whinging, I am absolutley positive, after watching the game several times, that the physicality of the Australians was more within the rules than the physicality of the Irish, who resorted to cheap punch & run tactics.

Although the Gaelic game and Australian football are probably the most similar sports in the world, the basic fact of the matter is that they are worlds apart. I loved the last few IR series. People can deny it, and the AFL can try and tidy it all up as a means of attracting more people to the game, but the thing which gets the blood rushing more than anything in our great game is the BIFF. Big shirtfronts and brawls are always going to be common place in AFL.

The good thing about our game though, is that what happens on the field, stays on the field. If some bloke gives u a hiding on the field, he'll more often than not be the first one to offer you a drink after the game. Rather than whinge, bitch and carry on, Australian football players will accept that they 'copped it sweet,' and get the ******** over it. Although it might be remembered the next time around, and a few words might be said, until the next time the two teams take up hostilities, what happened the last time, really means jack ********.

My advice: Get the ******** over it.

 

[King Elvis]

well thats constructive and you wonder why the Aussies have such a bad reputation across the world.....

We don't.

 

[Horsebox]

We don't.

You have a reputation for wearing odd hats and clothes that are too small for you.

 

[D Mitchell]

...The good thing about our game though, is that what happens on the field, stays on the field. If some bloke gives u a hiding on the field, he'll more often than not be the first one to offer you a drink after the game. Rather than whinge, bitch and carry on, ....

Did O'Mahoney, Ryan, Cavanagh, MacDonnell, Lockhart etc have drinks offered to them after the game ? Not according to the press. You are living in a world created by the marketing department.

 

[RememberMe]

Did O'Mahoney, Ryan, Cavanagh, MacDonnell, Lockhart etc have drinks offered to them after the game ? Not according to the press. You are living in a world created by the marketing department.

You are an ignorant fool who lets his opinion be moulded and shaped based entirely on what the newspaper is telling you. In the true spirit of the game it would have happened. A beer after the game is like a token gesture, implying, "I got you good, but you copped it sweet, and didn't whinge and carry on. Good stuff!"

Based on their distinct lack of sportsmanship, not unlike the reaction of a 10 year old, I'd be under the impression that few of the Australians would have had any intention of buying the Irish players a beer.

 

[poopa trooper]

good riddance, stupid game