Australian International Rules Squad Announced

Cmarsh

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 23, 2012
7,689
10,422
NSW
AFL Club
GWS
But its always been the case, The GAA has never sent its strongest team ie its All Star team or a team specifically made up of past All Stars! They constantly send the strongest team available to them but its never been anyway near the strongest team that could possibly play the game. Id love to see the All Australian team play The GAA All Star team but I know its not possible due to the set up of the GAA season!

The GAA wasn't happy with the weak Aussie teams of recent years because ye were taking the piss! If the AFL wasn't interested in the series that was perfectly fine but at least have the decency to tell us and don't disrespect us by sending jokes of teams and wasting our time and money. Last year took the biscuit it literally looked like ye went into the outback rounded up a few indigenous aborigines sent them on a flight to the Irish winter and they looked completely lost in the bright lights of Breifini Park and Croke Park. It would have been funny only that the GAA and AFL were charging people 25 or 30 euro a head into watch that rubbish not to mention it was quiet a racist stunt that the AFL pulled and dragged us into it.

Id expect the Aussies to win the series this year, but if Ireland select a team with enough of the top players in it Id expect it to be a close run thing. Obviously I want Ireland to win but as long as its entertaining I will be happy enough!
That's fair enough, I see also that Zach Touhey has not put his hand up for selection for Ireland either as he'd rather concentrate on Carlton's preseason.

Even though not all of Ireland's stars are available, I've felt that Ireland is at a considerable advantage because they use and kick that round ball all the time. The Aussie guys have to set up a training camp for the purposes of learning how to effectively kick a ball of that shape. Thoughts?
 
Apr 28, 2008
11,211
8,194
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Arsenal Kilmarnock
Amazing team, hasn't been that strong for at least a decade.

Certainly a far cry from 2008 when the likes of Kade Simpson and Adam Selwood were best perfomed.

I actually really enjoy the Gaelic Football in Ireland (actually more so than IR).
 

IrishHawksFan

Debutant
Oct 4, 2010
137
208
Cork, Ireland
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Cork GAA
That's fair enough, I see also that Zach Touhey has not put his hand up for selection for Ireland either as he'd rather concentrate on Carlton's preseason.

Even though not all of Ireland's stars are available, I've felt that Ireland is at a considerable advantage because they use and kick that round ball all the time. The Aussie guys have to set up a training camp for the purposes of learning how to effectively kick a ball of that shape. Thoughts?

Either has Ciaran Sheehan I see.

It shouldn't be as big a deal for most of that Aussie team to learn the basic kicking techniques of the round ball. The most natural footballers generally adapt well no matter what the ball shape, Ciaran Sheehan, Pearse Hanley, Tadgh Kennelly, Jimmy Stynes all adapted to a Sherrin and likewise the best performance I ever saw in International rules was Adam Goodes in 2010, I was at the test in Limerick and his skill set that night was quiet simply stunning so much so that he got cheered by the partisan Irish crowd on more then one occasion, This year ye have a solid team of champions and with a few weeks training with a round ball I fully expect ye to look quiet natural with the ball! Don't expect ye to be trying banana kicks or curling balls over from the corner flag but ye should have the foundations and basics down to a tee!
 
Aug 1, 2006
26,531
26,925
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
That's fair enough, I see also that Zach Touhey has not put his hand up for selection for Ireland either as he'd rather concentrate on Carlton's preseason.

Even though not all of Ireland's stars are available, I've felt that Ireland is at a considerable advantage because they use and kick that round ball all the time. The Aussie guys have to set up a training camp for the purposes of learning how to effectively kick a ball of that shape. Thoughts?

If they had any brains they'd get a Zac Tuohy or a Martin Clarke as an assistant coach to help with the kicking.
 
Aug 20, 2014
4,551
5,259
AFL Club
Fremantle
Sending good teams will also improve the interest in the next games in Ireland.

Theyll get belted over here and say no ******* way and will try and smash us over there.
 

Belnakor

Brownlow Medallist
Apr 10, 2005
26,274
18,834
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Amazing team, hasn't been that strong for at least a decade.

Certainly a far cry from 2008 when the likes of Kade Simpson and Adam Selwood were best perfomed.

I actually really enjoy the Gaelic Football in Ireland (actually more so than IR).

the problem is that if we play our best team we generally absolutely flog them.
 

bombersfan4000

Brownlow Medallist
Jun 30, 2014
10,169
5,512
AFL Club
Essendon
whing
I want all Hawthorn players to pull out with 'injuries'

Stupid concept
whinge whinge whinge, typical hawthorn!
every club has players that are at risk.

perhaps if the clubs had the mentality to that the NRL, UNION & A League clubs had with their rep & SOO stuff look at it as an honor to be selected
the the international rules might turn in to a success,
 

Modified Dog

Club Legend
Mar 25, 2014
1,696
3,102
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Should actually be really entertaining this year!

Australian squad: Grant Birchall, Travis Boak, Luke Breust, Patrick Dangerfield, Dustin Fletcher, Nat Fyfe, Brendon Goddard, Robbie Gray, Brent Harvey, Luke Hodge, Kieren Jack, Steve Johnson, Jarrad McVeigh, Sam Mitchell, Leigh Montagna, Nic Naitanui, Nick Riewoldt, Tom Rockliff, Joel Selwood, Brodie Smith, Nick Smith, Harry Taylor, Jobe Watson, Chad Wingard.
The Irish team will be far too quick for these guys. That was always our biggest problem. That's why our boys always resorted to flexing their muscles and opening the can of Whupass. It's also why the Australian team evolved over the years until it no longer contained our champion footballers, but consisted mainly of skinny, skilful, speedy receiver types who were more suited to the speed of International Rules.

The Irish are gonna be quicker and have the skill edge with the round ball.

I did just type that they would kill us… but then I looked over our squad again and had second thoughts. It's an awesome collection of talent we've named. Players such as Robbie Gray, Boak, Stevie J, Punky Breuster, Boomer, Wingard, Rooey, Selwood, Danger and Fyfe will acquit themselves well at any game that involves running, tackling and kicking a ball.
 
Last edited:

Modified Dog

Club Legend
Mar 25, 2014
1,696
3,102
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Last year took the biscuit it literally looked like ye went into the outback rounded up a few indigenous aborigines sent them on a flight to the Irish winter and they looked completely lost in the bright lights of Breifini Park and Croke Park. It would have been funny only that the GAA and AFL were charging people 25 or 30 euro a head into watch that rubbish not to mention it was quiet a racist stunt that the AFL pulled and dragged us into it.
Steady on, Paddy.

We don't take kindly to blow-ins and PC liberal types who suggest that us celebrating our aboriginal footballers with indigenous-themed rounds or "blacks only" football teams could be construed as racist in any way.
 

Alesana

Premiership Player
Oct 13, 2011
3,809
5,707
AFL Club
West Coast
The Irish team will be far too quick for these guys. That was always our biggest problem. That's why our boys always resorted to flexing their muscles and opening the can of Whupass. It's also why the Australian team evolved over the years until it no longer contained our champion footballers, but consisted mainly of skinny, skilful, speedy receiver types who were more suited to the speed of International Rules.

The Irish are gonna be quicker and have the skill edge with the round ball.

I did just type that they would kill us… but then I looked over our squad again and had second thoughts. It's an awesome collection of talent we've named. Players such as Robbie Gray, Boak, Stevie J, Punky Breuster, Boomer, Wingard, Rooey, Selwood, Danger and Fyfe will acquit themselves well at any game that involves running, tackling and kicking a ball.
"The Irish team will be far too quick for these guys." Because Harvery, Dangerfield, Gray, Smith, Wingard, Naitanui are all slouches...
 

Cmarsh

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 23, 2012
7,689
10,422
NSW
AFL Club
GWS
Steady on, Paddy.

We don't take kindly to blow-ins and PC liberal types who suggest that us celebrating our aboriginal footballers with indigenous-themed rounds or "blacks only" football teams could be construed as racist in any way.
Not sure if serious.
 

Modified Dog

Club Legend
Mar 25, 2014
1,696
3,102
AFL Club
Hawthorn
"The Irish team will be far too quick for these guys." Because Harvery, Dangerfield, Gray, Smith, Wingard, Naitanui are all slouches...
:rolleyes:

I'm not worried about them. I was thinking how Goddard, Hodge, Johnson, Mitchell, Riewoldt, Selwood, Taylor and Watson are probably going to look very slow when the nippy Irish players start flicking the ball around. That's all I'm saying. We better hope we can hold onto possession of the round ball and keep our structure, otherwise we will look slow.

Naitanui is super quick for a big man, but his endurance is lacking. He struggles to cover the ground. He huffs and puffs after a few repeat sprints. The coaches will have to figure out a way to hide this and best exploit his strengths.

We're not going have a speed edge with those players you listed. The Irish team will have just as many quick blokes as we do, if not more. They're more lightly built. They don't tackle in Gaelic football, so they don't lift as many weights and pump themselves up like AFL footballers. Muscle mass helps a player withstand the hits, break tackles and knock opponents over, but it also slow you down.

This has been plain to see in every previous series of International Rules. Our blokes are more solid and with good endurance and grind away, whereas the skinny Irish players accelerate into dangerous scoring positions and they have the skills to make us pay. They usually take their chances better than we do.
 
Last edited:

mattymac

Why no midfield crowz?
10k Posts
Jul 9, 2009
18,167
32,188
Yes
AFL Club
Adelaide
Other Teams
No
Jesus what a squad. Will actually watch it this time.
 

Green Eggs

@TheBanterChamp
Mar 13, 2013
781
638
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Charlotte Hornets
What an excitement machine! It might not be the best the AFL has to offer, but it's definitely the group that fires the crowd up the most!
 

berma

Draftee
Oct 15, 2014
1
0
AFL Club
West Coast
Good Scheduling, Railway Stakes day in Perth. The biggest race day in Perth of the year!!
 

IrishHawksFan

Debutant
Oct 4, 2010
137
208
Cork, Ireland
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Cork GAA
Irish team announced yesterday.

Michael Murphy to captain Ireland in Australia

Ireland International Rules manager Paul Earley has named his 25-man panel for the upcoming Test against Australia with Donegal's Michael Murphy captaining the side for the second time.

In total 15 counties are represented across the 25-man panel.

Mayo lead the way with four home-based players included as well as Brisbane Lions’ Pearse Hanley - the only AFL-based player included in the visitors panel.

The team management have also confirmed that Cork’s Aidan Walsh will fill the role of vice-captain.

Ireland face Australia at Patterson’s Stadium in Perth on 22 November and depart for Australia on 12 November.

Their itinerary also includes a warm-up game in Melbourne against a VFL selection on Sunday 16 November.

Earley said: “I’m pleased to confirm the 25 players who will represent Ireland in the latest series and we travel to Australia anticipating a very strong challenge from the hosts.

“The players who we have chosen have worked hard in recent weeks and and have shown many of the attributes that we hope will allow us to build on some of the promising aspects of last year’s series performances.

“As a group we are looking forward to showcasing all that is good about Gaelic football while representing Ireland.”

Ireland hammered Australia by an aggregate score of 101 points last year, but the hosts have named a stronger squad for this year's one-off Test.

In the history of the sport, Ireland have nine series wins, with Australia one behind, and looking to level the record books in 2014.

Ireland panel: Colm Begley (Laois), Colm Boyle (Mayo), Seán Cavanagh (Tyrone), Cathal Cregg (Roscommon), Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone), Finian Hanley (Galway), Pearse Hanley (Brisbane Lions), Darren Hughes (Monaghan), Lee Keegan (Mayo), James McCarthy (Dublin), Ciaran McDonald (Tipperary), Neil McGee (Donegal), Chrissy McKaigue (Derry), Kevin McKernan (Down), Kevin McLoughlin (Mayo), Conor McManus (Monaghan), David Moran (Kerry), Niall Morgan (Tyrone), Ross Munnelly (Laois), Michael Murphy (Donegal, captain), Colm O’Neill (Cork), Pádraig O’Neill (Kildare), Paddy O’Rourke (Meath), Aidan O’Shea (Mayo), Aidan Walsh (Cork, vice-captain).



Decent enough looking team, Only 5 of this years All Stars named though. Nice blend of strength and speed, Not all necessarily the best or most skillful exponents of Gaelic football but a decent team none the less. Still expect Australia to scrape a win but that Irish team will make it tough for them. Should be a good game!
 
Back