International Rules 2011

[Gaffanator]

International Rules is a lot like St Patrick's Day. We all do our best not to watch as some young Aussie blokes stagger their way around, flailing their arms around wildly, frantically trying to convince everyone that they’re Irish for one day.

You good sir are a truly humorous being.

 

[Spanish_Fly]

They don't do that because a soccer GK would be useless in this form of the game.

The GK in IR needs to be able to also play outside of the box.

Bar the one costly mistake that lead to an Aussie goal, Cluxton(Irish GK) was one of the best on the ground.

I think you would be surprised at how effective a soccer keeper would be in this game. They know when to come off their line and how to shut down angles, they know how to organize a defense on a rectangular pitch, they are completely comfortable kicking a round ball, are used to playing in gloves, they are adept with the ball at their feet under pressure.

The only skill they don't have is the handball and if they picked one from Victoria he would have probably played footy at school anyway like most good sportsmen who grew up in Melbourne.

I would have thought it would be easier to teach a soccer keeper how to handball than it would be a footy player to keep. You could see last night Suckling had no idea when to come off his line, close down the angles and spread himself like a good keeper should, not his fault of coarse, this takes years of experience to learn.

 

[cos789]

I would have thought it would be easier to teach a soccer keeper how to handball than it would be a footy player to keep.

Especially handballing a round ball but then I don't agree with having a GK.
IMO they should have stripped the game down to it's common elements not included all the features of both games .

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

I think you would be surprised at how effective a soccer keeper would be in this game.

I wouldn't be surprised. I played Gaelic football for 10+ years. Saw soccer GKs drafted into a few teams and most of them struggled to be effective.

Unders in Gaelic football are more of a bonus than something that's constantly targeted.

Overs are where the bulk of scoring opprotunities occur. Taking the over is always more preferential than trying for the under even if you're 10 yards out.

Another reason they are not a decent option is that soccer GK aren't used to getting bumped hard in a contest. While you can't tackle the IR keeper in his own box you can put him on his arse with a decent shoulder bump.

That would have most soccer GK down for the count.

 

[AndSmithMustScore]

For something different next year why don't Ireland play us in a game of Aussie Rules?

They'd be lucky to score.

As would Australia if they played a game of Gaelic Football.

 

[Dynamics]

You good sir are a truly humorous being.

Thank ye kindly.

 

[Prudster]

As would Australia if they played a game of Gaelic Football.

Isn't that basically what we've been playing all these years?

 

[Spanish_Fly]

As would Australia if they played a game of Gaelic Football.

Australia first sent a side to Ireland in 1967 and they played straight up Gaelic football, no hybrid, and were unbeaten all tour.

 

[Sherrinator]

I think there should be a clause in all AFL contracts that stipulates that if you are selected for the All-Australian team, you are obliged to play the IR games barring major surgery. This should also go for any players that could fit the position of that injured AA player.

The only reason there is no passion for this is because the best players don't play. If Judd's and Abbletts and Franklins played, there would be a lot more pride in wearing that jersey and for mine it's a disgrace that there isn't.



Btw, kudos to those players who did put the jersey on regardless of embarassing scorelines.

 

[Dynamics]

I think there should be a clause in all AFL contracts that stipulates that if you are selected for the All-Australian team, you are obliged to play the IR games barring major surgery. This should also go for any players that could fit the position of that injured AA player.

The only reason there is no passion for this is because the best players don't play. If Judd's and Abbletts and Franklins played, there would be a lot more pride in wearing that jersey and for mine it's a disgrace that there isn't.



Btw, kudos to those players who did put the jersey on regardless of embarassing scorelines.

Sooo... you're bemoaning the lack of passion for a half-baked pseudo-sport played by NO ONE, let alone actually loved by anyone. Ok, fair enough. If you want people to care about IR then good luck to you I guess.


And your solution to that is to contractually force people to play it or be financially punished (or perhaps even lose their livelihood). Yeah that'll engender a huge amount of love from everyone involved. You must be really freaking scary to be around when you discover a new band you really, really like. LISTEN TO IT AND LOVE IT OR I'LL CUT YOUR BALLS OFF!!!!!

I wish you luck in your endeavours.

 

[Powerade 08]

Can somebody explain what was wrong with the team? I think the biggest problems was the players didn't give a ****.

 

[MattyEdgeworth]

Can somebody explain what was wrong with the team? I think the biggest problems was the players didn't give a ****.

Maybe the irish just played better? You guys say you don't care about IR but yet you keep searching for excuses as to why you lost.

 

[Gus]

Maybe the irish just played better? You guys say you don't care about IR but yet you keep searching for excuses as to why you lost.

Losing battle, Matty.

If we win, it's because we're superior athletes but it's still a shitty hybrid game.

If we lose, it's a shitty hybrid game.

 

[DivideandMultiply]

Maybe the irish just played better? You guys say you don't care about IR but yet you keep searching for excuses as to why you lost.

I don't think anyone is searching for excuses.

It was a terrible team and many said it would be belted before the match.

Last year we had a half decent squad, who had time to prepare and a solid gameplan. Was an easy win.

I don't care if we get flogged again, it would be appropriate. Can just hope it is the last season the series is played, sadly it won't be.

 

[Powerade 08]

Maybe the irish just played better? You guys say you don't care about IR but yet you keep searching for excuses as to why you lost.

I didn't watch the game.

Yes, if you have professional athletes going up against school teachers and losing badly it's because they aren't taking the game seriously. Decent preparation and the Irish don't touch the ball.

What I want to know is why our AA team is (According to some posters here) better suited to this hybird game than the team we fielded...

 

[Sherrinator]

Sooo... you're bemoaning the lack of passion for a half-baked pseudo-sport played by NO ONE, let alone actually loved by anyone. Ok, fair enough. If you want people to care about IR then good luck to you I guess.


And your solution to that is to contractually force people to play it or be financially punished (or perhaps even lose their livelihood). Yeah that'll engender a huge amount of love from everyone involved. You must be really freaking scary to be around when you discover a new band you really, really like. LISTEN TO IT AND LOVE IT OR I'LL CUT YOUR BALLS OFF!!!!!

I wish you luck in your endeavours.

It doesn't matter what sport/non-sport it is. The IR series is a tool to generate interest in a somewhat international brand of the sport and as a marketing tool in Ireland.

The AFL allows these players to earn substantial sums of money playing a game they love/d and keeping fit. Surely the players should play it.

And again, the reason why this is no longer remotely popular is because of club greed.

I'm not the world's biggest lover of IR, but I never will be until I see some high quality footballers showing a bit of pride.

 

[dread and might]

What I want to know is why our AA team is (According to some posters here) better suited to this hybird game than the team we fielded...

Because some AA players played last year and dominated.

 

[Duggie]

I didn't watch the game.

Yes, if you have professional athletes going up against school teachers and losing badly it's because they aren't taking the game seriously. Decent preparation and the Irish don't touch the ball.

What I want to know is why our AA team is (According to some posters here) better suited to this hybird game than the team we fielded...

I think you aussies have a wrong perception of amateur in the GAA. Yes they have jobs but there super fit. Dublin won the All-Ireland this year and they were training twice a day. Once in the moring and again in the evening. Plus our players are spending more time in the gym these days so they are stronger than ever before.

 

[Sherrinator]

I didn't watch the game.

Yes, if you have professional athletes going up against school teachers and losing badly it's because they aren't taking the game seriously. Decent preparation and the Irish don't touch the ball.

What I want to know is why our AA team is (According to some posters here) better suited to this hybird game than the team we fielded...

Because they are the biggest/strongest/fastest/most skillful athletes in the comp?

The shape of the ball has nothing to do with that we were outran, outtackled and outmarked.

 

[Horsebox]

It's quite baffling that after all these years, a lot of aussie rules fans still seem to think international rules and gaelic football are the same.
There's a great website called www.youtube.com that has footage from all sorts of bizarre and obscure sports from around the world.
Sit down for 5 minutes and watch some clips of gaelic football.
For those who think you'd give us a game in gaelic football, imagine how different aussie rules would be tactically if play didn't stop for a mark and you couldn't tackle players to the ground.
Those two rules massively affect the game dynamics and how you attack and defend.

 

[DivideandMultiply]

It's quite baffling that after all these years, a lot of aussie rules fans still seem to think international rules and gaelic football are the same.
There's a great website called www.youtube.com that has footage from all sorts of bizarre and obscure sports from around the world.
Sit down for 5 minutes and watch some clips of gaelic football.
For those who think you'd give us a game in gaelic football, imagine how different aussie rules would be tactically if play didn't stop for a mark and you couldn't tackle players to the ground.
Those two rules massively affect the game dynamics and how you attack and defend.

Yet compared to length of game, shape of ball, shape of pitch, team size and use of netted goals are of negligible consequence.

Yes it does effect the dynamics of how the ball is moved, but you just have to see the difficulty the Australian players have in kicking an over to notice these are of negligible impact compared to the fundamentals.

 

[Caid]

The view from our side of the fence.

Shit game. Obvious that the AFL don't care about it, as don't most of the players in Ireland (few of the Allstars, the equivalent of the All-Australians, played). It seems to me that they have taken the good out of both codes and formed a hybrid game with the worst parts. The result is a softer game than both gaelic and AFL.

Gaelic is not a non-contact sport. We have a tackle, the shoulder tackle, which could be used in the IR but isn't. Our officials seem to be sanitising our game like your own, judging by previous comments.

I love watching Aussie Rules, and think it is a fantastic sport. My suggestion would be that instead of the current series, A one-off game should be played between Irish players and Irish-descent players in the AFL (Irish descent are the 2nd most common Australians) and the rest. This would deffo attract large crowds, with the massive amount of emigration and travel from Ireland to Oz at the mo. The AFL should probably spend more promoting the AFL World Cup (Ireland are the current champions at that too).

Or bring back the SOO, and add an Irish team.

We should do the same. Gaelic is playing on every continent yet we don't have a world cup.

 

[Horsebox]

Yet compared to length of game, shape of ball, shape of pitch, team size and use of netted goals are of negligible consequence.

Yes it does effect the dynamics of how the ball is moved, but you just have to see the difficulty the Australian players have in kicking an over to notice these are of negligible impact compared to the fundamentals.

They didn't seem to have any major problems with kicking overs last year.

 

[Mervyn Beasley]

My 10 yr old is an avid player and watcher of Aussie Rules.
Furthermore he will have a crack at anything else, either playing it or watching it.

In short, if its a contest, he's into it.

5 mins into last nights game he stated "Dad, why the hell are they bothering with this game?"

I had no answer for him, and feel that this is pretty much it in a nutshell.

 

[Dynamics]

It doesn't matter what sport/non-sport it is. The IR series is a tool to generate interest in a somewhat international brand of the sport and as a marketing tool in Ireland.

The AFL allows these players to earn substantial sums of money playing a game they love/d and keeping fit. Surely the players should play it.

And again, the reason why this is no longer remotely popular is because of club greed.

I'm not the world's biggest lover of IR, but I never will be until I see some high quality footballers showing a bit of pride.

This is what I mean though. Pride in what? Congratulations on being selected as one of the country's best sudoku players. Thing is we want to promote sudoku in England because we think there's an untapped market there. But what they do enjoy is their cheese rolling festival and we know that big cheese eaters are good at sudoku. So if you want to play sudoku for a living you'll get your green and gold on, you'll play in the international rolling cheese puzzle solving festival and you'll show some bloody pride, soldier!

Screw that, I'd be on a beach somewhere too. Doing sudoku.