International Rules 2011

[NSWCROW]

Not sure what was funnier last night , old mate getting sent off for being heavier than Callum Ward......or Angus Monfries " understanding of the game " ?.............................

 

[cos789]

This year the AFL just fcuked up with their coach, team, prep and scheduling in and the GAA took it seriously learning from what went wrong last year - its as simple as that.

Totally agree. Kennelly said at half time given another week the Aussies would win.

Anyway the damage has bee done. For the series to be revived both sides have to take the series seriously.
Australia has to pick some name players to bring the crowds, pick some experienced players, some physical players to complement the running players and not think that 5 days with the round ball is sufficient.
Ireland has to get it's head around the physicality. Don't cry wolf about the physical nature of the game and then come out and niggle and not expect retaliation and the resultant outcry.
Both countries have to accept that it has to be a three game series.
Winning on aggregate is like referring to the run rate in cricket. If it's tied one win apiece go for a third test. Guarenteed blockbuster.

 

[FromTheCapital]

It won't be on next year, but the AFL has just committed to a new series in 2013 and 2014. WTF? Can you imagine how bad the crowds will be here in 2014?

The AFL need to support it properly. Pay top players enough to compete in it at home. Play international rules in the opening round of the NAB cup. Maybe try and add to the spectacle. Even if its a fun gimmick like getting Mark Bosnich (or maybe Mark Schwarzer will have just retired?) to play in goal.

The AFL season is so short, do the fans really want the off season to be so long?

 

[Macca19]

It won't be on next year, but the AFL has just committed to a new series in 2013 and 2014. WTF? Can you imagine how bad the crowds will be here in 2014?

If they can get a bunch of players interested who are better than bog standard flankers and a first year ruckman then the interest and crowds will improve.

 

[Rob]

It won't be on next year, but the AFL has just committed to a new series in 2013 and 2014. WTF? Can you imagine how bad the crowds will be here in 2014? I used to go to these games but I didn't this year and never will again, after watching it on TV. The whole thing was just embarrassing and would have set back promotion of our own game on the Gold Coast by years.
Whatever goodwill or curiosity there was for this game has been well and truly lost, and even if every All Australian put his hand up to play I don't think it would make any difference. I reckon the next time they play in Melbourne, they will be lucky to get a crowd of 5,000.

If the AFL play the next series in Melbourne and the Gold Coast then they deserve crap crowds. Play it in Perth and Adelaide next time.

 

[zachary]

If they can get a bunch of players interested who are better than bog standard flankers and a first year ruckman then the interest and crowds will improve.

When it was linked to the All Australian awards, and it was still new, we used to get a reasonable amount of top players playing it, but that will never happen again because:
Post season medical stuff rules many out;
It interrrupts pre season preparation;
Clubs (and supporters) don't want their star players injured;
They also don't want them rubbed out for matches next year;
The novelty for the players, if not the public, has worn off; and most of all:
They don't select the best AFL players any more, just the "best suited to the hybrid game", who are usually people you wouldn't pay to see.

The big appeal for me was to see the best of our best all in one team to see what they could do, and that just aint going to happen any more. State of Origin went the same way - club football will always come first.

 

[smasha]

Irish celebrating the win

Despite the spite during the game, it:

a) didn't get completely out of control like it did in 2004/2005/2006
b) the Irish coaching staff didn't overreact to the incidents post-match (Tohill was very composed and professional in his post match interview when asked about the incidents compared to the disgraceful antics of his predecessor in 2006)
c) the players still shook hands/exchanged jumpers at the end of the game
d) I've seen worse in the NHL than what I saw tonight

I'd still like the series to continue, but if it doesn't no big deal.

Congratulations to the Irish. It's a pity there's pretty much zero GAA coverage over here, would love to watch more of it, and would rather watch their game than some of the other 'sports' that does end up on the sport channels here.

Setante Sports has it and the hurling.

 

[Quokka]

I thought about starting a thread for this but it's a bit of a throw away idea for an alternate series so I'll just tack it on here.

This would probably work better years from now if more Irish continue to try out AFL but how about they ditch the combined rules and each year do a tour with two games, Australia vs Ireland, AFL and Gaelic Football, same squads plays both.

To start with it might have all the seriousness of the all stars games, in which case they're exhibition games, promoting the sports and hopefully the rivalries and skills would build over time. The team playing its own game is probably going to kill it, it'd be expected to. The big respect goes to a team that can show something in the other code.

No combined scores, two games and the first team to win both games and the series would be a huge achievement. And they'd take it serious after that.

They mentioned on the radio one good thing about the tours has always been the afl players from different teams getting together (probably just as true for ireland) so this would keep that.

Anyway it'd be more fun then watching the IR the way its going.

 

[cavanmaniac]

Ireland has to get it's head around the physicality. Don't cry wolf about the physical nature of the game and then come out and niggle and not expect retaliation and the resultant outcry.

Sorry, what? The ones trying to introduce the niggle in the second test were the Aussies. Very, very predictable approach. Like I said pages and pages back, Ireland have nothing to gain from starting niggle fests that distract them from playing to their strengths and using their skills, so why bother? We know we can win on skills but will generally always lose the fights.
Thankfully none of the squabbling was too OTT but it's still somewhat depressing that Australia's plan B is always, always to resort to the late tackles and wrestling and cheap shots off the ball. And then if the Irish try to fight back, we get blamed for starting it. It should be abundantly clear to all that violence in these series is normally at the prompting of the Australians.

The knee in the kidneys wasn't nice though, but is that sort of challenge commonplace in AFL, I wouldn't overly condemn it if the Aussie guy was just defaulting to something he does every week?

There was a definite improvement in your lads from the first test though, just shows, along with the Aussie excellence on display in previous years' performances, that with a few weeks' sustained practice with the round ball it can be mastered much quicker than if the Irish had to play with the sherrin.

Fair play to the posters on here taking the defeat on the chin, it's nice to see there's some sportsmanship alive and well in here. I reckon the AFL will get its arse in gear for the next time the series rolls around, get some proper players picked and make the preparations better. I'm generally in awe most years of some of the Aussie skills but there was little to enthuse over this year in that department.

 

[Father Jack]

I thought the original purpose of the series from an Australian viewpoint was to give players some sort of national representative honours to aspire to. Now that the best players clearly don't aspire to any such thing, why continue to bother with it?

Honestly, if we are going to do it we should do it properly and devote a whole month to it and have some lead-up selection games (perhaps based around Vic/SA/WA/Allies (much as I detest the Allies concept)) so we can a) find the best suited players and b) learn how to play the bloody game properly. If we can't get enough interest from players to do this then we may as well give it the flick and be done with it.

 

[cos789]

The ones trying to introduce the niggle in the second test were the Aussies.

That's exactly the attitude that shows you cannot handle the physicality.
You want an international without fire ? If your team gets upset that it happens (regardless of instigator) they shouldn't nbe there.

The knee in the kidneys wasn't nice though, but is that sort of challenge commonplace in AFL.

In Ar if you make a genuine attempt at the ball you can take the other guy in the process. Quite legal. If you don't accept this then don't play.

with a few weeks' sustained practice with the round ball it can be mastered much quicker than if the Irish had to play with the sherrin.

Well the Aussies went out with 5 days and 12 days practice. Not enough as it showed. We understand that the round ball is a great leveller for the superior Aussies, you have to accept the physicality without whinging or the series wont be revived because people wont attend.

 

[liz]

That's exactly the attitude that shows you cannot handle the physicality.
You want an international without fire ? If your team gets upset that it happens (regardless of instigator) they shouldn't nbe there.



In Ar if you make a genuine attempt at the ball you can take the other guy in the process. Quite legal. If you don't accept this then don't play.



Well the Aussies went out with 5 days and 12 days practice. Not enough as it showed. We understand that the round ball is a great leveller for the superior Aussies, you have to accept the physicality without whinging or the series wont be revived because people wont attend.

There was nothing about the so-called physicality displayed by a handful of the Australians on Friday that was representative of the physicality we love in AFL. Rather than focussing on attacking the man in possession or the contest, all we got were boring and unnecessary niggles well after the ball had gone. Green was the worst offender but certainly not on his own

The poster you responded to accepted that the knee in the back challenge was part of our game and, as I read his comments, wasn't condemning it.

As to the result and the impact of the rules, I think there is enough evidence over the years to show that both countries are capable of adapting to the rules. The big difference between the squads this year was that the Australians went in with a combined total of nine previous caps in this game. Several of the Irish had played more than that individually. And it is clear that the Irish AFL contingent really embraces the hybrid game and that is certainly an advantage to them. Kennelly, for example, has made himself available for every series since 2001 when he has been able to play (ie not injured).

 

[cavanmaniac]

The previous poster answered it for me cos789 - physicality in the course of play is very distinct from badgering opposition players and winding them up in the hope of sparking some incidents.

As for whinging I don't hear anybody from the Irish camp doing that. I thought our players were quite measured in their response to the likes of Brad Green and Mitch Robinson going about basically trying to light fires for the entire game. Had we not been it could have turned uglier - and presumably we'd be getting blamed for starting fights and 'sooking' yadda yadda. Like I said none of it was OTT like in the past but it's still sad to see this reverting to a braindead approach every time your boys realise you've messed up and picked a set of players that can't compete in open play.

Our coach is on record as saying he welcomes the more physical side of the Internationals btw as long as there's none of the bullyboy stuff. IR is, despite being viewed as softer than AFL (because it is), a fair bit more physical in the tackle than our own game.

Disappointing that you quoted me very selectively about the knee in the back tackle too, I was clearly asking for clarification because I don't understand AFL enough and won't jump to conclusions. Not the slightest hint of a whinge there, sorry.

I agree with your view on the ball. It is a leveller and a leveller is needed. I feel no shame in admitting that the natural professionalism and conditioning of the Aussies needs to be balanced out. It's hard for AFL fans to accept that some form of handicapping is now required to make the game viable, but that's the true essence of compromise when you're putting amateurs and pros together and trying to make it work reasonably well. I think it does ok overall. Ideally I'd like to see a future where we have enough Irish lads playing in Australia so we have more lads used to the true intensity and can play the game more full on. I think we'd all welcome that as a spectacle.

 

[Father Jack]

It's a bit hard to take the game seriously when one (allegedly elite) side displays such comical ball-handling skills, but, as mentioned, there is no way around it aside from spending more time handling said ball.

 

[cos789]

I think there is enough evidence over the years to show that both countries are capable of adapting to the rules.

Didn't I just say that ? In fact with a bit bit more training the last squad would have been adequate - they had virtually none. But on a separate issue the game was reduced to a farce because the Irish refuse to take the physicality on the chin and we're coached not to offend them.
Did you see the balant punches etc in the RU WC ?
Nobody's calling that to be abandoned in fact they laud it.

 

[dogsbody]

...But on a separate issue the game was reduced to a farce because the Irish refuse to take the physicality on the chin and we're coached not to offend them....

If by physicality you mean aggessive tackling, the GAA players accepted the tackles and handed them out. If you mean thuggery, well, the AFL players lost the quarter and the fights. The fact that the AFL players would go over the top was entirely predictable. It's the only way they can win. The AFL lost this series by picking a second rate team, not preparing properly and relying on the biff to win, You'd think the heirarchy would know better by now.

 

[cos789]

It's the only way they can win.

How did we win the last series so easily then ?

 

[pazza]

How to make IR more relevant and better for us:

1. Only players who play State Of Origin football are to be considered, with the All-Australian team to be selected from the best of the SOO sides.

2. Use of the Sherrin/Burley/Faulkner for half of each IR match.

3. That physical aggression by players on both sides is encouraged.

 

[QuietB]

International Rules is not relevant and it never will be. It is a complete and utter joke. To see Brad Green dishing out the tough guy antics was laughable - can't wait to see him turn some of that crap on in an AFL game. Where does the false aggression come from and why is it required? Brad Green hasn't shown 5 seconds of that in 200 odd games! It is embarrassing.

I dont see the AFL thinking up hybrid games against the NRL, EPL, NFL or maybe even the NHL. At least two of those codes have a similar shaped ball! Why the ^%*& are we doing it here and what on Earth is there to gain?

 

[Blessed]

I heard Adrian Anderson this morning, and he and the AFL are hugely devastated by the performance of the Australians in the International rules this year.

Make no mistake. The performance of Australia in the hybrid game is very high on the agenda of the AFL brains trust. They feel humiliated and shamed.

Adrian was talking about the possibility of changing the rules in the NAB Cup next year so that we play with the round ball and hand-passing is limited to 4.

He sees this as the best way to improve the Australian skills under pressure.

It is the long term objective of the AFL to morph Australian Rules football more and more towards the hybrid games’ rules.

Thus enabling a truly international game which can grow overseas and challenge rugby and soccer.

Only by tweaking the rules of AFL, can they do this.

And this is very high on the AFL agenda.


It will be even higher after the last fortnight’s total humiliation.

The rules of AFL football are going to change dramatically again.

As they have over the last decade, each time Australia loses at International Rules.

 

[Schulzenfest]

Adrian was talking about the possibility of changing the rules in the NAB Cup next year so that we play with the round ball and hand-passing is limited to 4.

I call troll. If not, Adrian Anderson can **** off.

 

[Blessed]

Adrian Anderson has the final say on how the direction of Australian Rules football goes, I am afraid.

There used to be a time where the SANFL, WAFL and even the VFA with John Cain as patron had tremendous power.

But one of the by-products of the monster created called the AFL; is that it has squashed the other power bases of the game.

Thus the future of our great game is entrusted to a few individuals.

These individuals may or may not have the best intentions of the game as the drive for implementing change.

Most of the time, the changes are based on commercialism and an agenda of trying to belligerently grow the AFL brand.

If that means changing the sport significantly. Then they see it as part of their evangelistic rite in the name of making AFL football as popular as possible.

And an international perspective is very much high on the agenda at AFL house.

 

[cos789]

And an international perspective is very much high on the agenda at AFL house.

And it probably doesn't invole IR as why wouldn't theythey've put more effort into it.

Of course the AFL has an international perspective.

Especially after the sucess of the RSA. PNG and NZ.
The continued recruiting from Ireland.
The increased player participation in Australian Football at grassroots level in countries other than Australia.

 

[Blessed]

Because the AFL Commission’s agenda is to slowly align AFL football to International Rules by slowly changing the rules.

You only have to look at the rule changes to AFL football over the last 10 years.

No other code in the world has changed as much as our own beloved sport.

Look at what happened after the last International Series.

Remember:-

1) You couldn’t play on after a behind until the goal umpire waved his flag. That all changed after the last International series.
2) The acceptable level of violence in AFL football was all changed after the Chris Johnson incident.
3) Diving on the ball became holding the ball after the last International series.

There are many other examples of rule changes.

I am not saying these rule changes are right or wrong; only that they are an attempt to align our great game more and more with the International Rules product.

 

[cos789]

Look at what happened after the last International Series.

You may as well say look what happenned after they nailed jesus to the cross.

1)You couldn’t play on after a behind until the goal umpire waved his flag.
2)The acceptable level of violence in AFL football was all changed after the Chris Johnson incident.
3)Diving on the ball became holding the ball after the last International series.

1.If stopped watching rl and actually followed AR you would know that they allowed the quick kick-in to counter flooding. Do you remember flooding ? the biggest single blight on the game.
2.If stopped watching rl and actually followed AR you would know that the increasing on protecting the head is common to all football contact codes and has nother to do with violence.
3.If stopped watching rl and actually followed AR you would know that diving on the ball has always been "holding the ball" but only if you are tackled.There is more pressure to get the ball out rugby style and this is opposite to GAA or IR.

If stopped watching rl and actually followed AR you would know that they changed the requirement for a mark from 10m. to 15m. which flys in the face of the chip-it-around game .