Oz rules game

country_gurl

Is it worth going to see and pay 20e for it? Not that interested in football. Anyone ever been? Is it a bit of craic? i presume its not taken seriously.

daymobrew

I went to the first game 2 years ago.

i presume its not taken seriously.

You gotta be kidding - pretty much no holds barred, bit dirty in fact. The Oz lads are generally much bigger and stronger than the Irish lads who are faster. The GAA players, understandably, get annoyed at being tackled to the ground and often throw a few fists.

Some woeful misses by the GAA players, despite having an extra pair of posts either side of the normal uprights.

Definitely worth it if you haven't been to Croke Park in a good while - as good as finished now.

Fabrizio

Hey, €20 is a bargain for the game! was there 2 years ago and it was brilliant, great atmosphere and great craic! its like supporting the national GAA team, i know it is, but its brilliant cos the Aussies are just so physical and cocky, just want the irish to hammer them! Def go and see it! Ill be there next weekend, roaring IRELAND on!

COME ON IRELAND!! WOO WOO

country_gurl

oooh im all excited now i wanta go!!!!!
anyone know whos on the team?

Fabrizio

ya - http://www.gaa.ie/page/coca_cola_international_rules_series.html

a very good team indeed!

Waylander

I do like GAaa football, but at tiems think this sport is better. It is much faster because you can make a mark with every clean catch of the ball. I thought this would cause alot of interuptions but they resulting frees are usually taken very quickly. I strongly reccommend you go and have a look. I have brought freinds in to this who have no interest in GAA and they loved watching these games.

Imposter

I love the compromise game as well. For me it takes the more skillful elements of Gaelic football and puts the focus on them. It also reduces what I think are the bad elements of football.

The high catch is a gret skill and something that is dying in football at the moment. Rewarding a catch with a mark is good for this. They are also very spectacular from a supporters point of view. Also the fact that a mark is given for a kick-pass that is longer than 10m is good as it encourages good kick passing which is seriously lacking in the game of football at the moment.

Having the side posts also gives players a bit more confidence ot try long range shots. This results in some very spectacular and skillful shots (and also spectacular misses) which is also good for the spectators.

And finally there is the tackle. This is by far the best rule in the compromise rules. It eliminates a players ability to hold the ball forever as they do in football. It also means that fist passing the ball all the way up the field can be a dangerous tactic. It also makes the game faster and more exciting as players are reluctant ot hold the ball for long.

Another rule I like is the choice a player has when they get a mark or a free. They can continue on or return to the place of the infringement to take the free. The fact that an opposing player can stand exactly where the free is given is god too as then people can't steal any distance from the free. Again this makes for a faster more exciting game and some spectacular kicking.

I like this game so much I think an Irish league based on the compromise rules would actually be a winner and create a lot more exciement than some of the current gaelic football matches.

p.pete

I'll be at the second test Looking forward to it!

The Rooster

I also very much like the International Game, but I wouldnt be bothered with the extra posts, and I think the mark is sometimes used in the wrong way by players, i.e. at the end of the game passes sidewards and even backwards are used, with marks taken, to slow down the game. I'd increase it to 20 metres, and the ball would have to travel 20m forwards. In fact if I was brigning it in to GAA at first I'd only allow marks from kick outs that travelled a certain distance.

As imposter has said, the tackle is the best rule of the international rules game. Cuts out all the doubt and subjectivity and all the pulling and dragging, and encourages (demands!) quick use of the ball.

Flukey

I'll be going alright. As for the mark, it has to be the most ridiculous rule in the whole thing. Say what you like, but there is no sense in getting a free for catching a ball. It is a basic skill. What next, every time you kick the ball you'll get a free for that too? It also takes the whole momentum out of the game. There you ae in the middle of a real exciting piece of play and then a guy catches the ball and then suddenly, it stops. What in Gaelic football are often the most exciting parts, when a player catches the ball and has to try and do something with it, are robbed of us. There is a big anti-climax. People argue that is stops bunching of players and guys being swallowed up in possession when he comes down with the ball, but there are better ways of doing that without just stopping the game dead. Anyway a lot of the marks are when catches are made with no one near him, but instead of continuing the move and the flow of play, it just stops. Of all the rules in the game, it is the one that destroys it most.

The Rooster

Instead in Gaelic Football, if a man does win a contested high ball, he's usually immediately surrounded by 2 or 3 opponents, and has no room to do anything with the ball, leaving the ref to make the 50/50 decision to give him a free for a foul against him, or give a free the other way for holding on to the ball for too long or charging. Far more stop-start than a mark would be. And its the reason why the high catch in midfield gets rarer every year.

But as I've said before there are downsides to the mark, and I would only be in favour of bringing them in from kickouts that travel a certain distance.

scargill

was at second game two years ago. My god did it piss down rain. i booked the tickets in advance.....i'll buy them at the gate this year only of the weather is good.

would recommend it - hopefully the half-time entertainment will be better than brush shiels !!

Flukey

Rooster, there are plenty of clean catches in Gaelic Football where a player comes down and with players around him gets the ball away. We don't always get the bunching and as I said there are other ways of dealing with that, without giving a guy a free for catching a ball. :rolleyes: To get rid of the crowding out of a player they could have a rule where there is a limit to the amount of players that can be near a man in possession, giving him a chance to get the ball away.

I've been to a lot of the International Rules games over the years. As I said it is very annoying when you see a ball going in towards the goal area and a fella jumps up and catches it and then everything stops and either the guy kicks it calmly over the bar or calmly out of defence. The most critical part of the pitch and the most exciting part of play is just stymied. It leaves a forward with a simple job of scoring or a defender with a simple job of clearing the ball, which makes no sense and takes the whole competitive edge off the game. You can imagine Mícheál O'Muirecheartaigh in full flow as the ball races down the pitch and then a high ball comes into the goal area and several men go up to try and catch it and then... he stops!

Forwards aren't having to compete to score in either case, because they either have a free tap over the bar for a score or have to stand there and watch the defender clear the ball out. Defenders aren't competing to defend in either case because they can freely kick it clear or have to stand and watch a forward kick it over the bar. So basically both defenders and forwards are having a part of their duty taken away from them. The mark takes far more away from the game than it adds. As to the distance the ball has come: that it is irrelevant. You can have a ball come from 5 yards away that you have to make a great effort to catch and can have a simple one for a ball that comes 40 yards. You could be surrounded by or free of players in either case.

In theory you could have a game almost like chess: The keeper kicks the ball out to one of his players. He catches it and stops. He then kicks it to another of his team. He catches it and stops. He then kicks it to another of his team. He catches it and stops. He then kicks it over the bar. Thrilling! :rolleyes: Watch the game closely on Sunday and just see how the potentially most exciting parts of the game are time and time again denied of us because a guy caught the ball, whether he be a defender or a forward!

country_gurl

have my ticket now yaaaay but boyfriend got it for the hill iv got used to sittin down at the gaa matches since the hill was closed.
Btw could someone explain the main rules in clear concise bullet points (to get through to my head!)

Big Ears

Would anyone else love if the compromise rules was played by a couple of more countries ? I certainly would , we could get something like a 6 nations going .

Also why isn't the Hurling(and Shinty) compromise rules(between Ireland and Scotland) shown on televison ?

Imposter

Big Ears wrote:

Also why isn't the Hurling(and Shinty) compromise rules(between Ireland and Scotland) shown on televison ?

Because it's not taken very seriously by either of the teams.

Flukey

Country Gurl, the rules will be in the programme on the day. If you have seen Aussie Rules and have some familiarity with it, it will help. You have our regular goal and an extra post on either side of it, about a goal width away. A ball going over the bar, known as an Over, is worth 3 points. A goal is worth 6 points. If goes outside the main posts, but inside either of the two outer ones, it is a Behind and is worth 1 point.

There are four 20 minute quarters.
A player can be physically legally tackled.
The ball can be picked off the ground.
A player can run with the ball but must bounce it, though there is no solo run.
If a player catches a ball having travelled from a distance, without it having bounced, he can call a mark an get a free kick. (Stupid rule as I've outlined) :rolleyes:
You can pass by punching the ball but not throwing it.
After a goal is scored, play is resumed by throwing the ball in at the middle of the pitch, like at the start of a game.

Other than that, it is much like our own game. It is not hard to follow the differences.

I went to the warm up game between the Australians and a Dublin selection. I expected the Australians to win that one and they did: 51 to 41. Sunday will be tougher.

Flukey

More nations in it would be nice, but then no other countries have sports that could provide teams. It can only exist because our two sports are similar. The other countries would have to have a solid grounding in one or other of the games. You could get a handful of lads that play in Gaelic Football in America, but that in effect would be only like a club team. There just isn't a big enough of a base in any other country to pick a proper panel. The Irish and Australian teams are picked from a very large pool of players. As nice as an idea that it is, there is nowhere else that there is a big enough pool of players to pick a good team from.

Imposter

Flukey wrote:

A player can run with the ball but must bounce it, though there is no solo run.

Afaik soloing OR bouncing is allowed. It must be done every 10m (in theory)

After a goal is scored, play is resumed by throwing the ball in at the middle of the pitch, like at the start of a game.

After a point, a behind or a wide the ball is kicked out fom the small square, out of the hands (I'm not sure if off the ground is allowed but I never remember anyone using it)
[/QUOTE]

signostic

According to Kev Rugg of Beaumaris, Victoria, Australia, in a letter to The Irish Independent in which states
"Sir, The International Rules Football team(Australia) has come to Ireland for the so called "Test" matches.
No fewer than 17 AFL stars pulled out of the Irish tour. They play Australian Rules. International Rules is for turkeys
Kev Rugg "
Just wondering is this the feeling down under abou the match, Why have players pulled out. Come to think of it the last competition in Aus, the crowds were mostly Irish supporters I think.

Flukey

Don't forget that there are a huge amount of Irish in Australia, a lot more proportinately than there are Australians in Ireland. Some Aussies have travelled to support the team and there will be some coming from Britain and probably a few other countries in our vicinity. The soccer match in Paris last Saturday was more like a home game for us because Irish came from all over Europe to it. As to the interest in Australia in this, there is a very big interest in it. I know some Australians that I have been in contact with in recent days and they, and many like them, are very interested in the upcoming games. Naturally players are going to pull out, but there are all sorts of reasons for that, not just a lack of interest. They have a full squad with them and like in Ireland there are lots of players that would love to be able to participate but were not selected.

Flukey

It has been decided to name the trophy for the series after Cormac McAnallen. The GAA had intended to name the medal for player of the series after him, but when told of the idea the Australians suggested the naming of the trophy after him. He was on the Irish panel that went to Australia last year.

gerire

A nice touch to name it in his honour

Am just getting ready to go no; Camera, & Rain gear, money for beer; ok im off

thejollyrodger

it doesnt look like there are too many people at Croke Park. :S I hope more supporters turn up than that. A bit disapointing tbh

Big Ears

That wasn't any sort of contest . Maybe if the Auzzie's played like they did in the third for all of the game it might have been closer , but as it stands the gap is just too big to challenge .

Maybe if Austrailia could encourage all players selected(next year) , to play next year , it might be a closer challenge .

signostic

Perhaps Kevin Rudd of Beaumaris, Victoria, Australia was correct. Its looks as if Australia brought the turkeys on tour !!!!

cournioni

That's just the Aussies and their premature excuses. They're just afraid of superior amateur players.

Flukey

I was in Croke Park today, with my camera. It was disappointing. Australia were never in it. This picture says it all! Just 3 points off our record score, and we missed a lot. Australia never got going. They did not move the ball quick enough.

One tactical error right through was the short kickouts and clearance in defence. The goalkeeper was passing the ball short to his defenders and they were soon getting caught out. Short passing in defence is a big no no in Gaelic Football and it didn't work for the Aussies today. Get the ball out quick and well down the field. Better to lose possession out there than within range of the goals.

I've always said the mark slows down the game and today Ireland kept the ball moving, as they would in Gaelic Football and the Aussies found that hard to deal with. All our best scores came from fast flowing moves, which is how it should be.



This little montage shows the final result of one such move!



We could have had others. This is the one that hit the crossbar and went over.


Next Sunday will be different. The Aussies will probably play it a bit tougher and really come at us. It is a big deficit to claw back, so if we keep our heads and keep doing what we were doing today, we should prevail.

Kevin_rc_ie

that dog on the pitch for about 8 mins was easily the funniest thing i've ever seen in sport. i thought for a while i was the only person who could see the little terrier cos no one was doing anything to get it off. abso. gas.

xern

what a legend! He wouldn't go off without a fight either!!!

Flukey

It was a good game today. One of the early stars was this guy:

Flukey

There was some good action and tackling. The Aussies didn't let us away as easily today as they did last week:

Flukey

But when it came down to it, there was only going to be one winner:

The Cormac McAnallen Trophy will stay in Ireland.


We can all look forward to it again next season, and in the meantime we have our respective competitions to look forward to. Roll on 2005.

kilkennycat2004

xern wrote:

what a legend! He wouldn't go off without a fight either!!!

The stewards weren't too bothered by the looks of things.
They have lost a lot of energy at stopping both people & canines since last year it seems. The current pitch must be on the way out

Q_Elexra

Anyone know where I can find highlights online? Or anyone have it on tape?

Someone I know in England wants to see it. Either game though prefaribly the second cause it was the closer game.

Brian017

www.afl.com.au

However you need to subscribe for an annual fee, but you also have access to highlights, interviews etc... of all the Aussie Premiership (Apr-Sept)

Psquare

Big Ears wrote:

Would anyone else love if the compromise rules was played by a couple of more countries ? I certainly would , we could get something like a 6 nations going .QUOTE]

Not so far fetched - but will take a few years. Once the GAA and AFL get this game going right in the USA a lot of the world's soccer fans (and American football and Rugby) will have their eyes opened - not all, but just a few million would have a huge effect on the awareness and popularity of Gaelic Games and Australian rules.

see ane go to story on "the future"