After receiving an absolute drubbing at the hands of the Irish in last year’s International Rules Football series in Ireland, Australia bounced back to kick a record score for international matches tonight in Perth.
The game is a hybrid of Gaelic football and Australian football played only at the international level. If you ever get the chance to see it, don’t miss out. The skills and athleticism are stunning and it is probably the fastest field game on the planet.
Tonight’s game was particularly pleasing to me as my club contributed four players to the Australian team.
Ireland: Mickey McVeigh (Down); Sean Og O hAilipin (Cork), Graham Canty (Cork), Tomas O Se (Kerry); Ciaran McManus (Offaly), Tom Kelly (Laois), Bryan Cullen (Dublin); Ciaran McDonald (Mayo) (4), Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone) (13); Stephen O’Neill (Tyrone) (9), Benny Coulter (Down) (18), Brian Dooher (Tyrone); Owen Mulligan (Tyrone), Padraic Joyce (Galway) (capt) (1), Matty Forde (Wexford) (3).
Subs used - Michael Meehan (Galway), Brian McGuigan (Tyrone), Eoin Brosnan (Kerry) (1), Anthony Lynch (Cork), David Heaney (Mayo), Ronan Clarke (Armagh) (14), Colm Cooper (Kerry) (1), Sean Martin Lockart (Derry).
Australia: D Fletcher; L Gilbee (4) D Millburn, B Delideo; D Morris, C Newman (3), M Lappin (3); B Harvey (3), N Davis (9); L Hodge (9), C Ciaracusa (3), N Eagleton (3); A Davey (6), C Johnson (co-capt) (9) R O’Keefe (8). Subs used - A Lovett (15), R Robertson (2), K Bradley, S Grant (10), T Croad (9), K Black, A McLeod (co-capt), E Buchanan (4).
I gather you’ve never seen it, D. Strange. Isn’t it on TV in England?
The record crowd at Croke Park is the one that saw the second match in last year’s series. It’s popular in both Ireland and Australia.
It’s a surprisingly good hybrid. In their fundamentals, the games are very similar. The main differences are that Gaelic football uses a soccer ball and Aussie football a streamlined rugby ball. For obvious reasons the hybrid game has to use the soccer ball. Also the game is professional in Australia which gives our guys the edge in fitness. Further, the Australain game is a bit more … er … physical which makes it hard to determine just how much bodily contact should be allowed. (If you don’t train for heavy physical clashes they can be a bit distracting.)
It won’t replace either sport but it is certainly a very pleasant way for Aussies and Irish to get together for an annual booze up. (Our coach this year was one Kevin Sheedy.)
- beyond comprehension.
. Or am I reading more into it than you intended?