International Rules Football (Compromise Rules Football)

[O'Rothlain]

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I have the availabilty to purchase this series this year on ppv (Setanta Sports on DirecTV chanel 615 if you are also in the US). I've never seen it before and am going to watch it with my father-in-law who grew up playing gaelic football. I don't want to seem like a complete knowledgeless twat, so anyone have any great and/or interesting insite on these matches?

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[An Tarbh]

Well there's been a few changes made for this series. Each quarter has been reduced from 20 minutes to 17:30, if a player is sent off no replacement will be allowed and a yellow card will result in 15 minutes in the sin bin.

Some of them seem a bit strange to me, don't know why the time has been reduced, fitness was only really a problem for Ireland in the first few series since the 98 resumption, unless it has something to do with the brainless decision to play the series in November after the hour has changed with the second test in Croke Park which still has no floodlights.

The Red card one is a no brainer, how that wasn't in place already is beyond me, while the 15 min sin bin seems a bit excessive, especially when it's 10 minutes for an 80 minute game in rugby.

Rules are fairly simple though, 6 points for a goal, 3 for an over and 1 point for a wide. Not much else on top of that, there's 2 refs, 1 from each organisation, just hope the Aussies don't send the same clown who was in charge last year, not making excuses for us we were shite, but how he let some of those closeline tackles go was a bit strange to say the least.

The Series are currently tied at 6-6 so an added incentive for both teams to win the McAnallen Cup.

 

[O'Rothlain]

So last year was a big brawl from what I've been told...what happend?

 

[An Tarbh]

The Aussie ref seemed to let some of the tackling go so the Aussies obviously thought they could get away with a bit more, descended into a bit of a joke really, yeah there were some good hard tackles and our players were too crap to avoid them but some of them were too far, and we took exception especially with the Aussie skipper. What was strange was that the Aussies didn't need to be so agressive, it was the first series where they actually played the better football, their shooting put us to shame, will be interesting to see whether Seán Boylan can sort that out this time round, don't think he'll be afraid to have the team stand up to any agro either.

 

[O'Rothlain]

I'm excited to watch it. Whenever my Fatherinlaw is in the US we've watched some GAA, and he's had to explain it to me. They're from Belfast, and he grew up with it, so it's nice to be able to relate and enjoy somethng like this with him.

 

[The TRUTH]

The Chris Johnson closeliner last year was disgraceful but the Irish were hardly the innocent ones for most of the match, they(the irish) were dishing out plenty of cheap shots early in the game last year but when confronted..... well.... lets just say the didn't exactly stand up for themselves .

I really hope the Irish guys bring there balls with them this year because it really was embarrassing to see a little **** like Andy Lovett putting Irish guys flat on there arse.Half the guys in the Aussie team last year like Lovett,Davey etc. sleep with the light on when it comes to your regular game of AFL but leapt at the opportunity to lay into a few GAA players who's initial reaction to confrontation is to duck and cover like were rehearsing for a nuclear attack.

Jim Stynes (the greatest Irishman to play in the AFL) was furious with some of the Irish players for cowering away after they had started a fight.

Anyway, unlike alot of AFL fans i love the IR series, even if it is completely foriegn to our game... it's the only chance for players from both codes to represent there country and it works as a fix for people like me who are suffering from withdrawals now that the AFL season has come to an end.

Also, with crowd figures averaging 50k per match over the history of the series theres definately enough interest in the game to ensure the series continues for many years to come.

So last year was a big brawl from what I've been told...what happend?[/b]

Here's a video of some of the biff from the last test (it's a real pisser :lol: )

Last years biff

A couple of Hilarious moment in that clip, watch closely for some of the Irish guys reactions :cheers: GOLD!!!

 

[An Tarbh]

Truly embarrassing stuff there, hopefully Boylan will put things right on that score.

 

[The TRUTH]

The worst thing about it is that the Irish are renowned for there toughness.

All the Irish guys i've known have been tough nuts and i'm sure if you walked into any bar in Dublin or Belfast you would find plenty of guys that would never take a backward step in a fight.

I would blame the coach for picking players who were clearly not up to it both physically and mentaly. From what i've heard, Boylan is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that this years team is more than up to it on both counts.

Hopefully he'll pick Kennelly and O'Halpin for this years series. Sentanta has slowly devolped into a decent player this year and he looks like he might be a good player in the future with more experiance.... he's definately a great athlete for guy his height. Kennelly has played plenty of finals footy in the last few years so he'll add a bit of toughness to this years team.

No word on the Aussie team yet, i thought it was being announced earlier today (yesterday my time) but i cant find any news on it. No doubt Sheedy will opt for the same selection policy of small quick players again which worked wonders last year.

One thing i do know is that Aaron Davey and Nathan Brown will not be involved in this years series due to injury and Danyle Pearce( the AFL rookie of the year) is almost certain to be included in the squad - Pearce is a small ,quick and very skillful young indigenous player that should suit this game perfectly.

This years series should be great, i cant wait, bring it on :cheers:

 

[An Tarbh]

Kennelly was certainly a loss to us last year, his confidence after winning the grand final last year would definitely have lifted the squad. Even though he missed out this year his presence should be a major boost to us.

Not so sure about O'hAilpín, presumably you're talking about Setanta here and not Seán Ã"g, Setanta was so poor 2 years ago that he didn't even make the match squad whereas Seán Ã"g was a revelation for us. Has Setanta had much game time in the AFL this year and if so how good a prospect has he looked?

 

[The TRUTH]

Not so sure about O'hAilpín, presumably you're talking about Setanta here and not Seán Ã"g, Setanta was so poor 2 years ago that he didn't even make the match squad whereas Seán Ã"g was a revelation for us. Has Setanta had much game time in the AFL this year and if so how good a prospect has he looked?
[/b]

He played 11 out of 22 games for Carlton this year.

At the start of the year he looked very awkward and ungainly and really struggled to find the footy... BUT when i saw him towards the end of the year he had improved a great deal and looked quite impressive running with the ball at full flight.

He's yet to really impose himself on a game of footy but that will come in time, he's still new to the game.

As i said before, he's a great athlete and super quick for a guy his height. I think he'll be very handy player for Carlton next year (god knows they need it) and it looked like he had already cemented a place in the blues best 22 towards the end of this season so id expect him to play every game should he stay injury free.

I'd pick him if i was the Irish coach.

Oh and Sean Og is a top bloke, i watched an interview with him early this year(or late last year) where he spoke alot of sense about last years IR series....... and the guy flew out to Australia and did a tough pre-season with Carlton just so his brothers didn't feel home sick - classy guy.

 

[An Tarbh]

He'll probably make it then if he's had that much game time and it should work in his favour that he has a point to prove after the hype about him 2 years ago.

Good move by Boylan taking the squad to France, nice to see us getting some good time together before the series, hopefully there won't be any pullouts to play in club matches.

 

[The TRUTH]

Ok Aussie team was named today....

Chance Bateman (Hawthorn)

Little Thug

Campbell Brown (Hawthorn)

This years Chris Johnson, just like Bateman he's a thug.

Ryan Crowley (Fremantle)

quick and tough - love the way he goes about his footy.

Aaron Davey (Melbourne)

IMO The best player in the squad,perfectly suited to this game.Thought he was out having surgery... glad he's not.

Nick Davis (Sydney)

part of last years team,stuggled to get a game with Sydney this year but from what i remember he was pretty good at this game last year.

Sam Fisher (St Kilda) <_< same as Goddard

Dustin Fletcher (Essendon)(GK)

Did well in goal last year.

Lindsay Gilbee (Western Bulldogs)

In last years team - one of the best halfback flankers in the league.

Brendon Goddard (St Kilda) <_< Tall midfielder - not too sure how he'll go in this syle of game.

Barry Hall (Sydney)

Did well a few years ago - very athletic for a man his size.

Graham Johncock (Adelaide)

perfectly suited for IR

Matthew Lappin (Carlton) <_< he was great last year but he's getting on a bit in age.

James McDonald (Melbourne) <_< decent young kid

David Mundy (Fremantle) <_< had a good year for Freo, should be a fairly decent player

Ryan O’Keefe (Sydney)

Part of last years team - This year has devolped into one of the best mid sized forwards in the league.

Danyle Pearce (Port Adelaide)

Rookie of the year - in the Davey mould, quick and skillful.

Brett Peake (Fremantle)

similar to Pearce

Andrew Raines (Richmond)

second in the rookie of the year award, hard runner and pretty tough for a young kid.

Nick Riewoldt (St Kilda) <_< Superstar in the AFL but i dont think he's really suited to this game.

Adam Schneider (Sydney)

played well last year.

Adam Selwood (West Coast) <_< Had a great year for us but is usually used as a tagger

Justin Sherman (Brisbane Lions) <_< haven't seen much of this kid but i know he's pretty quick

Kade Simpson (Carlton)

should be good

Brent Stanton (Essendon) <_< same as McDonald

I guess the best way to describe this team is that is a squad consisting of mainly non key-position fringe players with a few genuine All-Australian quality players like Hall,Riewoldt,Gilbee,O'Keefe,Johncock and Davey.Much taller than last years team but just as young with atleast 18 of these guys under the age of 24.

Sheedy said the team has been selected from players who nominated themselves so i guess this is the best possible team he could pick from the players available. Not the best way to select a team if you ask me, but with most players on end of season trips or under going surgery in the off season it's understandable.

Any news on the Irish team???

 

[An Tarbh]

No news yet, there was a preliminary squad named in August but it didn't include players from 6 counties which were still involved in the championship and it's safe to say there'll be a fair amount of those teams players to come in.

They do this every year, naming the prelim squad, don't see the point myself, just gives so many players a false hope.

The squad was supposed to be anounced early this week but it's already Tuesday and no word yet. The squad will leave for France on Friday so any anouncement should be fairly forthcoming.

 

[The TRUTH]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>THE GOOCH!![/b] on us this year





Shame O'hailpin missed out... but im glad to see Begley in the squad.

So whats your thoughts on the team An Tarbh??..... besides the usual suspects (Dolan,Kennelly and Cavanagh) who are the players to look out for this year??

 

[An Tarbh]

I'm surprised at that alright, didn't think Boylan would screw it up so badly. There's several players not there that I'd like to see but don't know whether they're injured.

I don't really understand not picking Cooper, he's the best footballer in the country and has been able to handle himself against defenders twice his size, has the advantage of being both footed as well, don't think we can afford not to have him there.

Whelan hasn't put himself forward for selection in recent years so I'm surprised if he's been omitted this year, has had a great season as well and is ideally suited to this game. Probably his anti-Dublin bias kicking in, although the same would apply to Darragh O'Sé, he's had a great season again and the same applies to him about this format, Boylan must have some different game plan in mind, Cullen would have been a great asset as he would have linked well between forwards and backs in this format, probably one of the smartest players around.

Star player should be Donaghy, strong in the air and should set up a lot of scores for us. Stephen McDonnell has been quiet this year so he might just come good and have a good series, again comfortable off both feet and strong in the air. Coulter and Kavanagh have never let us down in this series so I'd expect both of them to continue that this year.

Doesn't look a great squad overall, too many players I've never heard of, so it's definitely a case of wait and see what happens in Galway.

 

[The TRUTH]

Whats the story with Galway?

A couple of Irish guys i know have told me to expect an ugly match at this ground.

They say the ground is situated next to a bay(?) and the gail force winds and torrential rain will cause havoc with the round ball.

Is this true?




Aussie team update:

OUT: Nick Riewoldt (injured)

IN: Brendan Fevola and Michael Voss

 

[An Tarbh]

It's possible alright but as far as I remember we've only had one match in Ireland where it's rained, but the series are a good bit later this year so chances are the weather could be worse, shouldn't make much difference though

 

[O'Rothlain]

Okay, so the first match takes place this weekend! What are your takes?

 

[The TRUTH]

Okay, so the first match takes place this weekend! What are your takes?
[/b]

Aussies will win by 100+

Barry Hall to kill McGeeney (literally):bleh!:



Nah, no-one really knows what to expect from either team - alot of new faces.

My heart says the Aussies will win but my head hasn't a clue.

 

[O'Rothlain]

Tommorow! I'm ready...I have it ordered on PPV. My father in law is coming over, and there will be pizza. Good times.

Go Ireland!