World Footy News

It may not be Aussie rules, but wherever Gaelic footy grows it seems to benefit interest and player numbers in Aussie footy. One just has to look at Tadhg Kennelly and Jim Stynes as champion Aussie rules stars who played only Gaelic football til the end of their schooldays.

Ireland more than perhaps any other country will have the highest ratio of native viewers for this year's Grand Final - see Sydney supported far and wide. Also the relative success of the Irish Aussie rules team in the Australian Football International Cup despite having fewer teams back home in the ARFLI than most other nations, testifies that it is easiest to make the switch to Aussie rules after learning the skills of Gaelic football than from soccer or rugby.

As a game with a round ball, less body contact and played on a rectangular field, Gaelic footy has the potential for more rapid spread in places like Asia, especially with the 7's version that fits neatly onto a soccer pitch. With basketball and soccer the main games in Asia, Gaelic footy could be seen as neatly combining the two - they may be better to market it that way rather than as a mix of rugby and soccer.

With that in mind it is fascinating that on the eve of the All Ireland Football Final, the feature story on the official GAA website is not about Tyrone v Kerry but about Gaelic football's growth in Asia - see here.

Asian Gaelic football may still be small in the massive continent but its growth trajectory, if sustained, should ultimately help Aussie rules too. There are already healthy links between Aussie footy clubs and Gaelic clubs in Asia as previously reported on WFN last year.

What is most interesting about the story on www.gaa.ie is to see Irish business and govt so actively pushing Gaelic Games in Asia. Clearly they see Ireland's traditional indigenous sports as a way to raise the profile of Ireland for trade and tourism in the engine room of the world economy.

It seems, some would say a bit belatedly, that it is also now the case with Australian business and government - at least in the case of Western Australia - see Western Australia to target development for Indian Ocean region?.

In this vein the Sydney Swans as premiers going to LA with business leaders invited to accompany them is another positive development along the lines of cooperation between sport, government and business.