World Footy News

Ireland's GAA is talking tough in the lead up to negotiations to restart the International Rules series between Australia and Ireland. All the indications are that the Irish want major rule changes and won't proceed without them.

As reported in the Irish Independent:

GAA President Nicky Brennan has revealed that efforts are underway to revive the International Rules series with Australia, just months after it was shelved. The Irish management team, led by Seán Boylan, met recently to draw up a number of issues which they feel need to be addressed if the series is to have a future. And Brennan said that further feedback had been received from the players involved in the controversial Autumn series with the Australians.

The Irish Independent quotes the GAA president as saying: "This report will help us prepare some material to send off to the Australians. We are looking at the end of May, after Congress when this will happen....Assuming that gets a fairly reasonable reception, we can go off and meet them in June or July,...I think the Australians realise that if the series is to continue then there will have to be some changes in the rules. We will not be going in putting a gun to anyone's head but there are clearly some issues which will have to be prerequisites."

However such meetings are likely to see some tough negotiating, judging by quotes from the GAA's Director-General, Liam Mulvihill, on the BBC website who said the attitude of the Australian Football League would be "critical", the current rules were "loaded in Australia's favour" and that the Australian coaching staff "tend to lose the run of themselves" when the pressure is on such as in last year's Second Test.

A recent report on the Irish national broadcaster website, RTE also confirms the Irish to be in a tough negotiating mood for rule changes, again quoting Mulvihill.

It has been reported in the past that the vast majority of players in these series want them to continue, no more so than the Kerryman Sydney Swan, Tadhg Kennelly. Kennelly has pleaded for the AFL and GAA to work on getting the rules "right" rather than abandon the series - see Setanta website.

Editor: It looks like the GAA will play hard ball on the rules, which would almost certainly swing things Ireland's way. Given many Australians already feel the game is weighted heavily towards the Irish, the AFL may well be in a no win situation and will be choosing between abandoning the series (playing hard ball themselves) or risk the game becoming even further removed from Australian Football. Or will the AFL call what could be a GAA bluff and the series resume perhaps with independent umpires and tougher enforcement of the existing rules? It is interesting to note that GAA's Director-General Liam Mulvihillis is reported to have claimed that "the only different element the Australian Rules players have to cope with is the round ball". If true, this remarkable view completely dismisses the reduction in tackling, the two-men in the middle rule for re-starts, the soccer-style use of goals and a goalkeeper, a very different sized field and of course understates the significance of a totally different shaped ball. Perhaps the AFL could volunteer to remove tackling altogether in exchange for using a traditional Aussie Rules ball - although tackling is a major issue for the Irish, one suspects the GAA squad wouldn't come within 100 points of the Australians if an Australian footy was used. The debate seems to have drifted rapidly from a compromise situation and will require one side to make major concessions to continue.