World Footy News

The first major International Rules event ever to be scheduled in Sydney will be played on Saturday 18 October, followed by the first major Gaelic Football event on Sunday November 2.

The matches will be played at Henson Park, a stadium located in Marrickville, a suburb of inner-western Sydney. Henson Park is the home of the Newtown Jets rugby league club and Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic soccer club. It is also a finals venue for the Sydney AFL has grandstand and seating capacity of 1,000 with a total capacity of about 30,000.

The first match will be played in International Rules (the compromise between Aussie Rules and Gaelic Football) between the mostly amateur Sydney AFL and the amateur NSW Gaelic Athletics Association (NSWGAA).

The NSWGAA are the current Australian national senior champions, having won the national titles in 2007. The Sydney AFL, coached by Danny Ryan are just coming off a historic match against the Victorian amateur representative side from the strong Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). The match between the two Australian amateur sides, also played at Henson Park was the first time the VAFA and Sydney AFL have played since 1938. The Sydneysiders shocked many by taking it right up to the Victorian side, losing by less than a goal with a scoreline of 86-81. More impressive in the close result was the fact that the touring Victorian side was stacked with ex-professional AFL footballers.

So the stage is set for an epic showdown between Sydney's finest Aussie Rules and Gaelic Football players.

A second match, in Gaelic Football, will be played between the NSWGAA (current Australian national senior champions) and the visiting amateur Irish International Rules team in what promises to be one of the biggest gaelic football fixtures ever played in Australia. The Irish team will later go on to take on Australia's best professional players from the Australian Football League (AFL).

Officials of both codes hope that the matches might lift the profile in Sydney of both Australian rules football (which has been struggling in recent times) and Gaelic football. The AFL had considered Sydney as a possible venue for the senior International Rules Series, but elected for Melbourne and Perth instead. There was a proposal for the Western Sydney AFL expansion side to be under a "Celtic" brand (as reported recently by WFN in the article AFL to launch "Sydney Celtics" to develop Irish talent?). Indeed two players in the Irish Aussie Rules team which competed in the recent AFL International Cup are currently playing in the First Division Sydney AFL competition.

Although it hasn't been officially announced, entry for the event is likely to be free, and with no major rugby league, rugby union or soccer matches scheduled for those days anything but a big turnout would have to be a disappointment for the organisers. The event will be a great litmus test for the popularity of both codes in Sydney.

Ed. I don't think the turnout to an amateur event would be considered a great indication in general of the popularity of Aussie Rules at AFL level in NSW. More likely it will give an indication of whether the Irish population in Sydney can be motivated to get out to Gaelic football and International Rules, if indeed they are aware it is on.