World Footy News

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland's preparations for the International Cup are in full swing, with the Green Machine taking the unorthodox step of announcing that they are aiming to field a team consisting of only around 50% players from the Irish domestic league.

The remaining fifteen in the squad of thirty are to be selected from Irish expats currently playing footy in Australia, a move which ARFLI President Ciaran O'Hara says reflects both their belief that the Warriors should contain the best Irishmen playing Australian Football wherever they are, and also the fact that a number of former ARFLI players are now playing Down Under, particularly since last year's financial crisis saw a large number of Irishmen emigrate.

With a large dose of Australian suburban and country footy experience, the Irish could be very tough to beat at the IC11, although O'Hara is expecting old rivals such as PNG, New Zealand, South Africa and Nauru to have stepped up in standard since 2008.

O'Hara says the move makes sense from the league's point of view, both onfield and also logistically. "The primary reason for this is that our league is relatively small in comparison with those in other countries, but we do have a few Irishmen playing in overseas leagues and particularly in Australia. It is not always possible for us to select our strongest team because of work and family circumstances, so it made sense for us to attempt to find every Irish player we could and afford them the same opportunity as players in our domestic competition."

"The figure of fifteen is indicative of what we think the composition of the squad may be. It could be less, it could be more. We will pick the best players available to us."

"We’ve always had a few Australian-based players in our IC squads, the big difference this year is that the economic crisis has been so harsh in Ireland and many Irishmen are emigrating to Australia. Therefore we now have more Irish players playing in Australia, many of whom used to play in our own competition."

"Our Assistant Coach Andrew Wheatley is based in Australia, and he and the Assistant Manager Paul Ryan have been trying to find all of these players so that they can have the chance to play for Ireland. Not all will be able to, it can depend on the type of jobs they have, their commitment to their own clubs etc, but the guys have been speaking to players and will be getting around to see them. Any Irishman or woman - we will be sending a womens team too - who lived in Ireland between the ages of 10 and 16 is eligible."

With the emergence of teams such as the UK-based Irish Exiles and the Vancouver Harps in Canada's BCAFL, last year saw the ARFLI set out to create a network for all expat Irishmen playing footy around the world, a move which O'Hara said has reaped positive results. "The response to our efforts last year was very good. It led to the Irish Exiles team in the UK becoming an ARFLI affiliate and gave those players a chance to represent Ireland in the European Championships and the Euro Cup."

"We also discovered Irish players in Sweden, Canada and the USA. For the most part though, it led to the discovery of 15 to 20 players in Australian local leagues. That number has now doubled because there has been a massive wave of emigration in the last few months and those players are beginning their first pre-season in Australia at the moment. Long term, we would like to see Irish Exiles teams playing occasionally in Sydney, Melbourne, the UK and perhaps a North American one too."

"We don’t have any particular alliances, but if there was one club with which we are closely bound with, it would be the UTS Bats in Sydney, which over the years has provided many national team players and which currently has 15 or more Irish players on their various rosters."

Coaching the side at the IC will be Tom Madigan, who was Assistant Coach to Roger Clarke in 2008. An ARFLI stalwart, Madigan coached the Dublin Demons before becoming Assistant Coach in 2007 and then graduating to Head Coach immediately after the 2008 IC. Since then, he has coached the team to the European Championship win last year.

Madigan's team of assistants in Ireland are Shaun Murphy, David Scott and Brian Currane, with his main Assistant Coach Andrew Wheatley currently overseeing scouting and coaching in Australia. O'Hara will be managing the team again, once again he’ll be assisted by Paul Ryan in Australia.

The ARFLI this year has a 5 Match series against an Ambassador’s selection for the Australian Embassy Plate, and will play the Great Britain Bulldogs twice, from which the Irish-based players for the IC squad will be selected.

The ARFLI are looking for sponsorship, but also expect a portion of the funds to be raised through fundraising and personal finance. "It's not an ideal situation, but it's really no different to any other competing team. Times are tough economically, but we're confident we can get the money together to get a team over," O'Hara says.

With regards to a divisional structure for the International Cup, O'Hara believes it will be a tough decision to make. "I believe many of the new sides such as Fiji and Tonga will be of a very high standard so it would be unfair to place them in a second division. For the most part I would prefer not to see mismatches, but I know from talking to friends in Finland that they felt they learned a great deal from playing us and Canada in 2008."

"The main priority should be the welfare of players. Asking players to play five high intensity games in a short period is demanding and a format needs to be agreed which bears this in mind. It’s clear that this will be the toughest Cup yet; PNG, New Zealand and South Africa will no doubt have improved again and for my money Nauru, if they have continued to develop, will be serious contenders. For us we’re not entirely sure where we’re at. We’ve lost key players like Ian O’Sullivan, Liam O’ Connor, Ciaran Keegan and Ray Colleran, so it’s a big question how this side develops in the months ahead."