Hybrid game looks to a bright future

Sometimes you don't see the wood for the trees. This I gleaned from a friend who has spent a lot more time than I have in the Southern Hemisphere but whose grim task has been to chronicle the serial skelpings handed out to the national rugby team.

He mentioned that because of this he was fairly affected by the manner in which the International Rules team took on their professional Australian opponents, dug in to beat them in front of their large crowds and celebrated with abandon in the dressing-room.

For the press corps following a tour, the elation of being a supporter can never be re-captured. No one complains about the work (well, we do, but it's hardly wise to say so), but it certainly rules out any possibility of becoming one of the party. In many ways this distance is healthy, but sometimes it can distort as well as provide perspective.

Viewed after a couple of days, the achievement of the Irish team stands out as indeed impressive. The team was well prepared by a management which learned from the first Test to the second and calibrated the performance to peak in the final quarter when, remarkably, the professional footballers were coming up short.

Although it was impossible not to feel sorry for the Australians, there are grounds for believing that the results of the two Tests have been good for the future of the series. Salvaging a draw in the second Test was sufficient reward, even though with better finishing they would have won both Tests.

There is much to admire in the Australians' attitude towards the international game. This year they have been very gracious about the disadvantages under which they labour with the round ball, and accepted that Ireland, too, make concessions. Yet there is still a slight reluctance to engage fully with the series.

In a spectacular vote with their feet, the Australian public have indicated a great interest in the whole idea. To cater for that, the AFL have to take the whole thing a bit more seriously. In administrative terms, the tour has been a resounding success, but the team selection policy continues to hamstring the team coach.

By confining selection to the All-Australian award winners, and taking into account the specific demands of the game only when rounding up replacements, the AFL restrict themselves on two fronts.

For a start, they have no more guarantee of their best International Rules line-up than the GAA would if they simply empanelled the previous year's All Stars. Secondly, the turnover of players means that large numbers need to acclimatise to the round ball every year and that teamwork also suffers from the disruption.

By seeing how hard the game is and sampling a couple of narrow defeats, the Australians - it is to be hoped - will let their instincts assert themselves and set about addressing the competitiveness deficit. When they do, the game will move onto a new level.

Already it is a marvellous spectacle. It's not unusual to meet people who believe International Rules superior entertainment to either of what might loosely be termed its constituent codes.

Yet afterwards AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson seemed quite low-key about the success of the venture. Asked would the longterm future of the series be annual or biennial, he cautioned that the four-year inaugural cycle (which is now halfway through) should be completed before drawing any hard-and-fast conclusions.

Maybe caution is appropriate, but the public interest evident in the last couple of weeks would seem to indicate that there will be at least two further series in Australia.

Of course the GAA have their part to play. The calendar of domestic events this year could have clashed disastrously with the tour had the All-Ireland football final ended in a draw. This has to be addressed - maybe even by bringing the All-Irelands forward; hurling would hardly complain at a final staged in August.

It was also curious that neither president Joe McDonagh nor director-general Liam Mulvihill were present at the second Test. Whatever the reasons, Croke Park will need to look lively next year to come close to emulating the sort of crowds the AFL succeeded in generating.

There are a number of things the GAA can learn from the experience. One is a broader world view. At this remove the whole Graham Geraghty episode is even harder to understand. There has been much muttering about the controversy to the effect that concern about racism is some sort of political correctness gone mad, or ivory-tower liberalism.

Of course, the use of political correctness as a sneering term of abuse is more often than not simply a boorish rejection of courtesy and good manners. Furthermore, the notion that distaste for racial abuse is something of an academic parlour-game will resonate unconvincingly in halting-sites and refugee hostels back home in the land of 100,000 welcomes.

The GAA in general, as well as everyone else, has to acknowledge that racial offensiveness doesn't always come neatly packaged in pointy white hats. A society has far more work to do to draw the line at thoughtlessly casual insults. Thankfully, the association's management committee did so.

On the field, it is becoming increasingly evident that Gaelic football will have to introduce a physical tackle in some shape or form.

Finally, the atmosphere at floodlit matches is something splendid. The GAA have planning permission difficulties concerning the lighting of Croke Park, but if they were overcome, the spin-off would be enormous for events like the international series. It also underlines the potential for evening matches within the GAA.

All in all, the GAA can be happy with their commitment in originally recognising the importance of the international dimension. Fittingly, this dimension can now help the association evolve into the new century.

The Irish International Rules team easily defeated a New South Wales GAA selection at Wagener Oval in Sydney yesterday. Mayo's James Horan with 2-1 was top scorer in the 6-9 to 2-10 victory.

IRELAND 6-9 J Horan (Mayo) 2-1; J Kavanagh (Cork) 1-1; G Ryan (Kildare), A Tohill (Derry), C Whelan (Dublin) 1-0 each; D Dolan (Westmeath) 0-3; G Geraghty (Meath) 0-2; P Canavan (0-2, one free). NSW 2-10 (S Manley 0-4; J Nallen og 1-0; M O'Shea 1-0; K Buckley, B McMenamin 0-2 each; T Harney, T Naughton 01 each).