Australians suggest taking Rules series to New York

Australia must contend without Nat Fyfe, one of their game's biggest names, for the Saturday's International Rules test in Perth after he picked up an injury in a practice match today. Although the team won easily, 86-7, Fyfe injured himself and will play no part in the weekend's match.

The practice match was against a New South Wales GAA selection and in the closing stages the Fremantle midfielder, who was expected to play a key role in what would have been his first test, fell awkwardly and hurt his shoulder. His club announced that the injury wasn't serious but that as a precaution he wouldn't play on Saturday.

It’s disappointing

Fyfe is coming off a terrific season at the end of which suspension prevented him from winning the coveted Brownlow Medal for the best and fairest player in the AFL.

“I dived for a mark and simply landed the wrong way and it didn’t feel right,” he told the AFL website. “I’ve loved the experience over the last few days and meeting players from across the competition and it’s incredibly disappointing to miss out.”

The big win left Australia assistant coach Ross Lyon pleased with the run in which Port Adelaide's Chad Wingard, the youngest player on the AFL panel, starred. Fast and elusive he scored three goals and provided a number of scoring assists.

Wingard’s club captain Travis Boak said yesterday that the Australians would be playing a disciplined game in Saturday’s test.

“Any game you go into, there’s always a few niggles here and there but we’re going out to win the game,” he said. “We’ll play it hard but fair at the same time. And we’ll have our structures in place and I’m sure they will as well. At times it might get a little bit heated, but for us we’re going out there to play. We want to play and win the game.”

A busy couple of days for developments in the series included a suggestion by the AFL football operations manager that if this weekend goes well New York could be added as a venue and he undertook to raise the matter with the GAA in this week’s discussions on the series’ future.

“If this (match) is successful and our players and our staff across the league are prepared to commit to it, then we’d like to make it a showcase event,” according to Evans. The timeframe might be every second year, every third year or every year if there’s enough support.

"We think there's an opportunity to take the game to the United States, maybe play in Central Park in New York, on our way towards Ireland. We'll talk to the Irish during their time in Australia."

Disrespectful to the opportunity

Further good vibes came the series’ way with remarks by newly announced Australia captain Joel Selwood to the effect that he had changed his mind about the value of the series.

“There was a lot of us that were non-believers at the start that didn’t think the series could get to where it is right now,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we haven’t taken it seriously in the past but I would say it’s the best group of players that we’ve been able to put together for a long time.

“The players have been a little bit disrespectful to the opportunity of representing your country so we’re really proud as a group to get together and making sure we can put a great show.”

Doping controversy

Finally, the Essendon supplements row rumbles on here after it emerged that two of the club's players, captain and 2012 Brownlow winner Jobe Watson as well as 39-year old Dustin Fletcher, who is likely to be the Australian goalkeeper, have been allowed remain with the panel despite facing investigation.

Under ASADA (Australia Sports Anti-Doping Agency) protocols the two players should have been suspended pending the hearings.

One of the Rules’ game’s most eminent columnists Caroline Wilson, writing in yesterday’s Age in Melbourne, said: “In a sense, the AFL would have been damned either way but now it has cast a shadow over the International Rules event which appeared finally to have so much going for it.

“A genuine class line-up, 35,000 seats sold and the backing of some of the game’s best coaches and officials. Now it unfairly has become the subject of negative scrutiny.”