Australia v Ireland: THE FIRST Test in the Toyota International Rules series didn't quite have the perfect result. A few more points' leeway for Ireland would have left tomorrow morning's second Test more finely poised.
But at least Seán Boylan's team showed enough in Perth for them to be confident about keeping the destination of the Cormac McAnallen trophy uncertain until the end.
All Australia have to do is win, as even a one-point margin would mean they as holders keep the title. Although the Australians are hot favourites to do just that it's probably significant to take issue with the readily-accepted theory during the week that AFL sides always improve in the second Test. In fact there is more evidence that travelling teams step up between the first and second weeks.
That's not surprising given the demands long-distance travel makes on players, particularly on a panel like Ireland's that wasn't fully integrated until three days before last week's Test. So far the knocks sustained in Perth don't appear to be threatening anyone's team place and Ireland are likely to be at full strength, a concept the first Test has helped to define.
Positives from a week ago were the performance of the defence, the facility with which the mark was handled and the manner in which goals made such a difference for the visitors.
Although the six-pointers or "unders" have always been seen as benefiting the GAA players, that advantage had become less and less pronounced in recent series. So for Ireland to record a 3-0 tally in the first Test was an important source of confidence to the team.
Leighton Glynn, the first goal scorer, said the team had been heavily programmed to go after the six pointers. In fact they were slightly unlucky not to score a fourth with Paddy Bradley being overhauled by Dale Thomas (although the Ireland management believed a one-handed tackle might have been an issue here, GAA referee Pat McEnaney was positive the challenge had been sound). Similar creativity and finishing would put Ireland in a strong position. As captain Seán Cavanagh puts it: "If we can get four goals, they'll need a lot of overs."
With the defence so tight - between John Keane's close marking, Finian Hanley's reading and direction of the game and the ball-consuming energy of Ciarán McKeever and Graham Canty - the basis for improvement is seen to lie elsewhere although not all of the ball out of defence was as considered as it might have been.
Ireland want a better return from David Gallagher's kick-outs. The Meath man had a great debut in goal, bringing off some great saves, unfussily claiming dropping ball and getting great length into his kick-outs. This is at odds with the short, snappy distribution favoured by other international GAA goalkeepers and runs the risk of booting away possession but there were two reasons behind it, according to Cavanagh, who cited exposure on the short kick-outs as well as the tactical evolution of the Australians as the basis for a re-think.
"It's dangerous trying to hit short kick-outs with the speed and the tackle the Australians have. If you do go short and somebody gets caught in possession they're more or less in for a goal too so it's robbing Peter to pay Paul."
Asked was it now easier to compete for high ball because of the AFL decision not to use the massive central players who were formerly a feature of their international game, Cavanagh agreed. "It certainly is. In the middle eight, man for man we're probably taller and more physical than them. In '04 I remember them having five or six big, massive guys in around midfield and we had to adopt different tactics. I think that's maybe why we're hitting it long - because we do fancy ourselves one-on-one because we are a little bit bigger and stronger than them this time."
Disappointed by the thin returns in terms of overs, disguised as they were by the three goals, selector Eoin Liston emphasised Ireland weren't engineering the type of marks in the scoring zone that the Australians managed to achieve.
It's an interesting consideration and at the heart of the puzzling inability of Ireland to kick the "overs" or points that are meant to be second nature to Gaelic footballers. The lament is as old as the series and the AFL footballers have out-kicked Ireland in terms of these scores twice as much (in 16 Tests as against eight) throughout the history of the game.
One explanation is the Australians' own game is all about setting up these marks close to goal. They are excellent at the movement into space that gives the kicker a target and the kicker is always alert for the creation of a scoring platform.
Nearly every year the AFL team fields a player who appears to be beavering away at an earnest rather than spectacular day's work but when the statistics come in, the untutored amongst us realise the player in question has processed a pile of ball.
Australia captain Brent "Boomer" Harvey was that player last week, out-performing any of the Irish front eight in his on-the-ball figures and orchestrating the wave of attacks in the second and fourth quarters that helped cut back deficits of eight and 13. Given the opportunities the home side have the firepower to make them count. Marc Murphy, a graduate of the abandoned junior series, stood out in that capacity and was second-top scorer (12) on the evening after the exceptional Cavanagh (13).
The big challenge for Ireland is going to be maintaining the excellence of the defence, the extraordinary industry of newcomers like McKeever, goal-scorer Glynn and Joe McMahon, who got on more ball than anyone in Perth, while at the same time continuing to probe for goals and improve the accuracy from long-range shooting.
Without the wind that turned the quarters in Subiaco Oval into alternating monopolies, this should be a more even match. Australia's defence needs to be more alert on the mark, which Ireland used twice to open up goal opportunities that were availed of.
Ireland should improve, but so should Australia and the suspicion here is Mick Malthouse's team will make more telling use out of that improvement.
Panels Teams to be announced
AUSTRALIA(from): Nathan Bock (Adelaide), Michael Firrito (North Melbourne), Brad Sewell (Hawthorn), Campbell Brown (Hawthorn), Ryan Crowley (Fremantle), Drew Petrie (North Melbourne), Adam Selwood (West Coast Eagles), Brent Harvey (North Melbourne; capt.), Scott Thompson (Adelaide), Scott Pendlebury (Port Adelaide), Daniel Motlop (Port Adelaide), David Rodan (Collingwood), Michael Osborne (Hawthorn), Shaun Burgoyne (Port Adelaide), Matt Campbell (North Melbourne), Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs), Jared Brennan (Brisbane), Nathan Foley (Richmond), Roger Hayden (Fremantle), Leigh Montagna (St Kilda), Marc Murphy (Carlton), Josh Hunt (Geelong), Kade Simpson (Carlton), Dale Thomas (Collingwood), Daniel Wells (North Melbourne).
IRELAND(from): David Gallagher (Meath), Aidan O'Mahony (Kerry), Finian Hanley (Galway), John Keane (Westmeath), Bryan Cullen (Dublin), Kevin Reilly (Meath), Ciarán McKeever (Armagh), Graham Canty (Cork), Colm Begley (Laois), Enda McGinley (Tyrone), Seán Cavanagh (capt.), Joe McMahon (Tyrone), Steven McDonnell (Armagh), Kieran Donaghy (Kerry), Benny Coulter (Down), Aaron Kernan (Armagh), Tom Parsons (Mayo), Michael Meehan (Galway), John Miskella (Cork), Pearse O'Neill (Cork), Paddy Bradley (Derry), Justin McMahon (Wicklow), Leighton Glynn (Wicklow), Ciarán Lyng (Wexford), Paul Finlay (Monaghan), Marty McGrath (Fermanagh), Killian Young (Kerry).
Officials- Pat McEnaney (GAA) Stephen McLarnon (AFL)
Running the rule over the Rules
• The trophy is called the Cormac McAnallen Cup after the Tyrone and Ireland player.
• The field measures 145 metres by 90 metres.
• Matches last 72 minutes, or four 18-minute quarters.
• A goal is worth six points, an over (a point in Gaelic football) is worth three and a behind (between goal post and outer post) is worth one.
• If both teams have won one match following the Tests in Perth and Melbourne, the team with the higher aggregate score is awarded the series.
• AFL umpire Stephen McLarnon and GAA referee Pat McEnaney will officiate. There will also be an independent video match referee, South African lawyer Ian Curlewis, who will record yellow- and red-card offences not spotted by the officials.
• Red cards result in a player being sent off and not replaced. Yellow cards result in sinbinning for 10 minutes.
• A tackle constitutes grabbing an opponent in possession of the football between the shoulders and thighs, using both arms. One-armed tackles are banned.
• A mark will be awarded if a player catches the ball after it has been kicked at least 15 metres.
• When running with the ball, players must bounce or touch it on the ground every 10 metres (or six steps). However, there is no limit to the number of times players can "solo", or toe-tap the ball between hand and foot, instead of bouncing.
• Shoulder charges or bumps are allowed, provided neither player is airborne and the football is no more than 5 metres away.
• Suspensions shall apply during the AFL and NFL seasons.
• Slinging, slamming or driving an opponent into the ground when executing a tackle shall be deemed gross misconduct and earn a red card.
• Inter-change players will be allowed from the panel of 24, 15 of whom will start, but changes are restricted to 10 per quarter.
• The goalkeeper is the only player permitted to take kick-outs from within the 13 metres rectangle. All other players must remain outside the 20 metres line until the ball has been kicked into play.
• Teams in possession of the football shall not be allowed to make more than four consecutive hand-passes before disposing of the ball by foot.
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