Ireland will have new manager for 2010 series

GAELIC GAMES:THE GAA will be appointing a new international rules manager in the new year. Seán Boylan, who took charge of Ireland during the series of 2006 and '08, will not therefore have a record third series when the internationals resume next autumn.

The four-times All-Ireland winning Meath manager would have remained in the position had this year’s series, scheduled for October, gone ahead but the AFL requested a postponement of the tests for financial reasons and the GAA reluctantly agreed, even though the matches were to have been the final curtain on the association’s 125th anniversary.

Asked when a decision was to be taken on the management for next year’s tests, GAA operations manager Feargal McGill confirmed a new appointment would be made.

“That decision has been taken. Seán has effectively been there since 2006 and we were going to re-appoint him for this year to keep the momentum going because he had done such an excellent job and then start afresh.

“That momentum was lost by the tour not going ahead and given that we felt that there would be a fair turnover of players it made sense to start a new management cycle.

“It’s a nomination traditionally made by the president and we would expect an announcement to be made around the time of next April’s congress.”

There was a great deal of disappointment in Croke Park that the series didn’t take place this year. Not alone did it leave a gap in the association’s calendar at the end of this year but it also represented a significant financial loss.

Under the terms of a new agreement between the GAA and AFL, the home association was due to keep the receipts from the series.

As the crowds and revenue are greater in Ireland than in Australia, the new arrangement would have moved the internationals from breaking even or slightly better to what McGill described as a “definite financial positive”.

Concerns that the international project might be losing appeal for the Australian side have been allayed and Croke Park expects the series to resume without further disruption on its new twice-every-three-years cycle from the autumn of 2010.

“There has been no discussion of anything except us travelling to Ireland next year,” according to Patrick Keane, the AFL’s media relations manager, who said that the new three-year cycle would not reduce interest in the series in Australia.

“In fact we generally find that the break helps our players, who have difficulties playing year on year. Our more experienced guys over the years, like Brett Harvey or Brad Johnson, never play in consecutive series because they need a year or two break.”

Keane confirmed that Mick Malthouse would continue as the Australia coach and also denied that the rule changes, which were introduced to make Ireland more competitive, had affected interest in the series in Australia.

“No. Last year we had a two-point Test and a four-point Test. Ireland won, but both Tests were decided in the last couple of minutes. I think that made for exciting contests and showed that the rule changes worked.”

Attendances in Australia have been falling over the past six years and it was the 2003 series that last saw 60,000 at a Test in Melbourne. Last year’s crowd at the second test in the re-developed MCG was 42,823, a reasonable attendance, but one that was dwarfed in the vast stadium.

“I think the challenge for us has been the timing,” says Keane. “A month after our season has ended, supporters are thinking of other things and making a way back into their consciousness can be difficult.

“Perth has drawn consistently good numbers but in Melbourne public attention switches to racing and it’s difficult to turn that around but it has to be seen in relative terms. Only 10 or 11 of our regular season AFL matches attract crowds of more than 50,000.”

According to McGill the debriefing after last year’s series revealed that Irish players were happy with the new rules and hopeful the internationals would continue.

“Among the broader populace the attitude is maybe ambivalent but I think most people are happy with the international outlet. The two things which most concern people are the violence and the possibility of it leading to our players haemorrhaging to the AFL. The disciplinary rules have addressed the first and I don’t believe that international rules contributes to recruitment.

“In fact our involvement with the AFL has helped tighten regulations. For instance the AFL exclude Irish players from the international scholarship scheme under which children as young as 15 could be scouted and signed up. We are also in talks to try to raise the minimum age of recruitment to 19, which would ensure that players complete the crucial phases of education.

“The restriction of the number of Irish players who can sign for any club was due to be finalised this October before the tour was postponed but we’ll be following that up in the near future.

“Another big challenge for us in the future will be to find a pathway back into Gaelic games for players who return from the AFL after a year or two and who want to resume their careers here.

“Although they tend to be fitter and better developed they mightn’t have kicked a round ball in a couple of years and we are looking at providing programmes to help them re-integrate with the GAA.”