Old worries resurface as Irish players are eyed up

An old spectre reappeared at yesterday's pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow's second International Rules Test in Adelaide. Both Australian captain Nathan Buckley and coach Dermott Brereton expressed the view that Irish footballers would be perfect for Australian Rules.

"Gaelic football could be a very good recruiting ground for Australian Rules," said Buckley in answer to a question about whether Jim Stynes was unique or whether other Irish players could make the transition to Australian Rules.

"I have no doubt," added Brereton, "that both John (McDermott) and Peter (Canavan) are tailor-made for Australian Rules football and after a couple of years in the lower grades to get used to the oval ball, they'd both have made it."

The Ireland captain and vice-captain were both present at the conference and whereas Canavan had earlier expressed reservations about the tackle which he felt militated against smaller players like himself, McDermott wasn't at all dismissive of the notion of playing in Australia.

Relating to a slightly sceptical, if amused, media audience that Meath had played with an oval ball - brought home from the under-17 tour in April by Trevor Giles - in training prior to the All-Ireland final, the Ireland captain also had this to say about taking up the professional game.

"It would be a big move I suppose and I think people would be aware of the risk of failure, of coming out for three or four years and maybe not doing so well. I never got an offer, but I think most guys have considered it at some stage. But there is that risk."

The prospect of the best young - to say nothing of established - footballers in Ireland trooping off to the Antipodes was one of the most frequently aired arguments in opposition to the International Rules links with Australia and its resurrection may cause some uneasiness in Croke Park.

The recruitment of minors stopped a long time ago when the Australian clubs abandoned their under-19 teams and so had no outlet for inexperienced youngsters.

Assuming the senior international series will be a fixture for the medium-term future, the AFL clubs will become increasingly familiar with some of the best talent in the GAA and may at some stage feel it worthwhile to take a chance on some player acclimatising to the oval ball sufficiently quickly to justify a professional contract.

Although he strenuously denied a newspaper report which implied that he wasn't that pushed about the outcome of the series - "show me the article and I'll give the writer a bit of a clip" - Brereton acknowledged that he would be happy to square the Tests, regardless of the aggregate outcome.

"If we can get a one-point win and come away one-each, I'll be happy. Getting an eight-point win won't come into the equation, but I'm confident. We need to address some areas, but we'll keep them to ourselves. They pertain to three or four players."

Questioned about whether he regretted his team's concentration on trying to assert their physical advantage in the early stages of the first Test during which Ireland built a 17-point lead, Brereton denied the substance of the query.

"Actually, we didn't do that. All we wanted to do was restrict the ball carrier. The last thing we want to do is revisit something that happened in 1984. All we want to do is to play within the rules which include tackling. I thought Ireland responded well to the tackling. They tackled well and broke tackles well."

The other main interest among Australian media at the press conference was the views of their captain and vice-captain on the State of Origin series - roughly the equivalent of the Railway Cup and which renders the Australian public and players similarly agog with indifference.

Both Buckley and Shane Crawford admitted after some humming and hawing that they would prefer to compete at international level against Ireland rather than at State of Origin level.

A couple of ambiguities concerning Friday night's Test were cleared up at the conference. Should the aggregate score end up level (if Australia win by eight points), Ireland will retain the trophy as holders. There will be no extra time.

Secondly the match officials, Mick Curley from Galway and his Australian counterpart Andrew Coates, will wear red jerseys to prevent the confusion which arose in the first Test when the umpires' white outfits clashed with Ireland's.

Australian coach Brereton raised the matter at yesterday's press conference only to be informed that the matter had already been attended to.

"Marcus Ashcroft was looking to pass the ball to Trent Croad but thought he was marked because he saw the umpire and thought it was an Irish jersey," said Brereton.

"I asked about the same thing after the first quarter," replied Colm O'Rourke. "If I knew you thought it was a disadvantage, I wouldn't have asked."

Meanwhile there is no change in relation to injuries in either camp. Both Sean de Paor and Ciaran O'Sullivan remain doubtful for Ireland but Australian trio Crawford, Ben Cousins and Jason Akermanis are all expected to recover from knocks.

Last week, reference was made to Adelaide not being "a major Rules city". The intention was to highlight private reservations within the GAA about leaving Melbourne for the second Test but the assertion was groundless. Both the media and public interest since the team arrived, plus the presence of two well-supported AFL teams actually makes Adelaide the biggest Rules city outside of Melbourne. Apologies to those who were either affronted or misinformed.