Passion needed to bridge gap

INTERNATIONAL RULES GAME:The seven-point deficit can be brought back, but Ireland must find some fire and spirit

ANTHONY TOHILL will be disappointed with his players for failing to produce the fundamental tool required for Ireland to be successful in the International Rules series.

The fire and spirit so necessary to overcome the professional Australians was simply not evident on Saturday night.

That must come from within the team and I would expect a response from experienced leaders like Stevie McDonnell and Tadhg Kennelly for the second Test in Croke Park.

Not to be criticising Tadhg or Tommy Walsh but they need to carry a Gaelic football around with them wherever they go this week. Even to bed! They must quickly refamiliarise themselves with what has become an alien object.

Kerry men needing to improve their skills with a round ball, there is a lot to be done in the coming days. What Tohill needs is three good pitch sessions.

Sure, the Aussies will benefit greatly from another week together on tour but I feel Ireland are the team that can do most of the improving.

Never mind the need to fly out of the traps against the Australians, who should have been uncertain of their surroundings, but the tactics employed were flawed.

It wasn’t until Bernard Brogan’s late strike that Ireland even had a sight of goal. That goal may prove crucial to the series, seven points is nothing to pull back, but the movement before Brogan cut loose was an example of how to break down this structured Australian defence.

This sounds simplistic, but Ireland must start playing more Gaelic football with or without possession. That means ignoring the pause off a mark as it only allows the opposition to funnel back and regroup.

Quicker deliveries into Daniel Goulding, McDonnell and Brogan must occur. The dropping balls into such brilliant forwards is wasted against the bigger Australians who thrive in aerial battles. It is meat and drink to them.

There is no Kieran Donaghy in there to reap the benefits from high balls. Walsh or Donegal’s Michael Murphy were potential options to use inside but that never materialised. This approach must be shelved.

We have some brave runners (Wicklow’s Leighton Glynn and Carlow’s Brendan Murphy impressed, we don’t see enough of these quality footballers in the summer months) so the key objective should be to run hard and up the tempo of each attack.

That’s where the six pointers will come from and at least five chances need to be created if the series is to be turned around. Create five or six goal opportunities and take three of them. Brogan, Goulding and McDonnell must be given the correct type of ball. Do that and they will deliver.

In defence, again, the players must go back to what they know. Australia wasted no time in closing down Irish players on the ball while they seemed to have more time to look up and pick out a pass. They have to be pressurised into mistakes and blocked down. A Gaelic football block.

A word of praise for Mick Malthouse. Clearly, and encouragingly, the tourists came to play “footie” first and foremost. That may still be a mirage.

Australian teams, in my experience, don’t resort to roughing us up unless they are being beaten well on the scoreboard. They use the physicality as a means to an end. They target our key players. That hasn’t happened yet.

However, they now know who our key players are. The confrontational stuff was not needed in Limerick because they were so dominant.

They look so comfortable on the ball with their handling and fist passing way ahead of ours. Worryingly, even their foot passing was better.

This can change.

Tadhg and Tommy must become Kerry footballers again. Marty Clarke may benefit from moving closer to goal. Colm Begley clearly has the ability but we need to see more from him. We need to see more from everybody.

Stephen Cluxton really caught the eye as he took responsibility by overlapping his defenders and providing another outlet to initiate attacks. His distribution was excellent.

The Aussies’ superior fitness and power stood to them but they were afforded too much respect. We hung off them and they must be faulted for being too casual in the third quarter when they could have closed matters out.

They probably didn’t expect the late revival from us. They presumed the amateurs would be spent. They won’t make the same mistake twice.

Ireland must get the ball away quicker in the tackle and no hospital passes either. This is about work-rate. That means more lateral running from the inside forwards to drag and confuse their markers. Do that and suddenly this sport will become alien to the visitors.

Also, players need to be withdrawn as soon as they tire.

These are all little things that Tohill and his management will identify and fix.

The priority must be to improve the tempo. I hope Tohill gets the pitch sessions he clearly needs. If so, Ireland will definitely improve. Our game is a couple of gears behind Australia. On a positive note, seven points is a fortunate deficit.

We need to run at them and take what comes back at us, otherwise the series will be over before the third quarter next Saturday. More passion is needed.