Two-year cycle may suit best

International Rules Countdown to first Test: There is speculation that the International Rules series might have to revert to a two-year rather than annual cycle when major negotiations take place next year on the expiry of important commercial contracts connected with the series.

Commenting on suggestions that the current annual round of trips across the globe will be difficult to sustain in the long term, GAA Commercial Manager Dermot Power acknowledged that concerns in Australia might lead to a cutback.

"I was interested to see speculation in the Australian press that the tour might go to alternate years," he said. "Everything like that that will be up for discussion. The idea is that it might extend the life cycle of the concept. I suspect it's coming from an AFL player availability perspective. If you have this every second year it might improve the chances of getting out the best players."

Although there is agreement that the series will continue on until the next decade, Power says that there will be a natural review point when all of the main commercial contracts conclude next year.

"The next cycle is after 2006 when all the existing contracts are pretty well up and you can literally start from scratch with television contracts as well as other things. For instance you might look at having the same sponsor for the series home and away or the model of having a number of sponsors."

Television deals differ between the countries with the Australian series included in the AFL's overall rights contract whereas in Ireland internationals are kept separate from the main RTÉ contract.

"It was a tag-on to their major television contract here and that should change in the future. It's not the case at home where we have a separate deal with RTÉ for the series. We're suggesting that they do the same. Television is the huge income stream in Australia and we hope that this might become a separate deal in the future."

Power said that because of the more straightforward logistics of the series held in Ireland the GAA were in a better position to maximise the public exposure.

"We probably work harder on creating the event in Ireland. I'd emphasise that we've two games in Dublin and are hitting the same market over a longer period; they've got two completely different markets so it's a more difficult sell from their perspective."

He also believes in the overall sense that the connections between the two sports bodies have been beneficial both from a playing and coaching point of view as well as from an administrative perspective.

"I think the access to the AFL that it's given the GAA has been very beneficial. I have someone who was with the AFL working with me in the licensing area and the exchange of information is useful. I would suggest this works both ways.

"I think the AFL are the most recent sports organisation to put together a model based very much on the (American) NFL model, which is regarded as the original bible of sports marketing. I think we have things to learn in terms of how they operate."

Power accepts that the current interest from Australian Rules in young Irish players could create a difficulty for the relationship between the GAA and the AFL but points out that recruitment drives are not easy to control.

"It's not AFL clubs that are holding these trials as I understand it but agents. You'd have to question whether the tour could continue if there was widespread recruiting of GAA players. It would be very hard to justify to a county that's lost two talented young players.

"The senior series has the profile and if you scrapped the junior tour tomorrow I don't think you'd stop the interest of AFL clubs in Ireland. There's not a whole lot you can do about it. But Jimmy (Stynes) and Tadhg (Kennelly) are the only ones to have really made it at the top level. Some really good players have come out, like Anthony Tohill and Niall Buckley, but they haven't come through."