The Irish Game

nasty_crash wrote: »

Hells yeah i did! I could have played another game this weekend - but we have to wait for a few weeks! As it was our first game we have a lot to build on - stupid mistakes got capitalised on - i.e. punt returned - and a kicker error caused our loss - but as a first game there is plenty of positives! Some craic tho!

Great to hear it... Typically the offense is a lot slower getting up to speed than than the defense, so much more moving parts etc. Plus the fact you guys are a brand new team probably makes the gap even wider.

5 week break for you guys is it? That tough, but as you said plenty of time to fix mistakes etc.

nasty_crash wrote: »

5 weeks is a bit long tho.... would have liked another stab at it!
Defensively were sound - didnt concede anything - but in relation to offence - the line done well the first 2 quarters - but there was a few mistakes behind us - but then on the line the last 2 quarters we got more tired and we made a few mistakes! but i have to say the experience of playing is massive - i know what i need to train on - what i need to do to be better!!

Yea, 5 weeks is too long. Pity you guys only get 6 games.

I meant, offenses usually takes a couple of games to get up to the level of the defenses, you often see games in opening few weeks, across all divisions being much lower scoring games than the games later on in the season.

Getting that first game under your belts is huge, it gives you an idea of where your level is, compared to the other teams and it allows you to train and focus on improving in those areas.

nasty_crash wrote: »

yeah absolutely massive to get that game done and dusted! Would be great if we had more than 6 games but its only for the first year - just to show we have the numbers and the interest there! hopefully get more games next year then!

Who are you playing with yourself Bukman? or do you play?

Make the most of the remaining games, the 8 month off-season is a killer.

Yep, It's my 4th year with UCD.

kingcobra wrote: »

The 8-game season for IAFL-1 (plus the championship game ) is a bit short too in my opinion. I'd love to see another couple of games on the schedule, although obviously at the minute it's not quite possible with the structuring of the divisions.

We (Lightning) had our first game last week and now we've a 4 week layoff til the next game. A couple of weeks is grand but god I won't have the patience to wait four weeks! :P

It's always been 8 game seasons for as long as I recall, wear and tear play a big part in that, every injury you get puts extra stress on the remaining guys, who have to play more and more snaps. It's not a sport where you can find new players mid season and throw them in there.

I think cost/travel is a factor too, it's expensive to get a team through an 8 game season, pitch/medical costs for home games, bus hire for away games, etc.

nasty_crash wrote: »

i suppose you have offseason for so long - then get your first game and then wait for 4 or 5 weeks - its a long time - one of our linebackers went off with a broken wrist - it does mean he will only miss one game - which he is delighted about but the rest of us are kinda like urgh!!

I suppose for us in our first year we want to build a profile for the sport in our area - get more players in - get fans at games and generate an interest in the team - 6 games is not many - but its a massive start for us

I'm sure if there were more refs the schedules would be a lot more balanced and evenly spread out, but as it is now, it seems they can only have 4 games a week across the whole league. It wasn't a problem before when there was only 10 teams, but the rapid expansion of the league (19 teams) means the schedules for teams in the IAFL-1 and IAFL-2 will have to play 2nd fiddle to the SBC, at least in the beginning of the season.

Recruitment of players/fans is hard especially when you're only promoting (in your case) 3 home games a year, but some of the new teams in the league have set the standard in terms of social media, local media, advertising, and sponsorship. And have managed to build a fairly recognisable brand in their areas.

For us we have a small one week window in September to do most of our recruiting, and we are competing with 50/60 other sports clubs during that time. A season starting in March is not an easy sell, but there are usually charity tournaments, college championship games before christmas to keep interest in the new recruits.

nasty_crash wrote: »

... one of our linebackers went off with a broken wrist

Is he alright Nasty_crash? I was playing for Dundalk last weekend. Looked bloody painful.

Thanks for a great day by the way. The nerves building up to it was unreal! Win, lose or draw, it's great to get first game out of the way!

Bukman13 wrote: »

Week 4 April 6th

SBC

Carrickfergus Knights 18 @ 27 Trinity College
West Dublin Rhinos 7 @ 22 UL Vikings

IAFL-1

Mullingar Minotaurs 14 @ 8 Drogheda Lightning

IAFL-2

Dundalk Mavericks 15 @ 6 South Kildare Soldiers

Trinity continue to impress and move to 3-0, their game against the Trojans in week 10 is going to be a great game. UL Vikings finally get a win on the board against a tough Rhinos team, they are now into the easier part of their schedule and could easy be going into the playoffs on a 6 game win streak.





Enjoy it?[/QUOTE]

Loved every minute of it even when I got totally destroyed

Week 5 April 13th

SBC

Trinity College 25 @ 16 Craigavon Cowboys

Waterford Wolves 6 @ 22 Dublin Rebels

North Kildare Reapers 21@ 12 Dublin Dragons

IAFL-1

UCD 0 @ 2 Meath Bulldogs

Trinity go 4-0 and look certain to win the SBC south division, they now have a long lay off before facing The Belfast Trojans at the end of May in what should be a fantastic game.

The Rebels go 2-0 with a win against a struggling Wolves team. The Rebels will next face off against the Knights who so far have yet to win in two attempts but positives can be taken from pushing both Trinity and the Trojans close.

Another win for the reapers which pushes them to 2-0 on the season, they have at least one game left which they would expect to win (@ Wolves), which if they win would give them at worst a 3-5 record, the way things are looking at the moment, 3-5 could well be enough to clinch a playoff berth.

Hey everyone, really interested in getting involved in the game. Only moved to Dublin last month but have wanted to join for years.

I know the season is in full swing, but when would be the best time to join?

Cheers!

Cheers for the reply!

Do any teams train through the summer?

Ho did galway do we are palying them in 5 weeks?

That must have been an exciting game to watch ha

Shane.C wrote: »

If you like defense it sure as hell was!

It was a great game to watch and play in

Galway were great hosts

At 16 yes - the Rhinos will have a 16-19 team this year, there are a couple other u19 teams starting to pop up around the country and there is a competition in the planning.

Send us an email on rhinos.ie and we will have someone get in touch with you.

This is just a short article about the up and coming youth games. Games will probably start around the end of September so the sooner you sign up the better!