2010 International Rules Series

manutd

The 2010 International Rules Series has been confirmed for October 2010, the GAA and the Australian Football League (AFL) announced today (Friday 19th February 2010.)

Announcing the series Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Crióstóir O Cuana said “I am delighted to confirm that the 2010 International Rules Series will be played in Limerick on the 23rd of October and in Croke Park on the 30th of October. It should be a great series.”

GAA Director General Páraic Duffy and AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou have been in contact on a number of occasions since the New Year and the two organisations have agreed to resume the series in October.

“We are delighted that the Australians are back in Ireland to play this year and we are all looking forward to an enjoyable two games in October. Each player deems it a great honour to put on an Irish jersey in an international setting and values the experience of playing with players from other counties” commented Páraic Duffy.

The series was not played in 2009 after the impact of the world economic situation in early 2009 prompting the AFL to ask the GAA to agree to defer the series for 12 months.

Mr Demetriou said the decision to postpone the series for 12 months had been a difficult decision to make and he was delighted that Australia would now be able to return to Ireland in a bid to regain the Cormac McAnallen trophy, won by Ireland in 2008.

"The series between Australia and Ireland has drawn tremendous crowds in both countries and players from both codes have appreciated the chance they get to represent their country at international level," Mr Demetriou said.

"The Irish team was too strong for us when we last met on Australian soil at the end of 2008, and Mick Malthouse and his coaching staff are eager to test ourselves on Irish soil in a bid to square the ledger once more."

Since competition between Ireland and Australia resumed in 1999, the two countries have played 10 series with both teams winning five apiece. Ireland holds a 10-8 advantage, with two draws, from the 20 Test matches played.

http://www.gaa.ie/plugins/newsfeed.cgi?rm=content&plugin_data_id=29011

Good to see it back.

SeaFields

I watched the last one in a bar in Sydney. Going by the jerseys in the place the 32 counties were represented, sitting side by side and a good number of Aussies in attendance too.

Great banter was had between the Irish and the Aussies and between the Irish and the Irish

Ian_K

Brilliant... love it!!

Pride Fighter

I would not play it if I were the GAA. For several reasons. The Aussies refusing to send a team last year, in the GAA's 125th year was disgraceful on the Aussies part. Its not any particular sport, its a bastard game. It is marred by violent incidents and injuries.

I'm not particularly glad its back.

jm99

I think its great seeing out top footballers playing together for their country

Gingy

Glad to see it back, it's a massive achievement for any GAA player to be chosen to represent their country.

RocketRonnie

The majority of the players have always said they want to play so thats good enough for me... Looking forward to it...

rebel girl 15

Pride Fighter wrote: »

I would not play it if I were the GAA. For several reasons. The Aussies refusing to send a team last year, in the GAA's 125th year was disgraceful on the Aussies part. Its not any particular sport, its a bastard game. It is marred by violent incidents and injuries.

I'm not particularly glad its back.

The Aussies couldn't afford to send a team last year, not that they refused.

The game will be much cleaner, because if any of the Aussie players misbehave on the playing field, they will suffer when they go back to their clubs, hefty fines and suspensions, so they will be careful. I'm pretty sure its the same for the Irish guys, if they are sent off, they will be suspended from GAA games

ShamoBuc

These new punishments will hopefully lead to the football series we all want to see, hard tough football with buckets of skill thrown in.

popebenny16

been to every international rules game here since it came back but untill they get off the plane i wont believe its happening, i dont think they take it seriously at all

Pride Fighter

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

The Aussies couldn't afford to send a team last year, not that they refused.

The game will be much cleaner, because if any of the Aussie players misbehave on the playing field, they will suffer when they go back to their clubs, hefty fines and suspensions, so they will be careful. I'm pretty sure its the same for the Irish guys, if they are sent off, they will be suspended from GAA games

Yeah, a professional organisation which can pay its players huge wages cannot afford 30 plane tickets and hotel rooms. I believe that :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tristram

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Yeah, a professional organisation which can pay its players huge wages cannot afford 30 plane tickets and hotel rooms. I believe that :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

AFL was expanding with new teams last year. That coupled with the turn in the economy made things tight. I'm not saying they definitely didn't have the money but it was perhaps prudent given the degree of financial uncertainty they faced. If you think all it costs is 30 plane tickets and hotel rooms you deserve plenty of what you gave :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

grenache

I propose, that as a payback for the violence purportrated by the Aussies towards the Irish in previous test series, that the Aussie team bus take a ''wrong turn'' on its way to the Gaelic Grounds. A wrong turn in the, say, Moyross direction

The_Kew_Tour

I hope this time we will be admiring the game itself rather then the boxing matches that have happened in past few series.

Pride Fighter

Tristram wrote: »

AFL was expanding with new teams last year. That coupled with the turn in the economy made things tight. I'm not saying they definitely didn't have the money but it was perhaps prudent given the degree of financial uncertainty they faced. If you think all it costs is 30 plane tickets and hotel rooms you deserve plenty of what you gave :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

The Aussies refusing to send a team when they are certainly a richer organisation than the GAA was bad form. Particularly as it was going to be part of the GAA's 125th anniversary. The Aussies spat in our face by not sending a team, we should spit back and tell them to take a hike.