The Irish players wanted it to continue but the administrators over-ruled them and said no. Seems they don't like losing
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Lack of competitiveness weakens Australian connection
Irish Independent
Sunday December 10th 2006
CENTRAL COUNCIL'S decision yesterday - for a temporary suspension of the International Rules series - always looked inevitable. While there was much soul searching in Ireland on the link between the two countries, a similar discussion has been taking place by the Southern cross.
There are just as many sceptics down south, so a belief that all the important decisions are being made on this side of the world is slightly misplaced. The Australians are beginning to wonder if they would be better off just minding their own game. A bit like here really except they are also factoring in the lack of competitiveness.
There is no future for any game in terms of crowd appeal, no matter what the marketing, if one side keeps beating the crap out of the other. That very significant matter has received almost no debate in Ireland since the shoot-out at the Croke Park corral.
It is very clear that a major problem has arisen on the level of performance by both sets of players. While the Australians have stepped up to the mark, the Irish displays have been in free fall.This places an onus on our players. The views articulated by those involved, through the GPA and surveys in different papers, indicate strong support among our leading players for a continuation of the series. If it is just for a trip then there is absolutely no point in continuing, if it is to demonstrate the quality, skill, pride and determination of Gaelic football then that is an entirely different matter.
For a variety of reasons, the type of player available for the last couple of years is not up to the standard of previous campaigns. The sort of physical presence needed is not available.
Gaelic football at the moment is dominated by smaller men than for a while but that is only a phase too. The real responsibility for making this work lies with the players themselves, by providing entertainment free of rancour which the public won't have to be coaxed into attending.
This is not a dream. We have had brilliant games in the past where the entertainment surpassed many of the best games in either Australian Rules or Gaelic football. Obviously what is on offer at the moment does little to enhance the idea of a new game fostering International competition and co-operation between two distinct codes which have no other International outlet.
At present the vast majority of people in this country could not care less if they did not see another one of these games. Feelings have mellowed somewhat since the last match, but there is a clear split on the issue. At a recent debate in DCU which I attended, the vote at the end of the night was roughly 55% against continuing the link, with 45% in favour.
It was a most interesting debate. The three who spoke in favour of immediately ending the link were Séamus McEnaney, John Maughan and Mickey Harte. In the other corner were Niall Moyna, Brian McEniff and myself. We all had experience of managing the Irish team at either Senior or under-17 level and were very aware of the pride and passion that Irish players feel in these situations.
Mickey Harte is absolutely opposed to this game in every shape and form and made many valid arguments against it, the most pertinent being that no matter what the International code is called, it is still not Gaelic football. The most obvious outcome from the debate is that this is a question which is dividing GAA opinion.
It is a long way from the vision of the first people who tried to make this International experiment work - Peter McDermott of Meath and Australia's Harry Beitzel.
The first games were played in Croke Park almost 40 years ago; October 1967 to be exact. This was an unofficial Australian tour which resulted in games in Croke Park against Mayo and Meath, who had won the All-Ireland. Incidentally the Meath Junior, Intermediate and Senior championship finals were postponed to help the county team take up this challenge match. And we think that clubs are only getting a raw deal recently! Each of those games attracted over 20,000, and an invitation was given to Meath to tour Australia the following March. This they did, and in style too.
The total cost was £20,000, an enormous amount at the time
At a time when few players had ever been on a plane, and wages were about €20 a week, the team travelled out going east, stopping off in Signapore. Then after spending three weeks in Australia the panel and officials came home the other way, with some time spent in Hawaii, San Francisco and New York.
The total audited cost of the trip was £20,000, which was an enormous amount at the time. A rough guide taking a multiple of 30 would give some idea of the present cost. It was raised by donations, ticket sales, door to door collections, proceeds from dances and even contributions from GAA clubs outside the county. All this information is gleaned from Peter McDermott's book, Gaels in the Sun, which was published after the trip.
The sun now appears to be setting on this experiment, hopefully the era will see a new dawn.
All pioneering movements have had their share of setbacks. This now demands a new level of co-operation, mutual respect, real friendliness and a greater willingness to compromise on both sides than has been evident recently. Nothing though compared to the difficulties faced by the men of real vision, McDermott and Beitzel, when they attempted compromise and co-operation 40 years ago.
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