International Rules all about the money
A two-time All-Australian (the AFL’s version of the All Stars), the Essendon defender is one of Australian Rules’ finest. Earning over $700,000 a year (€465,000), he’s one of the best paid too.
It wasn’t with that knowledge in hand that a fellow Irish journalist asked him if the Australians’ pride would be dented were they to lose to an amateur team. We can safely say there was no agenda to his question but Goddard wasn’t taking any chances. “It’s not about being amateurs,” he replied.
“It’s the expertise in their sport. You have the advantage of kicking a round ball, which is quite difficult for us but we’re not making any excuses. You classify yourselves as amateurs but we see you guys as pros and experts in your field and you’re elite at the game of Gaelic so we’re not underestimating them when you chuck the word amateur in there.”
Just like Goddard, the Australian media interpreted the query as a shot across the bow, as if the journalist in question was wearing a green jersey. One TV station baulked at the writer’s audacity. The AFL website called it “a grilling”, saying Goddard had been subjected to some “tough questions from the Irish press”.
Admittedly, it was the organisation’s own media outlet that reported it as such but if that’s what constitutes interrogation in Australia they would aghast to see how Jim McGuinness was expertly probed by Eoin McDevitt on RTÉ’s Second Captains last Wednesday.
Maybe the AFL were playing their part in cranking things up ahead of the test but when professionals are pitted against amateurs the game should really sell itself. Instead of embracing what each side share, the real pitch for International Rules is demonstrating what sets them apart - namely their bank accounts.
If you were to combine Goddard’s annual salary with the $1 million-plus per annum (€662,000) wages of Nick Riewoldt, it’s reasonable to suggest theirs exceed the combined yearly earnings of the Ireland panel. Granted, a number of the Ireland players such as footballer of the year Jack McCaffrey and former AFL player Colm Begley are students but the contrast in fortunes couldn’t be starker.
It’s been speculated some Dublin footballers were earning as much as €60,000 in sponsorship before all commercial monies were pooled during Pat Gilroy’s time. However, on top of his club earnings Goddard and Riewoldt also have lucrative deals with Nike as well as commercial agreements with the likes of car and bed companies.
The Australians’ recent stopover in New York perfectly illustrates the differences between the two camps. Would the GAA have had to throw a trip to the Big Apple into the mix to convince their best to represent their country?
It is also rumoured each Australian player has been paid $12,000 (€7,900) to participate. In Melbourne and Perth last year, the daily expenses of an Irish player worked out at approximately €120.
It is not Goddard nor Riewoldt nor any of their team-mates’ fault that they cross the whitewash in Croke Park next Saturday better remunerated than the players walking out alongside them. For the sake of the International Rules, it is necessary that the best that the AFL have to offer made the journey here.
At the same time, their bulging accounts can still motivate Joe Kernan’s side. It might have been a meek Australian side that Anthony Tohill’s Ireland embarrassed in Melbourne and the Gold Coast four years ago but their incomes still far outweighed those of the visitors. It was with no small amount of glee that Ciarán McKeever sledged his marker and then captain Brad Smith towards the end of the second test, remarking: “And you’re supposed to be the professionals?”
Yes, Goddard should be believed when he says the Australians view the Irish players as elite sportsmen. At least in terms of preparatory work, the whole professional-amateur argument that precedes these games has grown more tenuous with time but money is what remains the uncommon denominator.
Dollars don’t mean Australia’s edge is any less sharper than Ireland’s: in fact, the onus on them to justify their favourites and price tags is just as significant as the carrot on offer to the home team to down their well-off cousins. It’s a dynamic that can work now and into the future providing people stop comparing and start embracing the contrasts of the participants in the hybrid game.
Third level leads to degree of success
You don’t need to study at third level to play for your county – but it helps.
All 30 players who took the field in September’s All-Ireland SFC final at least enrolled in either university or an Institute of Technology.
The overwhelming majority now have letters behind their names. The same goes for the 23-man Ireland squad facing Australia on Saturday.
Having played Sigerson and Trench Cup football, they were able to put themselves in the shop window for their respective county’s U21s and seniors. But what about those who would prefer to pursue a trade rather than a college course? Without an U21 competition, as has been proposed by GAA director general Páraic Duffy, what chances would they have of showcasing their wares to a senior county manager?
Before you say “their club”, think again. Without strength and conditioning never mind skill resources between minor and senior — a gap that will grow further if minor becomes U17 in 2017 — they will fall further by the wayside unless they choose to study at third level.
By suggesting the U21 grade be reduced by a year, the GPA have put forward the best idea in countering the difficulty posed by the competition. Not only would it complement the anticipated age eligibility change at minor, senior managers would also be less likely to recruit younger players.
But it would make so much more sense than the possibility of discriminating against players who are worryingly making life choices not with themselves but their football at heart.
At last some welcome news for referees
News that the GAA are bringing forward recommendations about the troublesome issue of time-keeping to Congress next February can only be welcomed.
For far too long, referees have been placed in awkward positions by not being able to stop the clock for substitutions and other lengthy delays such as the seconds between a free being awarded and taken.
The matter raised its head again in last week’s insightful All-Ireland final day documentary on RTÉ. Towards the end of the decider, Kerry captain Kieran Donaghy remonstrates with referee David Coldrick that Stephen Cluxton is time-wasting as he jogs up to take a long-range free. Coldrick replies that he has his watch stopped. But how many of his colleagues have or would do the same?
According to rule, referees can allow additional time for “deliberate or incidental delay” but going by the amount of additional minutes they allow obviously not all of them have been doing so. At least with the benefit of clearer guidelines as to what constitutes stoppages, they will be empowered to allow for more time, particularly at the end.
Given 30 seconds is often allocated per substitute in soccer then seven or eight minutes of additional time, particularly in Gaelic football where there are six replacements allowed, may become a frequent event next summer if the rule change is endorsed. If that’s the case and there is more transparency, the games will be all the better for it.
