McEniff backs call for Rules discipline
"To be honest I was glad that the President spoke out in the media against some of the incidents in Sunday's game,'' he said. "You can't have them coming over here and intimidating our players. Some of what happened is not allowed in their game. It was over the top and completely uncalled for.
"We are amateur sportsmen and we want our players to be able to get up and go to work on Monday morning.''
McEniff said it was disappointing that injuries had limited the involvement of players like Paul McGrane and Eamonn O'Hara.
"They each had outstanding campaigns for their counties in this year's championship," he said. "It was a pity to see them sidelined and it would be an even greater pity if they were not be available for the second Test.''
The GAA has previously considered ending contact with the AFL because of Australian tactics. In 1984, the first game of the inaugural series was spoiled by some ugly scenes, resulting in the main from some violent play from a minority of Rules players. An over-aggressive approach in the opening test in Perth two years later threatened to end the experiment. This year's test series has proved very popular with sports fans, with ticket sales standing at 40,000 yesterday.
Meanwhile, the GAA's director of games, Pat Daly, shares the general view that Ireland's best chance of winning the series depends on them improving their goal-scoring rate.
"What the Australians have been attempting to do is to brush up on their game plan, to play the kind of game that will enable them to score goals as distinct from the type of game they play in Australian Rules where they go for three-pointers most of the time,'' Daly said.
"If you are not competing you can get wiped out fairly quickly. You can never say that Ireland will go out and win for the simple reason that the Aussies seem to be going up a notch the whole time.
"Colm O'Rourke said at the outset that it would become progressively harder to beat them as the game evolved and developed because they have more room for improvement in terms of awareness of the game plan and in terms of the fundamentals.
"What we do not have technically and tactically, we try to compensate with physically. But they generally have it technically, tactically and physically. Most of these guys can operate proficiently off the left and right, hand or foot and they can back it up with a fair amount of physical fitness.
"That isn't always the case with our guys, particularly when they come under pressure. Their kicking tends to break down. And they are under pressure to kick a lot faster than when they play Gaelic football," Daly said.
"You are playing against probably the best set of athletes in the world, that would hold their own at any level. Each player is from the top three of their club.
You saw it with the U17s in Cork earlier this year, the way they won the game (and series) so easily.
"The games provide us with a benchmark against which we can judge whether we are going forward." Daly is optimistic about Ireland's chances. "They have prepared well, have a good coach who knows what he is about and it won't be for want of preparation more a case of getting their chances and taking them.''
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
