Kerry and Mayo players get final chance to impress

IRELAND’S Kerry and Mayo contingent face a near-impossible task in adapting to the International Rules game before Sunday week’s first test against Australia, according to selector John Tobin.

Four players from Kerry’s All-Ireland-winning squad, as well as four from beaten finalists Mayo, have only been free to link up with Pete McGrath’s panel in the last week and they will be given final chances to impress today and tomorrow when the Irish play two challenge games among themselves at Croke Park.

“It is a problem. It’s difficult for lads to be coming in at this late stage. A few of the lads, like James Nallen and Tomas Ó Sé have experience of the game before, but other lads are completely raw at the International Rules game,” said Tobin yesterday.

“I won't say it’s impossible to adapt so late, but it’s far from easy and we’ll just see how the newer lads get on.

“They’re top-class players, who have been in great form for their counties and, at the end of the day, we pick players initially based on how they play our own code before we know how they are at the Rules game.”

Nallen’s last appearance in an Irish shirt was as far back as the 1999 tour in Australia, while Ó Sé’s only tour of duty came two years ago here at home. That said, there is little doubt that, should they survive the final culling this weekend, they can make a huge contribution against the Australians.

The other six All-Ireland finalists looking to make their mark over the two days are Colm Cooper, Declan O’Sullivan, Eoin Brosnan, David Heaney, Ciaran McDonald and Trevor Mortimer. The current panel of 39 will be trimmed to 26 panelists and four standbys when it is named on Monday afternoon. The Australians touch down in Dublin airport on the same day.

While the visitors will spend the entire week training, the Irish will not meet up again until two days prior to the first test. Australia, for their part, may be without 17 of this year’s 22 All-Australians - our All-Stars equivalent - on which their squad is based. However, coach Garry Lyon is adamant this year’s crop are more suited to the international game than previous Australian teams.

Ireland will be desperate to avoid a third straight defeat and, as the only one of the Irish management team with previous experience on the sidelines in International Rules, Tobin feels there are key areas needing improvement.

“I’ve seen it the last few years that our three-point shooting just hasn’t been up to the standard we’d expect. That isn’t a criticism of the management teams any of those years, it’s just the way it was. You’d expect our lads to have an advantage in front of goal, but instead we've been scoring to many one-pointers.

“You have to admire the way the Aussies have adapted to the round ball. Two years ago in Dublin they kicked some brilliant three-pointers on what was an awful day, if you remember.

“The tackle is another hugely important area and it’s one we’ve struggled with before. In fact, you can talk about our lads not hitting enough three-pointers, but it can’t be easy with those Aussies guys bearing down on you.”

For a change, there has been an absence of the usual controversy surrounding fixture clashes with the club championships this year and Tobin believes the current niche the Rules Series finds itself in may not be perfect, but it is the best available.

“No matter what time of year the games are played, there will be difficulties. If you play it earlier in the year, it will clash with counties preparing for the league and managers would be very reluctant to release players.

“At this time of year, the top players are likely to be the ones involved at club level too. You could leave it that bit later, maybe November, but you’d still clash with provincial club championships, so now is probably the best time.”