Game on: Rules Series comeback pencilled in for October

THE International Rules series emerged, officially, from the doghouse yesterday morning after the AFL Commission gave the green light for two test matches to take place in the last week of October.

An email from AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou to Nickey Brennan confirmed that the first game in two years will take place between Ireland and Australia on either Saturday 25 or Sunday, October 26.

The second test is pencilled in for the following Friday.

“There is a slight issue with venues because there is an overlap with cricket and rugby league,” explained the GAA president.

“Andrew has promised me that the venues will be finalised before the end of the week,” Brennan said yesterday.

AFL football operations manager Adran Anderson has been quoted confirming that there will definitely be one game held down under this year with the possibility of a second being considered.

Anderson also revealed to Fairfax Radio in Australia that a touring Australian side would definitely visit these shores next year as part of the GAA’s 125th anniversary celebrations.

New of the series’ resumption was greeted by a number of Irish players yesterday, former captain Graham Canty being one of them.

“I did fear it was gone,” said the Bantry man. “It is an international dimension to GAA, which we are not going to have otherwise.

“There isn’t another country in the world that has a similar game to us. If you can maintain it and work it out it is well worth persevering with,” he added.

A regular on the Irish team in recent times, Canty missed the last series due to a long-term injury and is adamant that, with the proper boundaries in place, the concept is well worth continuing.

“I travelled to the first one in Galway (in 2006) and watched the second on telly. That’s the ugly side of it and, if the game is going to be played like that, it isn’t worth playing.

“If it can be played and policed right with proper rules it is a great game. There was only a kick of a ball in it for a few years.

“It came down to the last quarter and there was no quarter given or asked. It was played in the right manner — good, tough sport.”