Irish stars to face NSW clash

THE Irish International Rules team will play the Australian Gaelic football champions, New South Wales GAA, in Sydney in addition to their clashes with the cream of Australian Rules in the international series itself.

The first International Rules game to be played in Sydney is scheduled for Saturday, October 18, there’ll be more familiar fare for Irish supporters in the city the following month, when the Irish team will play New South Wales GAA on Sunday, November 2.

The matches will be played at Henson Park, a stadium located in Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney.

Henson Park is the home of the Newtown Jets rugby league club and Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic soccer club. It is also a finals venue for the Sydney AFL and has grandstand and seating capacity of 1,000, with a total capacity of about 30,000.

The first match will be played in International Rules between the mostly amateur Sydney AFL and the amateur NSW Gaelic Athletics Association (NSWGAA).

The NSWGAA are the current Australian senior champions, having won the national title in 2007. The Sydney AFL, coached by Danny Ryan, are just coming off a historic match against the Victorian amateur representative side from the strong Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).

The match between the two Australian amateur sides, also played at Henson Park was the first time the VAFA and Sydney AFL have played since 1938. The Sydneysiders shocked many by losing by less than a goal with a scoreline of 86-81.

The result was even more impressive given the touring Victorian side was stacked with ex-pro AFL footballers.

So the stage is set for an epic showdown between Sydney’s finest Aussie Rules and Gaelic Football players.

A second match, in Gaelic football, will be played between the NSWGAA and the visiting Irish International Rules team in what promises to be one of the biggest Gaelic football fixtures ever played in Australia. The Irish team will later go on to take on Australia’s best professional players from the Australian Football League (AFL).

Officials of both codes hope that the matches might lift the profile in Sydney of both Australian Rules football, where it has struggled in recent times, and Gaelic football. The AFL had considered Sydney as a possible venue for the senior International Rules Series, but chose Melbourne and Perth.

There was a recent proposal for the Western Sydney AFL expansion side to be marketed a “Celtic” brand, and two players in the Irish Aussie Rules team which competed in the recent AFL International Cup are currently playing in the First Division Sydney AFL competition.

Although it hasn’t been officially announced, entry for the event is likely to be free, and with no major rugby league, rugby union or soccer matches scheduled for those days, anything but a big turnout would be a disappointment for the organisers. The event is seen as a litmus test for the popularity of both codes in Sydney.

When the possibility of a GAA game between an Australian team and the visitors was first mooted in June, GAA President Nickey Brennan said: “I think in fairness to the Irish diaspora there and when our best footballers travel they should get the opportunity to play a Gaelic Football game.

“I think they are entitled to feel that when we bring the ‘cream of the crop’ to Australia, we would give them an opportunity to see them in action in Gaelic football. That will take place on Sunday, two days after the final test.”