Boylan backing his Irish side to win fair fight in Oz
The Meath man also shares the confidence of GAA President Nickey Brennan that the games in Perth on October 24 and Melbourne a week later will be free of the violence which marred the last meeting of the countries two years ago — and all but killed off the hybrid game.
From the feedback he was receiving from Tadhg Kennelly (the nominated Irish captain but ruled out of the series by surgery on a shoulder injury) and the other Australian-based players, he was satisfied that the AFL and new team manager Mick Malthouse are very positive about ensuring a new beginning.
“They are so keen to play this, so keen to play it right that I think it will be a great spectacle,’’ he commented. “Of course the passion will be there. The day you go out in a competition and that’s not there you can forget about it. But it will be within the parameters of the rules that have been set down — that applies to both sides.
“The AFL have bought into this so strongly, in certain aspects they were probably pushing things even more than would have come from home,’’ he added.
For his part, Nickey Brennan is reassured by the willingness of the Australian officials to agree to tough new sanctions — describing them as ‘extremely harsh, the same as for a Grand Final’ — for serious offences. And, he pointed out that the Central Council last Saturday endorsed the position that GAA players face suspension during the National League.
“Few expected that we would be able to tie in the series into the original games of both codes, but we have managed to do that.’’
Team captain Sean Cavanagh is also optimistic. Agreeing that it’s unrealistic to expect the whole series to go through ‘without some incident or other,’ he feels that there is more goodwill on the Australian side this time. “They want it to happen and they want to do it right,’’ he commented.
Boylan echoed the same sentiment, saying: “I want a really good series football-wise. I want it to be really entertaining. I want to establish the series again as one of the new great games of football and I am very happy that the players we have will deliver.’’
He accepts that his team (15 to start, nine inter-change players) can expect a strong challenge from the Australians. “I think they have adapted to the game really well. You even see them with the oval at the moment, ‘bending balls’ when they are taking shots. Their skill level has improved enormously and we just hope we get back up to that level and be more competitive.”
Boylan was quizzed about the selection of his goalkeeper, David Gallagher, whom he brought into the Meath squad in 1999 at the age of 18 and succeeded Cormac Sullivan until he injured his back. Currently, he pointed that Gallagher plays outfield with Dunboyne. Saying it had been ‘a tough call,’ he added: “You have to go with what you see. It wasn’t an easy decision by any manner or means but we feel it was the right decision.’’
With former Laois star Colm Begley (Brisbane Lions) the only AFL player to be included in the squad (after Tadhg Kennelly and Martin Clarke were both ruled out), Boylan explained that other Australian-based players absented themselves from the trials ‘by choice’ for different reasons.
“That was their decision, fine. Whether there was pressure coming from any other quarter I don’t know. At first, people said ‘you can’t be picking all the lads out there,’ but that wasn’t the way we looked at it. The way we looked at it, ‘these are Irishmen and you give them their chance to have a go at it.’ Some wanted to take the chance and some didn’t.’’
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