Brogan goal masks blemishes

IN comparison to so many of its dynamic, high-octane, hard-hitting, predecessors in so many other years, this opening round of the two-game 2010 version of the International Series was a vastly subdued affair.

Then again, and by way of explanation, this was a vastly reduced Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, the sidelines and endlines squeezed on the orders of the Irish team management, the playing area a bare minimum 130m x 80m. Consider that the Aussies are used to a pitch that measures an average of 160m x 130m (at the widest point of the ‘oval’), and that a max-size GAA pitch is 145m x 90m.

Don’t forget that this is a game designed to be fast, open, a non-stop free-flowing spectacle contested by some of the finest and fleetest athletes in both codes.