O’Neill open to one-off test formula in future

GAA president Liam O’Neill has thrown his support behind the one-off International Rules test — but only if it is played every year.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish press in Perth yesterday, O’Neill also speculated about the AFL’s attitude towards the concept ahead of the GAA’s meeting with them on Sunday.

O’Neill qualified that a decision about the future of International Rules may not be made prior to him stepping down from office on February 28. However, he is amenable to a one game a year formula.

“The players are very happy to get the chance to play one test this year. They’re for it and I would hate to see it thrown away, simply because people disliked one test instead of two.”

He added: “We need more (games), certainly. That would be playing every year.

“Taking a gap year is a bit like breaking off an engagement and going back again. You could get a lot more momentum if it was played every year.

“We can speak with certainty and make decisions centrally in the GAA. It seems the AFL can’t... whether they’re actually saying it’s up to clubs or whether that’s a kind of an opt-out, I’m not quite sure.

“All I know is we didn’t engage with them much last year, they came to the second test, had very little contact. They knew they had made a mistake last year — we told them we respected them. We accepted it in good faith because if the series is going to survive, it’s going to survive because of good relations between the AFL and the GAA.

“They don’t seem to have the same grip on decision-making that we have centrally. They’re saying they haven’t and they have to consult the players and have to consult the clubs.

“We’re meeting them on Sunday for a post-match review. It wouldn’t make any sense to do it any sooner. If there’s a lack of a decision, it’ll be on their side and not ours.”

O’Neill hinted there was some frustration in dealing with the AFL. Although he referred to their decision not to travel to Dublin for the scheduled 2009 series because of financial difficulties as “a bizarre excuse”, he says new AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan is “a little more amenable to the securing the long-term future of the series” than his predecessor Andrew Demetriou.

The AFL, just like they did in Ireland last year, have mooted a game being played in New York prior to visiting Ireland on the next occasion.

But O’Neill said: “That’s their agenda, not ours. If we were going to America, I’d like to see us playing Gaelic football. That would be the number one choice for us. If at some the stage the continuation of this series would benefit from a game in America — but it would probably have to be their home test. If they’re serious about this, let them play their home game in America if they want to.”

O’Neill revealed the shinty association in Scotland have requested their game with Ireland’s hurlers also be played in New York.