GAA stars bid to dent Australian pride

Australian pride is set for a fall when Ireland’s Gaelic stars take to Dublin’s Croke Park for the International Rules series, it was claimed today.

With two consecutive defeats fresh in the mind of many GAA fans former manager Brian McEniff reckoned the new squad would be hungry for revenge.

“We owe them a beating,” McEniff said, but not in the physical sense he quickly stressed.

Mass brawls and fist fights have marred several previous encounters but McEniff is confident football skill will win out.

“There’s always a certain amount of explosion, but in latter years it has tamed a fair bit. In saying that though you’d still love to beat them,” McEniff said.

In 2001 McEniff masterminded a legendary victory on Australian soil after the Irish team suffered a humiliating defeat on their home turf a year earlier.

And “the victorious McEniff” (as colleagues call him) said he was confident manager Pete McGrath had learned plenty from past mistakes. Preparation and playing to your strengths would be the key he added.

“We can’t match them in upper body strength, they’re full-time professionals, but where we can beat them is from the hips down, our lads have the mobility and speed,” McEniff went on.

Pete McGrath will today announce the 26-man panel to face the Australians with the likes of Benny Coulter from Down, Kerry’s All-Ireland winner Colin Cooper and hurling star turned Aussie Rules star Setanta O hAilpin fighting for a spot on the team.

And on October 17 and 24, thousands of fans will cram into Croke Park for the “hybrid” battle as it has become known.

The game itself is a compromise between football and Aussie Rules, with points scored between four posts by kicking or punching the ball into the net, over the bar or through the posts.

The round ball suits the skilful Irish, while the powerful Aussies come to the fore in tough challenges and the long 80 minute game.

But McEniff, himself a former All-Star footballer, reckoned the famous Australian pride and arrogance would be dented in the coming weeks.

“It means an awful lot to put on the jersey, it’s just like the All-Ireland but greater than that. You’re playing for your country and the lads will lift themselves for it,” McEniff went on.

“They have a great chance. You’re playing against professionals and naturally that can be a tough challenge, but what happened in the last series will stand the lads in good stead.”

And McEniff knows all too well how it feels to face the nation after taking a thrashing at the hands of your arch rivals. But the Ulsterman is confident this year’s stars will rise to the challenge.

“It can be a lonely place – When you get your ass tanned in front of the whole country it’s not so good,” McEniff said.

“I wouldn’t say the Australians were arrogant but they simply have a great belief and pride in their country and what they do. But our lads will be ready to hand out a beating.”

Since the senior international series restarted in 1998, both sides have won five matches with a further two being drawn.

The GAA and Australian Football League signed up to keep the series running until next year but with interest growing each year, the world’s fastest and most exciting football code looks set to continue.

“They call it a hybrid, but really it is incomparable. There’s nothing like it in the world, it’s international dimension is unique and let’s just hope the lads make the best of their chance,” McEniff added.