Sean Cavanagh and team mates celebrate in 2008

By Gillian McVeigh- written exclusively for Gaelic Star Magazine Edition 6. Sept 2009.

It seems the Irish public aren’t the only ones suffering from the Global Financial Crisis. The Australian Football League (AFL) reckon they are feeling the pinch so much, they will be unable to travel to Ireland to compete in this year’s International Rules series.

Our reporter in Sydney, Gillian McVeigh, investigates whether or not the series has a future.

 CROKE Park officials had high hopes for this year’s International Rules competition.

 In the midst of the 125th Anniversary Celebrations, the games would showcase just how far the Association has come on the international stage.

However, the decision by the AFL to pull out of the series citing financial problems has left those plans in tatters.

The AFL claim they have had to tighten their purse strings given the current financial crisis and just can’t get the cash together to make a return visit to Ireland.

The news comes despite the fact they have recently pumped $10million into establishing a new AFL franchise on Australia’s Gold Coast, and it is also believed they have plans to establish another Sydney team in the next two years.
From an Irish point of view, the AFL’s decision not to make the journey in 2009 is not a popular one.  Former GAA player Kevin Dyas, who is now pursuing an Aussie Rules Football career with Melbourne club Collingwood, is just one player who is keen to see the series continued.

“It is really disappointing because the AFL and the GAA were just starting to get back to having a healthy relationship,” Dyas said.

“If that [financial pressure] is the reason, then fair enough, but I would love to see it return sooner rather than later.

“I think the International Rules series is good, as it gives a chance to showcase two sports which are so unique.  It also gives the players from both codes a chance to represent their country internationally and it gives GAA players some recognition beyond their county.

“With GAA there is usually just an All-Ireland to play for but the Compromises Rules gives the game an international dimension.”
Although the Armagh man and indeed, most gaelic footballers, would be strongly in favour of continuing the series, Dyas admits that his Australian counterparts may not be so keen.

“With my own club Collingwood, a few of the lads who were touted as potential players would be a bit disappointed. They would have loved the opportunity to play for Australia and travel to Ireland,” added Dyas.

“But because the AFL has such a long season over here, I’d say there are a few of the boys who won’t be too disappointed.  Some of them would be going for post-season operations and would enjoy having the time to recover and get back to full fitness before the season starts again.”
Dyas added; “The AFL may be prioritising starting up the new clubs at the minute. I hope the establishment of the new Gold Coast club doesn’t put too much strain on it [the International Rules series].

“I believe the series will get going again,” he continued.

“I think the AFL is keen to maintain the good relationship with the GAA and I feel that they would like to keep the series going. The International Rules gives the AFL publicity in Ireland and abroad, that it would not receive otherwise.”
Some more cynical commentators may argue that the AFL has already done very well out of the GAA. AFL clubs have signed up many of Ireland’s most talented youngsters and now that the way has been paved for GAA players to be tempted by the allure of professionalism and switch codes – the AFL may likewise have shifted their priorities to developing the game Down Under.
The decision to postpone their visit to Ireland comes hot on the heels of their announcement that one of National Rugby League’s (NFL) most prolific players, Karmichael Hunt, has signed a three year deal (worth a reported $3 million AUD) to swap NRL for AFL and join the new Gold Coast team.

Hunt is top of his game in NRL, which is a much more popular sport in Australia than AFL football is.
AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou said the signing of Hunt was a coup for the new Gold Coast team and said that Hunt will, “also take on a game development role” with the AFL in Queensland.

“I think this is an exciting day for the Gold Coast Football Club and also for the AFL to have such a talented sportsman who has achieved so much in his own sport wanting to take up the challenge to play for a new club in the AFL,” Demetriou said.

“This is a unique set of circumstances. Karmichael was identified as an outstanding teenager when he was at school and the talent managers in Queensland AFL still talk about Karmichael as the standout schoolboy talent who got away. We think he can make an impact as a player and also in developing the game in Queensland at community level.”
With the controversy that has surrounded the International Rules series in the last number of years and perhaps due to the fact that Australia lost the Cormac McAnallen Cup in their own backyard in 2008, it seems the AFL have weighed up the pros and cons and do not see the merit in continuing the series this year.
For the AFL, they would not have the advantage of gaining revenue from international television rights and attendance at the games. They would also be travelling to compete in Ireland with the main Irish sponsor Cola-Cola having withdrawn from the series and would thus be bearing the associated costs involved in making a trip to the other side of the world.
The future of the series is unknown at present, although Demetriou insists he is “confident that the global market can continue its gradual return to strength and we (the AFL) and the GAA can plan over this 12 months for a fantastic series next year.”

* GAA director-general Paraic Duffy has insisted that the International Rules series will return in 2010.
Duffy said the GAA has been given a written assurance by AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou that the Australians will travel to Ireland next year, with a return series taking place Down Under in 2011.

“Andrew Demetriou has given us a categoric assurance in writing, that they will come next year and I have no doubt they’ll do that,” Duffy said.

“They have given us a written guarantee that they will come next year. We were disappointed and it would be a lie to say we weren’t.

“But we had a lot of conversations – I spoke to Andrew Demetriou several times the week before it – but in the end it was their decision. We couldn’t force the issue and say ‘you have to come’.

“We have to understand their point of view that financially it is a problem for them. This has become the gap year. It’s not the way you would have wanted it, but that’s the way it is now.”