The GAA supremo says falling attendances in Australia could threaten the viability of the series, writes SEAN MORAN

GAA DIRECTOR general Páraic Duffy has expressed concern about the future of the International Rules series. Duffy, in Melbourne for the two Tests and the meeting with the AFL later this week, said he was worried that continued loss of interest in the series here in Australia would inevitably lead to declining support in Ireland and make the series financially unviable.

He was responding to last Friday’s first Test, which ended in a record win for Ireland before the worst attendance at an international in Melbourne for over 20 years.

“We’ll be meeting the AFL later in the week. Clearly, there would be concern with the attendance figures – they were disappointing.

“I accept that it was a dreadful evening weather-wise but it doesn’t seem to generate the same levels of interest that it did here or that it does in Ireland.

“When you have only two countries involved in a competition and in one, through attendance figures, suggests a certain apathy, it does certainly raise questions long term. They got a crowd of 22,000 – you would expect a minimum of 30,000. I’ll be interested to hear what their angle is on the attendance figures.”

The crowds attending the Melbourne Test have now fallen in the past four series from 60,235 in 2003 (MCG) to 45,428 in 2005 (Docklands) to 42,823 back in the MCG three years ago to 22,921 last week in Docklands.

“Crowds have held up very well in Ireland,” according to Duffy. “Even last year in the tough economic situation, they held up well but here there has been a pattern of decline.

“One of the points to make about the series from our point of view is it gives the players an opportunity to play for their country. But it must remain cost neutral. We keep our home gate receipts and the profits we make from that go to fund the tour to Australia.

“So from that point of view the attendance is not a problem for us this year but if the numbers fall here I think inevitably they will start to fall in Ireland. That would cause an issue because if our attendances were to fall to a similar level we simply couldn’t afford it.

“We wouldn’t want to pay for this to any great degree out of normal GAA funding. It is cost neutral at the moment – at one stage it was profitable – but it’s pretty much cost neutral now. If it got to a stage because of falling attendances that we couldn’t afford it that would be a factor as well.”

Duffy also drew attention to the trend within the series for one side to play poorly when the other is playing well, which has reduced the competitiveness of the Tests to the extent that it’s eight years since one side or the other did not win both Tests.

“In the two games last year, Ireland only played well in the last 10 minutes of both but they were more competitive than Friday night’s game, which was the least competitive game I’ve seen in my time. From that point of view, it was disappointing. You can’t fault Ireland for that – their performance was very, very good.

“In the last couple of series the home team has played poorly and the away team has played fairly well. If the Australians had come out last weekend and played like they did last year then we would have had a terrific game.”

Asked did he believe that the public would prefer more physicality or even the indiscipline of some previous series, Duffy disagreed even in the light of the crowd reaction to Friday night’s brief confrontation.

“It doesn’t necessarily take violence to do it. Just because we have had a very one-sided series over the few years, it doesn’t mean we need a good row. I don’t accept that argument.

“If two teams played really well it could be a very entertaining game and hopefully we will get that on Friday. We need a game with that right balance and we haven’t got that in the last few series.”

He accepted the measures taken in recent years to help to keep Ireland competitive after a couple of years of dominant Australia performances may have had the impact of alienating the typical AFL support and making the promotion of the series more difficult.

“That is a problem but it is a question that the Australians could answer better than me. But you have to ask why are attendances falling here? That is the question that we will be asking the AFL.

“What possibly didn’t help this year was that because the game was put back a bit later, it lost a little bit. I don’t know the answer. That is something that they’ve got to answer. Why are people not coming here? It is a concern and it has to be addressed.”

From the GAA’s perspective this has been a difficult year for the series. Ireland manager Anthony Tohill has raised the issue of how difficult it’s been preparing his panel with so much uncertainty surrounding players’ availability.

Duffy reiterated his view that no player still involved with their club in the county championship up to a couple of weeks before the international series should be selected for Ireland. He also opposed the idea – originally floated by former president Seán McCague – that a two-week moratorium be introduced to create a window for the Tests.

“There comes a point where the clubs have got to have a say here and if there’s a choice to be made between the club and the international team it comes down to the club. It won’t affect that many players and if we’re doing it the right way it should affect no players but at the end of it I don’t think you can justify holding up four, six, eight teams in finishing a championship because one player is travelling abroad.

“Players wouldn’t appreciate that argument but that’s the way it has to be.

“My own view is given the constraints our counties put on the club championships being played during the summer because of intercounty management I don’t think we can force another ban.”