GAELIC GAMES NEWS:THE RARE yet nonetheless significant conflict between club and international duty among Gaelic footballers has prompted the All-Ireland-winning manager Mickey Harte into another stinging broadside against the International Rules series with Australia, writes Ian O'Riordan

Harte has been strongly opposed to the series in the past, and went a step further yesterday when suggesting players "are in it for the trip, more than the competition".

Speaking in Dublin at the Opel Kit for Clubs announcement, Harte was initially calm and somewhat muted as he recalled for the first time the car collision of exactly a week earlier from which he was lucky to escape with his life. Later, when quizzed on some of the conflicts surrounding the International Rules, the Tyrone manager argued as if his life depended on it.

"I'm still a little sore, with a broken rib, and a few bruises," said Harte, referring to last Tuesday's incident, when his car left the road just outside Carrickmore.

"It was a right thump, and I was lucky, in many ways, that when I saw the truck coming, around the wrong side, I just swerved to get out of its way.

"Then when it hit me, it meant our momentums weren't going against each other, and instead it shunted me on, over the edge of a 10- or 12-foot drop.

"The car turned over and landed on its feet again. But it was very scary. Not an experience I would recommend to anybody."

While Harte was still clearly shaken by that subject, he was soon enraged by another - that of the International Rules series with Australia later this month, and the fact that several Irish players, including his own Seán Cavanagh, were trying to juggle it with club commitments, while the Interprovincial football competitions were sidetracked even further: "It's such an insult to the Interprovincial competition, the only truly representative of Gaelic games above county level. There's no point in fooling ourselves into thinking we're giving ourselves an international outlet with that other stuff.

"That's not an international outlet for Gaelic games, and someone needs to stand up and say that. We should be promoting Gaelic games on a world stage, and if that has to start at club level, so be it.

"Say with a Féile in different countries, some reward for those countries keeping Gaelic games alive. Build that up over time, so eventually it might become county standard, or even provincial standard. It should be about the indigenous population taking on Gaelic games, so that it can become a world sport, instead of this International Rules, which has no further international potential.

"I am amazed that someone in the GAA isn't sitting back and asking 'what are we about?' It was never about the violence issue for me. That's not why I'm against it."

The first Test match with Australia takes place in Perth on Friday week, October 24th - the day before the interprovincial semi-finals, set for Dungarvan, and Kiltoom. While Cavanagh, the Irish captain, is set to manage his conflict by playing for his club Moy in Sunday's Tyrone intermediate final before joining up with the tour in Australia, Kerry's young forward Tommy Walsh looks set to miss out as his club Kerins O'Rahilly's are down to play their county semi-final on Sunday week.

Cavanagh's desire to play both games didn't surprise Harte: "That's understandable. Seán being captain of Ireland is a great, prestigious thing, whatever that actually means. It's a trip to Australia, plenty of expenses along the way, plenty of perks. It's like telling a child not to look for Santa Claus. That way Santa will keep coming. Many of the players, if they were telling you honestly about this, are in it for the trip more than the competition."

Details of the Opel Kit for Clubs initiative, which has already made a range of training equipment available to some 400 clubs around the country, can be found at www.opelkitforclubs.com.

Connolly to appeal

DUBLIN FOOTBALLER Diarmuid Connolly is to appeal a one-month suspension to the Leinster Council this evening at a hearing in Portlaoise. The St Vincent's forward missed the All-Ireland champions' county semi-final draw with Kilmacud Crokes on Monday evening after being sent off in the quarter-final against Thomas Davis on October 5th.

Considering it was a straight red card, and with a view to his availability for the replay against Crokes this Sunday at Parnell Park, Connolly's appeal will be based on a technicality.