INTERNATIONAL RULES: AS YOU might expect, the Australian team had a slightly different way of addressing any jetlag issues following their long-haul flight into Ireland on Sunday night: they went training.
The 23-man squad – which was increased by one prior to their departure with the addition of Western Bulldogs defender Liam Picken – had a light run-out at their base in Cork at lunchtime yesterday, and will now get down to serious business of preparing for the opening International Rules Test at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick on Saturday evening.
A key part of their preparation will be a practice game against a UCC/CIT selection at Páirc Uí Rinn tomorrow evening. It’s billed as a practice game, but may well be tougher than expected given several members of Cork’s All-Ireland-winning football team will be among the opposition, including Colm O’Neill, Ciarán Sheehan, Paul Kerrigan, Aidan Walsh and Ray Carey. Also included, incidentally, is one Seán Óg Ó hAilpín.
Australian coach Michael Malthouse surprised many with his selection, not least of all because only six players have previous international experience; team captain Adam Goodes, along with Matthew Boyd, Kade Simpson, Brad Green, Leigh Montagna and goalkeeper Dustin Fletcher. But according to the Australian press officer, Patrick Keane, it’s a team specifically designed to win back the Cormac McAnallen Cup from Ireland, who won the last series, on Australian soil, in 2008.
“Yes, very much it’s a team built around younger guys,” said Keane. “But we’ve always thought the key for us to win is having running power, and that’s what we’ve went with. Also with a fair bit of mobility, so we’ve picked guys that in our game are very much seen as good runners.”
In a break from the tradition the Irish team may well be more physically imposing than the Australians, although Malthouse hasn’t yet begun the task of matching up players in key positions: “No, we haven’t done any analysis yet on which of our players might mark the Irish players,” added Keane. “That will be done later in the week. Obviously our coaching staff is well aware of what Irish players have been picked.”
Yesterday’s training session, admitted Keane, was easy, but the practice game tomorrow should reveal a lot more about which Australian players are likely to start: “Today was just a light training run, really, after arriving in on Sunday night. It was about a 40-minute session, just to get the guys moving. But we’ll train a bit more seriously tomorrow, and then the practice match Wednesday afternoon. We’ve been told about five of them are senior county players, and the rest are under-21s. It’s just a practice game, to get a bit of thinking done, and see how the players are going.
“But ball movement and kicking is always our big challenge so we’ll want to work a little on that.”
The Australian squad will be based in Cork until Thursday, before moving to Limerick ahead of Saturday’s Test – and will then travel on to Dublin for the second Test on Saturday week at Croke Park.
Goodes is seen as a popular choice for the Australian captaincy, nine years after his last appearance in the rules squad. The Sydney Swans co-captain, who last represented Australia in the 2001 series, will be also supported by three vice-captains in Collingwood’s Dane Swan, Carlton’s Kade Simpson and the Western Bulldogs Matthew Boyd. Newcomer Picken was added prior to departure having recently returned from a holiday in India.
Tomorrow’s game at Páirc Uí Rinn will have a 6pm start, with admission free for all juveniles. Adults will be asked to give a donation to local Cork GAA charities. The UCC/CIT team will be managed by Des Cullinane and Keith Ricken, and among the GAA charities to benefit will be the Alan Kerins Fund. All ticket information for the International Rules series can be found at www.gaa.ie.
AUSTRALIAN SQUAD: Todd Banfield (Brisbane Lions), Eddie Betts (Carlton), Matthew Boyd (Western Bulldogs), Daniel Cross (Western Bulldogs), Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide Crows), Paul Duffield (Fremantle), Dustin Fletcher (Essendon), James Frawley (Melbourne), Bryce Gibbs (Carlton), Sam Gilbert (St Kilda), Tyson Goldsack (Collingwood), Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans), Brad Green (Melbourne), Garrick Ibbotson (Fremantle), Kieran Jack (Sydney Swans), Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney Swans), Leigh Montagna (St Kilda), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), Kade Simpson (Carlton), Dane Swan (Collingwood), Travis Varcoe (Geelong Cats), David Wojcinski (Geelong Cats), Liam Picken (Western Bulldogs).
