Ireland easily tackle their first test

INTERNATIONAL RULES Ireland (4-17-5) 80 Australia (1-8-6) 36:THE INTERNATIONAL Rules series suffered another of its regular mood swings in Melbourne's Etihad Stadium last night, as Ireland – just about hanging on to their competitive status during the past six years – cut loose and delivered the biggest win in the history of the hybrid game.

A cause for celebration, then? Well, yes, because the visitors gave a controlled and at times audacious performance that ticked just about every box on their instruction card. Tackling was hard and decisive, to the point that it appeared to vex AFL coach Rodney Eade. There was composure – at times a bit too much – at the back in moving the ball out of defence but the choice of options was generally sound and Ireland ran through the middle when there was space and transferred possession when there wasn’t.

On the scoreboard it equalled Ireland’s biggest total, the 80 points scored in the second Test of the inaugural series 27 years ago and only the third time that they have managed four goals. The record might have been broken but play was brought back after the industrious Kieran Donaghy had scored what looked like a fourth goal and within two minutes Steven McDonnell had added what would have been a fifth.

All well and good except that in the international game, people become uneasy at big wins. Although there has been plenty of precedent to suggest that teams, no matter how ominously they threaten, never actually go on to dominate the series, parity built on alternate whoppings isn’t terribly interesting.

And that will be the main concern. A crowd of just 22,921 turned up in the stadium and despite the explanation that it just wasn’t a good weekend with the racing festival about to start, the suspicion was that the home side hadn’t enough box-office appeal – a view confirmed by Eade, who all but protested that he had signed up every big name that was willing to participate.

Some of the AFL’s lower-key and less experienced selections have worked well but although the current Australian side shares a more compact size and plenty of pace with some of its recent predecessors, the ability to master and apply round-ball skills wasn’t anywhere near as good.

The corollary of this was that Ireland had done serious preparation for the tackling element that forms the international game’s most awkward skill from an Irish perspective. There was less opportunity for Australia to punch holes in their opponents’ defence by taking the ball explosively at pace.

Another feature of Ireland’s play was the extent to which the hitherto largest AFL contingent influenced the match. Tadhg Kennelly, in what was his Melbourne swan song after retirement, was excellent when the match was in its early stages and used his nous to take the ball past defenders as well as his reading of the game to get to the ball.

Fellow Kerry export Tommy Walsh was sensationally good, catching ball under severe pressure and kicking well for nine points – and causing some raised eyebrows locally about the way in which St Kilda allowed him leave in the close season. Elsewhere Pearce Hanley, making a name for himself in Brisbane, was demonstrating an insatiable appetite for ball.

With Zach Tuohy and fellow Laois man and former Lions player Colm Begley also prominent, the value of AFL experience was obvious. But it was the cutting edge of the GAA-based Irish forwards that piled on the misery for the home side. There were concerns that a lack of pace would hinder the team but the kicking, passing and catching were so good that they compensated.

Michael Murphy was in dangerous form, scoring 12, including a fourth-minute goal, and setting up Leighton Glynn’s brilliant finish for the third goal as well as putting in some heavy hits. In between Eamonn Callaghan had acted smartly to punish a poor clearance by steering the ball into an empty net.

But it was the veteran Steven McDonnell, regularly left to act alone up front during a second half when Ireland flooded back to prevent a scoring run of any significance, who punished Australia most severely. Stretching his lead as Ireland’s top scorer with another impressive raid, yielding an Irish record 18 points for a single Test, he put the match far beyond Australia’s reach with a goal – deftly taken after feinting a shot and going around the keeper Matthew Suckling, an unexpected selection in place of Zac Smith – and an over in the final quarter.

For Australia James Kelly at the back and around the middle Bernie Vince, who’d impressed in the practice match, got on a good supply of ball whereas captain Brad Green collected a respectable 11 points, six courtesy of a goal after Stephen Cluxton had slung an unwise pass across his area at the end of the first half.

After the controversy over his non-speaking captaincy Cluxton had a mixed match, during which not even his football did the talking as eloquently as usual, playing authoritatively as a seventh defender until the mistake appeared to unsettle him a bit.

Even when the referees wanted to talk to Ireland after a scatter in the third quarter Kennelly, was used as a surrogate captain.

BEFOREthe start of yesterday's first test Jim Stynes was presented to the teams. The only one of the GAA exiles in the AFL to win the Brownlow Medal (Player of the Year), Stynes was closely associated with the series, having played for both Ireland and Australia. Until recently, president of his former club Melbourne Demons, he has been battling cancer for the past two years.

IRELAND: 1 S Cluxton (Dublin, captain); 18 C McKeever, (Armagh, vice-captain), 8 F Hanley (Galway), 21 N McGee (Donegal); 19 K McKernan (Down), 9 P Hanley (Mayo/Brisbane Lions), 2 C Begley (Laois); 28 Z Tuohy (Laois/Carlton), 14 T Kennelly (Kerry/Sydney Swans); 7 L Glynn (Wicklow), 31 T Walsh (Kerry/Sydney Swans), 20 J McMahon (Tyrone); 23 M Murphy (Donegal), 6 K Donaghy (Kerry), 16 S McDonnell (Armagh). Inter-change: 3 E Bolton (Kildare), 4 E Cadogan (Cork), 5 E Callaghan (Kildare), 11 D Hughes (Monaghan), 13 P Kelly (Cork), 22 B Murphy (Carlow), 27 K Reilly (Meath), 30 A Walsh (Cork). Scorers: McDonnell 18 (1-4-0), M Murphy 12 (1-2-0), Glynn 12 (1-2-0), T Walsh 9 (0-3-0), Donaghy 7 (0-2-1), McKernan 7 (0-2-1), Callaghan 6 (1-0-0), Kennelly 3 (0-1-0), B Murphy 3 (0-1-0), P Hanley 1 (0-0-1), Hughes 1 (0-0-1), Tuohy 1 (0-0-1).

AUSTRALIA: 1 M Suckling (Hawthorn); 40 D Wojcinski (Geelong Cats), 9 J Kelly (Geelong Cats, vice-captain), 29 E Wood (Western Bulldogs); 28 J King (Richmond), 8 J Frawley (Melbourne), 4 A Swallow (North Melbourne); 2 Z Smith (Gold Coast Suns), 17 B Vince (Adelaide Crows); 11 M Robinson (Carlton), 6 A Monfries (Essendon), 21 B McGlynn (Sydney Swans); 18 B Green (Melbourne, captain), 5 S Grigg (Richmond), 16 R Nahas (Richmond). Inter-change: 3 L Shiels (Hawthorn), 7 M Nicoski (West Coast), 10 J Trengove (Melbourne), 13 T McKenzie (Gold Coast Suns), 14 C Ward (GWS Giants), 15 R Gray (Port Adelaide), 26 R Douglas (Adelaide Crows), 44 S Milne (St Kilda). Scorers: Green 11 (1-1-2), Milne 6 (0-2-0), Douglas 4 (0-1-1), Robinson 4 (0-1-1), Monfries 3 (0-1-0), Gray 3 (0-1-0), Nahas 3 (0-1-0), Nicoski 1 (0-0-1), McKenzie 1 (0-0-1).

Scores by quarter: 22-4; 22-16; 15-6; 27-6.

Referees: David Coldrick(GAA) and Ray Chamberlain(AFL).