Why is it in the news?Two reasons. Firstly, the International Rules series looks set to be revived after the GAA yesterday announced they had voted on St Patrick's Day to support the reopening of discussions with the Australian Football League.
The problem is they are still struggling to figure out a way of combining Gaelic football, which is 50 per cent physical contact and 50 per cent skill, with Aussie Rules, which is 50 per cent physical contact and 50 per cent skill, and not end up with a game that is 100 per cent physical contact. The AFL officials are believed to have wanted to do away with peripheral items, such as the football.
And the other reason?The 2008 AFL Premiership season begins tomorrow evening with two matches. At 6.10pm local time, Carlton and Richmond - both had disastrous seasons in 2007 - will kick-off (or bounce-off if you prefer) the new season at the MCG in Melbourne.
And at 8.15pm, Port Adelaide will host Geelong in a repeat of last season's Grand Final (live on Setanta Sports from 9.30am tomorrow morning if you're interested). The home side will be hoping the result will be a little different this time, the 119-point victory by Geelong in the 2007 decider (24-19 to 6-8 ) was the biggest victory margin in Grand Final history. Even Kilkenny haven't done that badly in the National Football League.
So what do I need to know?Players of Gaelic football and Aussie Rules tackle in roughly the same way - usually holding and wrestling a player who is in possession of the ball to the ground - blindsiding him if they can. The only difference is, in Aussie Rules, it's actually within the rules of the game.
Similarly, in Aussie Rules, players are actually allowed run with the ball in their hands for 15 metres at a time - this rule only applies in Gaelic football if the player is on his way to scoring a goal.
And scoring?The are four posts at each end in the Australian game - with six points awarded for putting the ball through the inner posts (called the goalposts) and a single point given for getting the ball between one of the goalposts and an outside post.
Apparently, after a particularly heavy season of near misses, Mayo once considered putting a motion to congress calling for outside posts to be introduced in Gaelic football.
