International Rules: Graham Geraghty will find out today whether he's free to play in the Sunday's second International Rules Test with Australia.
On Tuesday evening the Irish management were hit with the unexpected news that Geraghty had been cited for an alleged "kneeing in the head" of Australia's Lindsay Gilbee towards the end of Saturday's first Test, in Galway, which later saw the Meath player yellow-carded.
A special tribunal was established yesterday and they will sit sometime this afternoon, with Geraghty having the option of attending. The tribunal will consist of two representatives of the GAA and one from the AFL, with Geraghty facing either a warning or a one-match ban.
Irish manager Seán Boylan has expressed his surprise at the nature and timing of the citing, which was announced by the International Rules Control Committee (IRCC) over 48 hours after the game (which was within their rights). That committee consists of the of the GAA's head of games, Pat Daly, and current CDC chairman John O'Reilly, along with the AFL's development officer Kevin Sheehan.
Under IRCC regulations the committee can decide to cite as a group or as an individual, with only Sheehan bringing this case forward.
New disciplinary guidelines were agreed between the GAA and the AFL at their meeting in Dubai earlier this year, and that allows for the establishment of a hearing tribunal after any citing.
The IRCC are prevented from sitting on that tribunal as they have already made judgement on the matter, and the GAA, as the host association, are allowed to nominate two members of the tribunal, with the third coming from the AFL.
The tribunal members haven't been named, but the GAA's representatives were described yesterday as having considerable experience in disciplinary matters.
Members of the Irish set-up have been privately expressing disappointment at the citing, questioning the "gamesmanship" of the Australians, while Boylan himself suggested they were attempting to "distract from another issue" - clearly referring to the AFL's dismissal of Brendan Fevola for his unruly behaviour in a Galway hotel early last Monday morning.
The Australian panel arrived in Dublin yesterday evening and will train at Croke Park this morning ahead of Sunday's deciding Test, where they'll attempt to chase down Ireland's eight-point advantage.
According to Australian media reports, Gilbee is intent on presenting Geraghty and the rest of the Irish team with a far more physical test on Sunday.
"I think a few of the guys are actually hoping he (Geraghty) does play," Gilbee told the Herald Sun. "He's going to get his own next match. He probably won't want to go near the ball. I think you might see a bit of a different game this week. Put it this way, we will retaliate."
Gilbee required four stitches to his forehead after the incident in the third quarter and effectively warned the Australian media to expect a major backlash: "It's open slather this week, I think.
"That's the first time I've been kneed in the head. As soon as he kneed me I saw the blood come over my eyes within half a second.
" I know what to do next time. I should've went for him a bit harder."
He felt the Irish had used "little tactics" in a bid to put the Australians off their game: "They kick you in the ankle and kick you in the shins. I think this game will be no holds barred . . . at all costs. It will be a good one to go to. We made a bit of a pact before the game that we didn't want any red cards. We didn't know how to really approach their rules.
"We didn't know if we were even allowed to touch them or if they would cry, if you know what I mean."
• RTÉ figures released yesterday showed Saturday's first Test drew an average TV audience of 395,000, peaking at 495,000 toward the end of the game. This was a substantial increase on the average audience for the 2004 Tests, the last held in Ireland, which drew 282,000, and is also up on the 2002 figure of 335,000.
