GAELIC GAMES:THERE'S AN old American line about the best way to watch an NBA game on television being to catch the pre-game flavour and then go and service the car and mow the lawn and come back in for the final quarter. The International Rules Series stands in danger of suffering the same commendation.

On Saturday in Croke Park, for the second time in seven days, the enthusiastic participants lulled their audience into a condition close to sleep before rousing them on each occasion with a stirring but ultimately futile finish by the home team.

Those fragments of excitement, the lack of fisticuffs and general bloodshed plus a surprisingly large Croke Park crowd of 61,842 should be just about sufficient to see the series stagger on for another few instalments at least.

For now, though, the Cormac McAnallen Cup heads off to Australia; the winners have done more than enough in each Test to have secured the silverware on merit.

Saturday night’s three-point victory again showcased the footballing skills of men like Dane Swan, Brad Greene and Adam Goodes. In previous series we would have left the ground speaking of the athleticism and physicality of the visitors. The game is moving on, albeit slowly.

In the aftermath on Saturday night Mick Malthouse, the Australian manager, suggested that the series might become an annual affair. It would benefit from such continuity and familiarity and more instalments of the game would help its evolution.

Last week the AFL and GAA agreed for the 2011 series to be held in Australia, with matches on October 21st and 28th. The series is then due for a break in 2012 before recommencing in 2013 in Ireland and 2014 in Australia.

Saturday’s game unfolded pretty much as the previous week’s edition in Limerick had. A lack of physical intensity combined with the speed and footballing skill of the visitors leaving the home crowd wondering what the point of it all was. And then a surprising showing each week from the Irish in rallying hard in the final quarter.

Trailing by 10 going into the fourth period, the Irish produced another exciting finish, scoring 14 unanswered points in the last quarter to rouse Croke Park. When the Irish pulled ahead by 52-48 with just eight minutes left, and there was the sniff of a goal in the air such was the momentum, a sense of genuine occasion and excitement fell on the proceedings.

“You can’t feel satisfied when you lose any game,” said Irish captain Steven McDonnell afterwards, reflecting on the pattern of things. “The last quarter again was the strongest. We are disappointed we didn’t put the same effort in for the three-quarters before that. We put scores on the board and had one or two goal chances we missed. If they had gone in who knows?”

In truth Ireland had been somewhat fortunate to be within sight of the Australians going into the final quarter. A goal from James Kavanagh of Kildare had knocked six points off what looked like an imposing deficit and as the Australian player of the series Swan conceded afterwards, “The momentum that goes to the side which scores a goal in these games” is huge.

Things certainly swung Ireland’s way but the job was too big by then. “We were coming from maybe too far back,” said manager Anthony Tohill. “We got to three up I think and got pulled back. Have to be proud of the players and what they produced. They exhausted themselves in the latter stages of the game and we came up short. That’s life, that is football. Australia came up with some fantastic football. We couldn’t have done any more. We were beaten. That’s that.

“We played some great football in the second half. It just wasn’t enough. We deserved something tonight. We walked away with nothing. That’s how it goes.”

Tohill regretted some of the misses late on but stressed the quality of the scores which preceded them and underlined the physical pressure on the Irish team as the game approached the death. “The lads were simply exhausted and could not have given anymore. They so wanted to win the match and the series. I couldn’t find fault with any of them. They were fantastic.”

The Australian manager, Mick Malthouse, an old school gentleman of the game, was quietly proud of the style and substance of his team’s win and spoke generously of the series and its importance. Alluding to player of the series Swan, who was sitting beside him just weeks after winning the premiership trophy with Collingwood, Malthouse made a generous comparison.

“There is no more that can be said about wearing a premiership medal around your neck, but he has got the Jim Stynes Medal as well and it’s a credit to them.”

He spoke of his disappointment in 2008 and the feeling of watching Irish celebrations.

“It showed me what it meant and how much it should have meant to us if we had won,” he said. “A young man came up to me tonight and I won’t name him but he said that it was right up there and equal with a premiership. And I thought, yeah well, this time you are representing your country and that means so much.”

That generosity of spirit hasn’t always underpinned the series but Malthouse’s words were well chosen and will give a boost to an experiment which still needs help