Ball-Boy are you serious? you are comparing club football with provincial rugby teams, local teams are considerably less organized than their provincial counter parts, and rugby definatly isnt as skillfull as football, i mean it only took me the best part of a day to figure out the basics of playing second row, and the reason the aussies can pick up football so quickly is a) they are full time proffesionals in a sport that is highly similar to football and b) they are incredible athletes who would most likely be able to play most physical sports with a high degree of success

Annes Man (Wexford) - Posts: 208 - 15/04/2008 14:45:56    7405

well ann if that is the case why arent irish lads en masses going to aussie rules if it is so similiar we hear of about 1 break through a year, surely if these games are so similiar then they would practically walk onto any aussie team is this not correct? then why dont then it take them a year to adjust to the ball alone- they adjust to a gaelic football in a week? where is the comparison, anne your last post proves i am right, professional has nothing to do with it, all we ever hear is our lads train as hard as professionals when they obviously dont, we hype our own sport up beyond belief i suppose that is patriotic but aussie rules and gaa are completely differnet games, and international rules is 99% gaelic football and the aussies are at about a 90% disadvanatge with the ball, hoping, having a goal keeper (why are we not scoring 20 goal on a lad who has never played in goal before), shooting for goal, they aussies dont have any idea about attacking a goal as we would cause there is nothing like it in their sport- the more i think about it the more embarassing it is, any views. to the clown who learned the basic in a day, i done horse riding for the day before, but i aint going to win the grand national now am i, it takes years to perfect a position in rugby- aussies can do it in 10 mins in gaelic football

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 15/04/2008 14:57:32    7411

i done horse riding for the day before, but i aint going to win the grand national now am i,

Cant believe there is something your not an expert at. Only winding. I agree with you to a point about the aussie rules players adopting to the international rules better, but i think your totally wrong about the ball issue, the aussie rules ball is an awkward shape as were a gaelic ball is round, the shape most balls are in any sport now you cant tell me a round ball was totally alien to the aussie rules boys. The reason why it is the round ball which is used in international rules and not the aussie rules ball is simple that it is much easier to get used to which is why the aussies are much quicker to adopt to it than the irish would to the aussie rules ball. I take your point about the goalkeepers adopting quickly but i think the international rules is more like aussie rules than gaelic football. Apart from the ball and the need for goalkeepers i cant think of too many other advantages that the irish would have. The tackle which enables the aussies to bully the irish is from aussie rules, the mark, behinds are all aussie rules concepts running ten yards without a solo or bounce is aussie rules although i have seen a few tyrone men getting away with it in my time. Most other rules are involved in both sports. Basically it has only been the last couple of series where the australians have dominated the international rules and it has hardly been playing by these rules that they have done it. The last test match that ireland won in galway was one of the few games where the irish were allowed to show their skill and well we seen how the aussies responded a week later for the irish being so cheekey as to outplay them.

samin10 (Armagh) - Posts: 2434 - 15/04/2008 15:30:33    7429

Sorry Jayo. You are correct. An elephant is a lovely animal and can move with some grace in comparison to donkeys.OK I have nothing against donkeys either.I will cry halt.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 15/04/2008 15:48:51    7439

i was basically going to say what samin10 said, as for the amount of training players do it is a colossal amount considering that it is an amatuer sport, aussie players do a hell of a lot more training and conditioning because their full time job is to play the sport where as our players have other jobs to worry about, im sure if the GAA was a professional organization then they would be more than capable of competing with the aussies on a physical level, and when they can be equal on that level their superior skill would show

Annes Man (Wexford) - Posts: 208 - 16/04/2008 02:23:43    7574

to the person who said rugby just has running catching and passing- well thats the exact same as football, sam saying international rules is more like aussie rules really tells your story and the way you insist they w=use violence ye it wasa irish man who on 3 seperate ocassions threw the first punch in croker and in my eye the irish got what they deserved in return- sam your not on the ball is hidious, would sheflin be any good playing hurling with a football, playing handball with a sliotar, playing ruigby with a football - simple fact is the aussies can learn gaelic football in a few weeks and are significantly better than we are at it, they make all the compromise and the game 90%- 10% in favour of gaelic football and we are useless at it, we can make excuses all day but the reality is the aussies are better gaelic footballers than the irish, no other sport in the world would that happen in, rugby definately no it take years to master as one of the most skill ful games in the world, soccer takes ages as its all about touch - hurling is skill all the way, in gaa to make it at a decent level all you need is fitness and speed skill doesnt come into it, so i think we can stop blowing our ou=wn trumpet on gaelic football and see it fpr what it easy- an easy game its hard to accept but i think we must accepts it

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 16/04/2008 11:17:55    7631

right ball-boy, you say that compromise rules is in favour of gaelic football, but could you please explain in what way? i mean seriously the rest of us here on the thread go to the bother of giving an explanation for our views while you just throw them out there, and then do nothing but throw tantrums when anyone disagrees with you, maybe people would take you seriously if you could substantiate your views

Annes Man (Wexford) - Posts: 208 - 16/04/2008 12:08:12    7657

hurling is skill all the way, in gaa to make it at a decent level all you need is fitness and speed skill doesnt come into it.

Is hurling not GAA?

they make all the compromise and the game 90%- 10% in favour of gaelic football and we are useless at it.

I have given you 4 or 5 aussie rules influences. Give us 9 times the amount of gaelic ones. ie 36-45.

sam your not on the ball is hidious, would sheflin be any good playing hurling with a football, playing handball with a sliotar, playing ruigby with a football

Would a gaelic ball not be similar to a soccer ball. the most widely played game in the world. Surely they have heard of soccer in austrailia? Your comparisons once again rediculous.

simple fact is the aussies can learn gaelic football in a few weeks and are significantly better than we are at it

Your probably right as usual. no wonder the dubs are bringing them over to play for them.

samin10 (Armagh) - Posts: 2434 - 16/04/2008 12:09:47    7659

people people people, ball boy has just had the best bay of his life, getting all you people to acknowledge and argue with him.
If you's just ignore him he will go away!!

Dannymc (Down) - Posts: 92 - 16/04/2008 14:19:44    7753

well ann play gaelic football with a rugby ball and let me know how you get on? its totally in our favour its practically gaelic football in all but name but we are scared to admit that we are useless at ourr own sport- it would be like getting the english to admit they are useless at soccer it will never happen but we all know the truth

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 16/04/2008 15:02:30    7768

give us all these gaelic football influences. Round ball? Goalkeeper? Carry on

samin10 (Armagh) - Posts: 2434 - 16/04/2008 15:30:13    7783

Back to ball-boy's usual drivel. Lord help us/

gaagaablackshp (Monaghan) - Posts: 18 - 16/04/2008 22:28:27    7925

round ball, goal keeper, scoring goals (they just really have one score coming in on goal is new to them), behind - doesnt do anything for anyone in fairness and it doesnt add up enough to really matter but its level for both teams, sorry but the tackle is like what you see in any ulster game im sorry if that offends but we are well equipt to deal with that- smother the man with the ball we do that all the time - i admit they are better at tackling but i dont see it as any advantage as what you are on about is hardly every done and gaelic football is about avoiding contact and therefore if you get tackles its your own fault for getting caught in posession- more i think of it its 99.9% gaelic football- tell me why its so different, play a gaelic football match with a rugby ball would there even be one score- i think that is the overriding factor, if it was compromised there would be a game with each ball - but its gaelic football and we are useless at it internationally.we talked the talk about how fit strong andskillfull gaelic footballers were and we fell flat on out faces on all counts. we are not as skillful as we thought, we are not as strong as we thought, we are not as fit as we though and we definately are not the alterboys we try to portray ourselves as, rules of the game etc all in favour of the us we should in my opinion be winning these games by a minimum of 30 points per game- harsh realities im afriad be i think alot of you refuse to contemplate that its all our own doing

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 17/04/2008 11:09:43    8025

i welcome everyone bar sams opinion on this, anyone know anything about restraining orders..........

ball-boy (Mayo) - Posts: 4211 - 17/04/2008 14:46:06    8214

dont worry ballboy you wont be getting my opinion because its obviously too advanced for you to understand. the next time i reply to you it will be because i think you have grown up a bit and you have some interesting topics of discussion.

samin10 (Armagh) - Posts: 2434 - 17/04/2008 15:02:51    8228

You would probably need to start of with 100 to get a half decent 15. Were you would struggle the most is getting 3 or 4 who can score 4 points a game consistently. This is the problem with most teams.
Were people struggle, (and this applies to ones who have played since a kid), is picking the ball up, the solo (or knowing when to solo) and being able to kick a half decent pass, and picking the right pass, particularly when on the move. But as with any mid table team, if who can get 4 half decent players from your hundred, they can carry the rest of the team.

As far as comparing the skills of Gaelic to Hurling or with any other sport is concerned this is not practical. Every sport comes with its own skill set. Thats why you get very few people ever participating at a high level in more than one sport. Those who do are exceptionals.
like me.

Catface (UK) - Posts: 133 - 17/04/2008 16:43:11    8273

The GAA is full of bruisers with no class or skill.

istabraq (None) - Posts: 112 - 17/04/2008 16:52:51    8280

I was at the 04 and 06 All Ireland Finals. Mayo were bate out of sight by Kerry on both occasions. Funny how, if Gaelic football is so "simple", Mayo seemed to find it so very difficult! Maybe they should have put on ball boy, he'd have shown us how to do it.

As for skill in soccer, yes, Cruyff, Best, Maradona, Zidane etc - but then you have Chelsea - racist lads on 50k a week who can't pass a ball with a 9-1 formation - and you have local Irish soccer; say no more, even Irish soccer fans vote with their feet and go to the UK every weekend. Soccer is a game I love and that that can be skilful, it's just that so few of them are. Duff is past it but is still the only footballer worth a damn on the Irish team.

I also wonder how ball boy reconciles his bitter wee theories with the fact that, in 2006, no less than the Springboks national coach, Jake White, asked former Kerry Gaelic footballer, Mickey-Ned O'Sullivan, to coach them in the art of high fielding. Does Jake know something that ballboy doesn't? Imagine asking a Gaelic footballer to coach you! Shocking, isn't it ballboy?

But then, Jake isn't Irish and doesn't undersand that national talent for 'doing down your own' as exemplified by the likes of ball boy.

In reality, all sports are skilful, especially the ones that look easy. Skiing, to the uninitiated, is just sliding down a mountain, but the first couple of years you try it, doesn't matter how smart you think you are, you'll still be a comedy show on legs.

As for ball boy's remarks about tackling - stop confusing your own prejudices with fact. Swarm defence, nowadays paractised in all provinces, does not compare to the "flinging the man to the ground" tackle they have in the AFL. As Stephen Cluxton said:

" In Gaelic football, essentially our lads are allowed shoot without being touched. If you are touched, you are going to get a free. In International Rules, there is the threat of getting tackled like a rugby tackle. It's pressure we're not used to so it is a big area we are spending a bit of time trying ensure we are better equipped to cope with."

Nothing is more tedious than fellas with not-so-hidden D4 agendas denigrating any sport, especially when, as far as I'm aware, they have achieved FA in any sport themselves.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 09/06/2012 11:46:52    1190204

In fairness it is silly to say 15 lads couldnt master Gaelic football in a year when Irish lads go over to Australia and do so in a very similar sport. Gaelic football isnt a very skillful sport, it is simple like soccer which is why it is so popular

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 09/06/2012 13:20:04    1190236

I'm not great with google and all that so can someone tell me how you get theses old threads back up on the main page?

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 09/06/2012 14:22:59    1190261