Ireland need good start against Australia, says Joe Kernan

It can’t have been easy turning away two-thirds of his training panel, although at least Joe Kernan knew exactly what kind of player he wanted.

“Nobody can tell me we can’t kick a ball better than Australia,” says Kernan, who has now agreed his 23-man panel for the International Rules one-test series on Saturday week.

The exact make-up of that 23-man panel will be unveiled in Croke Park later today, and All-Ireland football champions Dublin will be strongly represented. Bernard Brogan will captain the Irish team, and will be joined by recently announced footballer of the year Jack McCaffrey. Diarmuid Connolly is also set to feature now that his club season with St Vincent’s has ended.

Two recent 2015 All Star football winners – Conor McManus from Monaghan and Lee Keegan from Mayo – will also be included. Among those ruled out through injury however are Tyrone’s Seán Cavanagh, Kerry’s David Moran, and Dublin’s Brian Fenton.

Winning advantage

For Kernan, who took over the Ireland manager position earlier this year, the most pressing task in Croke Park on Saturday week is to prevent Australia from establishing a winning advantage like they did in Perth last year.

There, the Irish struggled with the pace and physicality of their opponents, and although eventually clawed back some of the deficit, ended up losing by 10 points, 56-46.

Kernan has identified Ireland’s kicking as one of their main strengths, although he’s also being careful not to place too much emphasis on physicality.

“We’ve been working on our kick passing over the last few weeks so hopefully we can use the ball as well. Then passing is one of the most important things in the game. The players have said that themselves, that every time they kick the ball, they want to hit their man, 100 times out of 100. That’s the challenge.

“We’re not going to make it easy for Australia, but if we want to go physical, then we’re not going to win that. But we want a competitive game with pressure.

“How we use the ball when we have it is the most important thing to us. Learning the mark, going back the wee steps, making sure you kick the ball over 10 yards, and don’t be caught doing silly things like lifting the ball or passing the ball to somebody on the ground.

“Last year we were blown away early on, but if we can cut out the mistakes, and be sharp with everything we do, be fast with everything we do, then hopefully that will be enough.”

Australia have named an equally strong team as last year, and are currently preparing for the game with a week-long training camp in New York.

Kernan has looked at 70 Irish players since the trial training sessions began in October, and expects his team to more experienced after last year’s poor start.

“Australia came out of the traps early last year, really put the pressure on us. It took us until the third quarter to get back into it but in typical Irish players’ style, the boys, whether it be heart or guts or whatever, fought there way back into the game. Ten points might have been a bit harsh.

“When things aren’t going for you, you make a load of mistakes. There were mistakes made early on, the kicking was bad.

“In fairness, the Aussies’ kicking has improved immensely. If you look at the basics of both games, the Aussies’ game is a catch and kick game. We were brought up on catch and kick, and maybe we’ve gone away a wee bit from that.”

Novelty factor

Kernan has also defended both the one-Test series (even if he would rather two) and the enduring appeal to the Irish players, if not the spectators.

“Go back to the championship, the way it used to be. It was all or nothing. Okay it’s not ideal. It was in the old days. Next year, if there are two games, that would be nice.

“People might also think the novelty factor is gone but you couldn’t tell the players that. To wear an Irish jersey and the honour of wearing an Irish jersey is immense. It’s not a novelty.

“The fact the game went up and down over the last number of years, you can say a number of reasons for that. One maybe was the team that the Australians sent over. Whenever they send their best team, this goes to a different level.”

The game on Saturday week has a 7pm start, the curtain-raiser being the Hurling/Shinty international against Scotland (4.30).

Ireland managers Jeffrey Lynskey (Galway) and Gregory O’Kane (Antrim) are keen for a reversal of fortunes following the 3-15 to 2-08 defeat to Scotland in Inverness last month, and this time have included 2015 hurler of the year TJ Reid from Kilkenny.