INTERNATIONAL RULES SERIES:THE SUBTERRANEAN media room in Melbourne's Etihad Stadium must have flashed disconcertingly through the minds of Anthony Tohill and Rodney Eade, as the respective managers thought about the imminence of last night's first Test of the 2011 International Rules series.
On Thursday they got to give their account of what they thought might unfold last night: how their players would work hard, take chances and make tackles, respect the opposition. Etc. But in this game no one knows for sure because the same teams never play it from one year to the next.
As things turned out, it was a record margin of defeat for either country, 80-36, and the AFL coach had to try to explain what had gone wrong to an audience, a good few of whom appeared to have their own ideas.
Last year it had been the lot of Ireland manager Tohill in his first year in charge to find some thread of comfort after a defeat in Limerick that had tarted itself up a bit with a couple of late Irish scores.
This time though the benefits of touring were highly visible, as Ireland after a week of intense training, blew holes in the Australia challenge.
“We are relieved the hard work the players have put in over the last number of weeks has paid off for us tonight. We have all invested huge time and effort in it and it is nice to see it coming off. Barring a few things, it pretty much went our way,” was Tohill’s immediate reaction.”
It was a tactical success for the Ireland management, who compensated for a lack of blistering speed by moving the ball sensibly, taking some excellent marks while under pressure and above all,shooting with lethal precision. At the heart of the effort was the growing contingent of Irish players with experience of the Australian game.
“Huge,” said Tohill when asked about the impact of Tadhg Kennelly, Tommy Walsh, Pearce Hanley et al. “I have been saying that last year and I am saying it again this year. You saw the performances that we got tonight out of AFL-based players. They were superb, absolutely superb.”
Joy at clinching what realistically is a series win had to be tempered by the very small crowd of 22,921 who braved the downpour to turn up, albeit at a ground with a retracted roof. Tohill didn’t try to talk up a crowd that had halved in the three years since the previous Test in Melbourne.
“It probably is (disappointing). The weather this evening didn’t help. If I was at home, I probably would have stayed at home and watched it. From our point of view, we are interested in what the scoreboard says at the end of the match.
“I don’t think anyone can say that we didn’t play exciting football or attacking football or entertaining football. We are about winning but I think we did all those other things as well tonight.
“We’ve got ourselves into a strong position to win the series but it’s no more than that. It’s half-time and we won’t be getting carried away.”
Casting a shadow in proceedings was the neck injury sustained by Emmet Bolton after an accidental collision with Mitch Robinson. After a delay to strap him up, the Kildare man was wheeled off the field and taken to hospital.
Word emerged later he was optimistic about a discharge, as soon as a scan had been looked at.
“He’s down at the hospital at the minute so we’re waiting for feedback from that,” said Tohill. “He shipped a fairly heavy hit to the head so it’s a concern. It’s at least concussion. It was a big hit but he’s a tough lad. Our thoughts are with him and hopefully we’ll get the all clear but he’s probably a big risk concerning next week.”
Eade became the latest to discover that managing an international series is very hard without experience – only one AFL manager has managed a winning team in his first year since the resumption of the modern Tests in 1998.
“We were just beaten by a better side,” said Eade. “You could see the skill level and the disparity of it with the use of the ball was just extreme. We struggled to control the ball and the Irish were just fantastic with how they used the ball.”
A steady concession of goals undid Australia, who struggled with the demands of the international game, as might be expected of a team with just four players who’d previously played in a senior series.
Eade caused a frisson when promising his team wouldn’t be as quiescent in the second Test.
“I think there’ll just be a bit more aggression. I think every time we marked the ball we were driven into the ground. A few times there weren’t any penalties either, which was disappointing.”
Asked whether he had picked the right team, the Australia manager invited his inquisitor to name the players missing, who would be available, adding waspishly: “We don’t have any (All-) Australians available. If you do your homework and come back to me, I’ll answer that question.”
Ireland vice-captain Ciarán McKeever was entirely on message when refusing to contemplate the series as won. “I’d say it was one of the most one-sided games ever and the Aussies don’t take defeat well. They’ll have another week practising with the round ball so they’ll improve.”
