The Irish Experiment

       The skillset required to play Gaelic football translates well to Australian ovals. Bouncing a similarly-shaped ball, hand passing and kicking are but a few of the talents required to be successful in either game. So in the early 1980s clubs from the old VFL started scouting players in Ireland.

Gaelic football. Three points for punching or kicking the back into the goal,
 one point for kicking it through the uprights above the goal.

       Sean Wight was the first Irish recruit, playing 150 games along the back line for Melbourne from 1984-95. Jim Stynes followed soon after, winning a Brownlow Medal in 1991 as part of his 264-game career with the Demons. Stynes was All-Australian in ‘91 and ‘93.

       The Irish Experiment was a little more hit or miss through the 90s before Tadhg Kennedy broke through with Sydney from 2001-11, winning a Premiership in 2005 as part of a 197-game career with the Swans.

       Kennelly’s success on grounds brought the same level of interest in Irish players in the AFL in the mid-2000s but interest soon ebbed once again as the hit-or-miss nature of foreign recruitment seems to have soured some clubs. Sometimes it was just a case of homesickness as players realized they were three continents and 17,000 km (10,600 miles) away from home.

Geelong's Zach Tuohy

        This season there are five Irish players on AFL senior lists, led by Zach Tuohy’s 145 games with Carlton and Geelong, and the 142 games of Pearce Hanley, who is in his second season with Gold Coast after nine years with Brisbane. In 2008 fellow Irishman Colm Begley served as Hanley’s mentor at the Lions, undoubtedly smoothing the transition to AFL footy. Begley played 30 games with Brisbane and St. Kilda before returning home to play Gaelic football.

       Conor McKenna has 10 goals in 33 games with Essendon, and Mark O’Connor has played in two games for Geelong, with a debut in round 8, 2017. Ciaran Byrne of Carlton has 15 games under his belt but spent 2017 in rehab after tearing an ACL.

       Six Irish players on rookie lists. Hawthorn features Conor Nash and Conor Glass, who played six games last year. For St. Kilda it’s Darragh Joyce and Ray Connellan. Carlton shows Cillian McDavid and Colin O’Riordan wears a Sydney guernsey.

       While the situation certainly varies as to the recruitment and success of Gaelic players in the AFL, there are two different variables this time around. The International Rules series tournament brings Irish players Down Under for a chance to be scouted and to play against the world’s finest amateur sides. Additionally, the interest level may be higher with the new AFL women’s league which includes Melbourne’s Laura Corrigan Duryea via Diamond Creek.

239

Carrara Oval, Gold Coast Australia, in the
 southeastern corner of Queensland

            1992 was the 96th season of VFL/AFL footy. For round seven, Geelong traveled to Carrara Oval just south of Brisbane for a match against the Brisbane Lions. The Cats got off to a bit of a slow start on the season, losing their first two matches to Hawthorn and Melbourne despite scoring over 100 points. Their round six win over Fitzroy saw them kick 25 goals and score 175 points in a 98-point win over the Lions.

            Brisbane began play in the (then) VFL in 1986 and was in the process of losing $10 million total during the 90-91-92 AFL seasons. Poor on-field play as well as insufficient public transportation meant the team wasn’t drawing well. Rumors of relocation and/or mergers swirled around the team. Coming into round seven, they had won once and lost three, and managed a draw against a West Coast squad that had a decent year.

            This was a bit of the backdrop against which history would be made.

Gary Ablett, Sr. kicked nine goals in the Cats' big win over Brisbane.
 He played 248 games, mostly with Geelong, and in
four Grand Finals. He was named to the AFL Team of the Century in 1996.

            The Cats got off to a fast start by kicking seven goals and leading 46-14 at quarter time. The lead would stretch to 89 points at the half, as Brisbane kicked just two behinds. The Bears would kick five goals in the third term but Geelong had eight major scores to lead 152-50 at the last change. What’s phenomenal is the Cats scored 14 goals (fourteen!) in the final quarter to lead by 163 points when Bill Brownless kicked a behind at the very end of the game for a 239-75 win over the Lions. Gary Ablett the elder kicked nine goals, Paul Brown added six, and four others kicked three apiece. John Hutton pitched in eight of Brisbane’s 11 goals on the night.

            The 239 points became a league record for most points scored in a game by a team, beating out Fitzroy’s 238 in a win over Melbourne in 1979. So Brownless’ minor tally set the record, which still stands today.

            Now before you wonder about Geelong running up the score, they lit up the scoreboard regularly in 1992. They put up 210 the following week against Adelaide and 181 the next. Their percentage for the season was an astounding 145.64, which means the Cats scored that many points for every 100 scored by their opponents. Geelong had the same regular-season record (16-6) as Footscray and Collingwood, so by virtue of having the highest percentage they took the #1 seed going into the postseason. That meant they could lose once in the playoffs and not be eliminated, a privilege earned by the top two teams during the home-and-away season.

            Geelong would need that double chance because they would lose to West Coast in the semifinals. The Cats then beat Footscray the following week in the Preliminary Final, earning a Grand Final rematch with West Coast. The Eagles earned their first premiership with a strong second half, winning by 28 points.

            It’s pretty wild that they’d win the big trophy despite drawing against a poor Brisbane side early in the season. You just never know.

            As for Carrara Oval, officials poured a boatload of cash into renovations in 2009-11 and it’s now known as Metricon Stadium, where the Gold Coast Suns play home games.

Golf Clubs

So it looks as though the eight playoff sides have been determined. As you can see by a look at the ladder after week 22, St. Kilda is the only side that can catch North Melbourne. They're one game back of North with one game to play. The Saints play Brisbane and the Kangaroos face GWS. The odds favor North Melbourne ending the season tied with St. Kilda. 

However, StK would have to win by something like 25 goals and the Roos would also have to lose by that amount in order for North Melbourne to miss the playoffs, because of percentages. So it's not very likely.

AFL ladder after round 22

Also, Hawthorn has lost two of their last three to fall to fourth from the top spot. If they don't fall further, they'll play in the first round of the finals still with the opportunity for a bye should they win. The disadvantage is that it'd be a road game.

The Hawks lost last week to West Coast, who lost their big ruckman Nic Natanui to an ACL tear during the game. Nic Nat will be out till the middle of next year. Bummer. It's fun watching him play. The Eagles will make the eight, but making a deep run in the postseason is less likely without the big man.

Last week I watched North fall to Sydney. I saw today that Kangaroos player Brent Harvey at age 38 will not be offered a contract for 2017. There seems to be a greater emphasis on the team and the collective in the AFL, because the reason given was that they want to get young players game experience. I don't know-- Harvey just set the league record for games played and still looks to be in fine form. I get that his days are numbered, but his loyalty and commitment to the club and to the game should give him the opportunity to exit on his own terms.

Adelaide overcame beat Port Adelaide to move into a tie for the top spot. Eddie Betts of the Crows had a great game in helping his side to their 16th win of the season. It's amazing what they've done, since their head coach Phil Walsh was killed during the 2015 season. Walsh's son stands accused of killing his father.

Anyhow, what they've overcome is awesome stuff.

Up for this week: West Coast (without a key piece of the puzzle) meets Adelaide, and Melbourne faces Geelong. When the week is over, everyone else gets to head out to the golf course and play 18 and get ready for 2017.

Holiday

This week is causing me to be more creative, as I'm visiting family in Texas this week.

Typically I spend the weekend and first part of the week watching the footy and sharing my thoughts later on in the week. But the wife and I flew out on Independence Day (no traffic and no lines at the airport!), so I didn't get a chance to watch the matches in their entirety.

What I wound up doing was checking out the first part of the game, a little through the middle, and then the last five minutes or so. The score bug is in the corner of the screen, so I could stop at a place where it looked good.

I recorded three games in round 14 two weeks ago (playing a little catch up here)-- I was a little bummed that I recorded only the last quarter and a half of Adelaide/North Melbourne, which the Crows won by 33 points. I got over it pretty quickly, since I still got St. Kilda/Geelong and Hawthorn/Gold Coast.

St. Kilda vs. the Geelong Cats was likely the best match of round 14, with the Saints getting a big first-half lead and then having to rally from nine down late to win by three points. Their rally got help because of Geelong's substitution patterns, as two of the guys the Cats really needed out there were waiting to re-enter after taking one last breather. However St. K kept the pressure on and Geelong couldn't get their studs back in. The Saints move to 6-7 after the big win.

I expected the Hawthorn and Gold Coast game to be a bit of a blowout, as the Hawks seemingly are rounding into premiership form, but GC made them work in a 26-point Hawthorn win. This was a home match for the Hawks, played in Launceston, Tasmania. I like the wide camera shots during the games that are played there, as they really show off the countryside in the distance. Hawthorn also wore guernseys with brown and pink vertical stripes instead of their standard brown and gold, to help raise breast cancer awareness.

The Hawks moved to the top of the AFL ladder with the win. It was also fun to see the Suns' Gary Ablett back and playing well after spending most of the last two seasons battling shoulder trouble.

A few other things...

Fremantle's winning streak stopped at three in Round 14 after a beating from a Collingwood side that really needed a win, and Richmond got well against a struggling Brisbane Lions side.

Now the trick has been to stay out of the Twitterverse, as the games I've recorded have already been played, and I saw the AFL feed on my timeline, so I have to shut my eyes or distract myself as I scroll further down as round 16's results come across. There's a two-hour time difference from when I'm at home, so I'm being extra careful.

Round 15's report is still to come.

Hawthorn gonna Hawthorn

So North Melbourne is continuing their stretch of playing teams toward the top of the table. They battled hard but fell against a Hawthorn team that seems to be rounding into form a little bit.

Something I can't shake when watching the Hawks is that they just keep coming and coming. They are very steady and very cool when other sides are bringing their best, such as the Kangaroos did in round 13. It reminds me of watching Hawthorn early in season 2016 vs. Western Bulldogs, who are an up and coming side with aspirations. They brought their best, but the Hawks got it done. They're very professional and know what to do and how to do it when it matters most.  It was a fun match to watch, but... Hawthorn just keeps doing what they do winning by nine points, taking advantage of North's inability to kick straight.

Fremantle is probably already playing for 2017, as they are trying to fit some new pieces into place. Ruckman Aaron Sandilands has been out for a while and reigning Brownlow Medalist Nat Fyfe is out for the season with a broken leg. These are two key players for the Dockers, along with forward Matthew Pavlich, who is nearing retirement. Freo started 2016 by losing their first 10 games. Port was trying to hold on to stay within shouting distance of the eight.

You would have trouble knowing which side was at the bottom of the ladder and which was battling for a playoff spot-- Fremantle won their third in a row, defeating the 2004 Premiers by 17 points.

Round 14 sees the start of bye weeks, not to be underestimated by players who have been punishing their bodies for the last three months. I get three matches, well two and a half as I didn't get the DVR set in time. Coming up this week: Adelaide/North, Geelong meets St. Kilda and I get my first chance to see Gold Coast as they face Hawthorn.

Mason Cox

The past week's matches saw North Melbourne get past Richmond, getting the league-leading Roos back in the win column and ending Richmond's three-match winning streak. Collingwood started out well in the first five minutes in their match with Port Adelaide, but the Power took control as things progressed, especially in the second half. Here is the ladder after 11 rounds:

One nice story about Collingwood actually comes from the states. Mason Cox was a member of some good Flower Mound Marcus (Texas) soccer teams that won consecutive state titles. He was already 6'5" then he grew six more inches. But he didn't play basketball for the Marauders. 

One day he was just playing around on the basketball floor at Oklahoma State when he caught the attention of a member of the OSU women's basketball staff. Next thing he knew, he was "Brittney Griner" in practice, helping in practice by imitating her as the team prepped for matchups against those outstanding Bears teams Griner anchored. 

Then Cox got onto the men's scout team, and he even got to play a little bit as depth became an issue. He was a mechanical engineering major at OSU and even had a job in Houston lined up with a big oil company after graduation. Over two years ago, he went to Los Angeles for an AFL combine, made an impression as a big man who can move, and is now a starter for the Magpies. It's more remarkable because the track record is not good when American athletes try out for the AFL. Different skill sets are required. 

Cox's bio from the Collingwood team website.

He splits time between ruckman and the forward line. At the ruck position he helps win possession off center bounces, and as a forward his height is an advantage when the ball is kicked to him. Mason kicked two goals for the Pies in the loss to Port. 

Not bad for someone who hadn't even heard of the game until he went to the combine a few years ago. 

What I'm watching this weekend: Cox and his Collingwood teammates play Melbourne, and another test for North Melbourne as they play the Geelong Cats.