I haven't seen the full IRS game yet, but I've been watching a bit of Gaelic on Youtube lately. My thoughts are:
* The IRS game is 90% Gaelic. Apart from the scoring, the 'mark', and more ability to tackle. And the bouncing of the ball. There's more, but generally the game is essentially modified GAA rules. On the other hand, if a Sherrin was used, the game would be 95% Aussie Rules on a GAA pitch. It shows that the games are very similar.
* Gaelic games are great to watch - and in so many ways, similar to Aussie Rules - the pace, dynamic, the general flow and patterns of ball movement.
* Gaelic is similar to AFL in the way it gets HUGE crowds and is well loved in its country, but nowhere else, and is defending itself against the encroachment of rival codes eg soccer and rugby. The two best football codes in the world, and both are only played more-or-less by single nations - yet a lot of the world plays the inferior code of soccer.
* The round ball is hard to get used to for us, but don't dismiss it completely - there's pros and cons of it.
- our players may have had trouble marking it, though that's probably down to the difference in the flight of a round ball vs an Aus ball. Same with kicking.
- the predictability of its bounce can be useful - players can run onto a ball in motion, and it brings in some basketball-type skills.
This year over the off-season I'll be trying to get hold of some GAA games to fill in the void. I could even go crazy and pick a team in the GAA to start barracking for.
