Event | International Rules Series | ||||||
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Australia won the series (2–0) | |||||||
First test | |||||||
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Date | 12 November 2017 | ||||||
Venue | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide | ||||||
Second test | |||||||
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Date | 18 November 2017 | ||||||
Venue | Domain Stadium, Perth | ||||||
The 2017 International Rules Series (officially the 2017 Virgin Australia International Rules Series [1] ) was the 20th International Rules Series contested by Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. The series was hosted by Australia and was the first in four years to revert to an aggregate points format. The two test matches were played on 12 and 18 November 2017 at the Adelaide Oval and Domain Stadium. [2]
Finals | ||||||
Australia | 63 | 53 | 116 | |||
Ireland | 53 | 50 | 103 |
The series reverted to the traditional two-match format, with the team scoring the highest amount over the two test matches being the winner. The AFL and GAA announced the dates of the two matches in November 2016. [2] [3] In March 2017 West Australian Football Commission (WAFC) chief executive Gavin Taylor revealed that the WAFC would bid for the right to host one of the test matches at Domain Stadium (which is the headquarters of the WAFC), in what would likely be the venue's final elite-level football match considering the AFL's move to the new Perth Stadium by the start of the 2018 season. [4] On 8 August 2017, the AFL announced that the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, South Australia would host the first test and Domain Stadium in Perth, Western Australia would host the second test. [1] The series was broadcast live on the Seven Network in Australia and on RTÉ Television in Ireland. [5] [6]
The AFL considered a number of prospective coaches to manage the Australian team. Among the favourites for the role included 2016 premiership coach Luke Beveridge, previous Australian coach Alastair Clarkson, as well as former assistant coaches of the Australian team Chris Scott (eventual appointee) and Ross Lyon. [7] [8] On 17 July, the AFL announced that Scott had been selected for the coaching position, who said the appointment was "a tremendous honour". [9] Scott was joined by Lyon and brother Brad as assistant coaches. [10]
The initial Australian squad was announced on 12 October 2017. Among the squad were multiple All-Australians Gary Ablett Jr., Patrick Dangerfield, Scott Pendlebury and Joel Selwood, and five players – Michael Hibberd, Rory Laird, Zach Merrett, Paddy Ryder and Dayne Zorko – who had made the All-Australian team for the first time in their careers in 2017. Of the 17-man squad, nine players – Ablett, Nat Fyfe, Toby Greene, Hibberd, Laird, Merrett, Ryder, Rory Sloane and Zorko – have not represented Australia in International rules football before. Only three players – Eddie Betts, Dangerfield and Brendon Goddard – represented Australia in the 2015 series. The selectors had the capacity to add further selections closer to the matches, after assessing other players' availability from their leave periods. [11] Goddard was chosen to fill the goalkeeper position for the Australian team, [12] while Greene was ruled out with a broken toe. [13] An additional six players were selected to fill the squad on 2 November 2017. [14] Only five days prior to the first test, Ablett pulled out of the Australian team, citing personal reasons. [15] On 10 November, three-time Hawthorn premiership player Shaun Burgoyne was appointed captain of the Australian team. [16] Ahead of the second test match, North Melbourne midfielder Shaun Higgins was brought into the Australian squad, replacing the injured Scott Pendlebury and Paddy Ryder. [17]
Joe Kernan, Ireland's manager for the 2015 series, returned to coach the Irish team for a second time, joined by Pádraic Joyce, Darragh Ó Sé and Dermot Earley Jnr on the coaching and selection panel. Kernan revealed his coaching panel would consider fitness as well as catching and kicking skills when it came to selecting the squad, and praised the series organisers for returning the concept to a two-match series. [18] In late September, Kernan stated that the final squad of 23 players would include three Irish AFL players, Zach Tuohy of Geelong, Pearce Hanley of Gold Coast and Conor McKenna of Essendon; however McKenna sustained an injury in training and was ruled out of selection. [19] [20] On 25 October, Kernan and the Irish management team announced a 21-man touring squad for the series. Mayo's Aidan O'Shea, who represented Ireland in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 series, was announced as captain of the team whilst Conor McManus of Monaghan was appointed vice-captain. In total 14 counties were represented on the panel, including four from Mayo and three from Kerry; however no players from 2017 All-Ireland SFC winners Dublin were selected. [21] Seán Powter of Cork and Niall Grimley of Armagh were later added to the team, completing the final 23-man squad. [22] After Pearce Hanley broke his hand in the first test match, Monaghan player Darren Hughes flew out to Australia for the second test match, replacing Hanley's position in the squad. [23] Additionally, former Carlton AFL defender Ciarán Sheehan was drafted into the Irish squad prior to the second test match. [24]
2017 International Rules Series – First Test | |||||
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Sunday 12 November (3.40pm ACDT / 5.10am IST) | Australia | def. | Ireland | Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (Crowd: 25,502) | [25] [26] [27] |
0.3.5 (14) 0.7.7 (28) 1.12.8 (50) 2.13.12 (63) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 0.4.3 (15) 1.6.3 (27) 1.8.5 (35) 1.13.8 (53) | Umpires: Matt Stevic (Australia), Maurice Deegan (Ireland) Television broadcast: Seven Network (Australia), RTÉ Television (Ireland) | ||
Fyfe, Shuey | Goals | M. Murphy | |||
Fyfe 3 Wingard, Brown, Zorko 2 Dangerfield, Simpson, Betts, Ryder 1 | Overs | McManus 7 M. Murphy 4 Sweeney, Geaney 1 | |||
Fyfe, Goddard, Dangerfield, Wingard, Simpson | Best | McManus, M. Murphy, Tuohy, O'Shea | |||
Pendlebury (finger) | Injuries | Hanley (hand) | |||
2017 International Rules Series – Second Test | |||||
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Saturday 18 November (4.45pm AWST / 8.45am IST) | Australia | def. | Ireland | Domain Stadium, Perth (Crowd: 30,116) | [28] [29] [30] |
0.3.2 (11) 0.4.5 (17) 0.9.7 (35) 0.15.8 (53) | Q1 Q2 Q3 Final | 2.1.2 (17) 2.5.3 (30) 2.8.5 (41) 2.10.8 (50) | Umpires: Matt Stevic (Australia), Maurice Deegan (Ireland) Television broadcast: Seven Network (Australia), RTÉ Television (Ireland) | ||
Nil | Goals | Brennan, Barrett | |||
Zorko 3 Wingard, Sloane, Betts 2 Merrett, Laird, Brown, Fyfe, Burgoyne, Shuey 1 | Overs | McManus 5 M. Murphy 2 Walsh, Sheehan, Grimley 1 | |||
Simpson, Merrett, Fyfe, Zorko, Goddard | Best | C. McManus, M. Murphy, S. Walsh, O'Shea, Tuohy | |||
Nil | Injuries | Nil | |||
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Tadhg Kennelly is an Irish-Australian former international sportsperson turned recruiter and coach. He is most known for his top-level careers in both Gaelic football and Australian rules football being the only holder of both an AFL Premiership medallion and a Senior All-Ireland Championship medal, the highest-possible team-based achievement in both sports. He has also represented Ireland in the International Rules Series.
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The 2011 International Rules Series was the 16th International Rules Series contested between Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian rules footballers from Australia. The series was played over two test matches, with Ireland winning the series by 130-65 points on aggregate. In doing so, Ireland achieved their greatest ever winning test margin and greatest ever series victory, whilst Australia had their lowest ever test score in the second test. The Australian Football League (AFL) announced part of the schedule for the series in June 2011, with Etihad Stadium in Melbourne chosen for the first test match. In July, the AFL announced that Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast would be the venue for the second test. This was the first time that any stadium in the state of Queensland hosted an international rules game. The first test was played on 28 October, while the second test was played one week later on 4 November.
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The 2013 Fremantle Football Club season was the club's 19th season of senior competition in the Australian Football League (AFL). It was the club's most successful season to date, recording their second most wins in a season, highest percentage and second highest final ladder position of 3rd. The club won its first ever Qualifying Final, and defeated Sydney in the Preliminary Final at Patersons Stadium and played in its first AFL Grand Final against Hawthorn, losing by 15 points.
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The 2018 season was the Geelong Football Club's 119th in the Australian Football League (AFL). It was the club's eighth season under senior coach Chris Scott, with Joel Selwood appointed as club captain for a seventh successive year. Geelong participated in both the inaugural AFLX competition and the 2018 JLT Community Series as part of their pre-season schedule, and the club's regular season began on 25 March against Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The Cats finished the home-and-away season with a 13–9 win–loss record and placed eighth on the league's ladder, qualifying for the 2018 finals series as a result. Geelong were defeated in an elimination final against Melbourne by 29 points, and therefore did not progress past the first finals week.
The 2020 International Rules Series was to be the 21st International Rules Series contested by Gaelic footballers from Ireland and Australian footballers from Australia. The series would have been held in Ireland and was to be the first series to be arranged by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and Australian Football League (AFL) since November 2017. It was cancelled in April 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland.
Dockers skipper Nat Fyfe capped a fine series and bid Domain Stadium farewell in style by receiving the Jim Stynes Medal for player of the series.
For a second successive campaign, the Monaghan man finished the International Rules series as the Irish player of the series. In 2015, he won the GAA Medal and, again on Saturday, he was honoured in defeat. In total, McManus hit 40 points in two games - far and away the top scorer of either country.