2008 International Rules Series

2008 International Rules Series
	2008 international rules series at Subiaco Oval, Perth, Western Australia
Event	International Rules Series
	97–102 on aggregate, Ireland win series 2–0
First test
Date	24 October 2008
Venue	Subiaco Oval, Perth
Referee	Pat McEnaney (Ireland); Steve McBurney (Australia)
Attendance	35,153
Second test
Date	31 October 2008
Venue	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Referee	Pat McEnaney (Ireland); Steve McBurney (Australia)
Attendance	42,823
	← 2006 2010 →

The 2008 International Rules Series was the 14th annual International Rules Series and was played between Ireland and Australia.

After the 2007 series was cancelled by the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Australian Football League and the GAA agreed in 2008 to resume the series.

The matches were played in Australia – 24 October in Perth, Western Australia and 31 October in Melbourne (after the AFL Grand Final and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship).^[1]

Ireland won by five points on aggregate after recording victories in both tests.

Rule changes

Maximum of 14 interchanges per quarter.^[2]
Teams are allowed only four consecutive hand passes (ball must then be kicked).^[3]
Match time reduced from 20 to 18 minutes per quarter (with stoppage time for breaks in play).^[4]
Goalkeeper can no longer kick the ball to himself from the kick-out.^[4]
Suspensions may carry over the GAA and AFL matches if The Match Review Panel see fit.^[4]
A dangerous "slinging" tackle will be an automatic red card.^[2]
A shirtfront endangering the head will result in a red card.^[2]
Physical intimidation can result in a yellow card.^[2]
One-handed tackles result in a free kick.^[2]
An independent referee can cite players for reportable offenses from the stands.^[2]
Yellow cards sin bin reduced to 10 minutes.^[4]

Squads

Australia			Ireland
Name	Team	Position	Name	Team	Position
Nathan Bock	Adelaide		Seán Boylan	Meath	Coach
Matthew Boyd	Western Bulldogs		Seán Cavanagh	Tyrone	Captain
Jared Brennan	Brisbane Lions		Graham Canty	Cork	Vice-captain
Campbell Brown	Hawthorn	Vice-captain	David Gallagher	Meath
Shaun Burgoyne	Port Adelaide		Colm Begley	Laois/Brisbane Lions
Matt Campbell	North Melbourne		Paddy Bradley	Derry
Ryan Crowley	Fremantle		Kevin Reilly	Meath
Michael Firrito	North Melbourne		Benny Coulter	Down
Nathan Foley	Richmond		Bryan Cullen	Dublin
Brent Harvey	North Melbourne	Captain	Kieran Donaghy	Kerry
Roger Hayden	Fremantle		Leighton Glynn	Wicklow
Leigh Montagna	St Kilda		Finian Hanley	Galway
Daniel Motlop	Port Adelaide		John Keane	Westmeath
Marc Murphy	Carlton		Aaron Kernan	Armagh
Michael Osborne	Hawthorn		Ciarán Lyng	Wexford
Scott Pendlebury	Collingwood		Steven McDonnell	Armagh
Drew Petrie	North Melbourne		Enda McGinley	Tyrone
David Rodan	Port Adelaide		Ciarán McKeever	Armagh
Max Rooke	Geelong		Joe McMahon	Tyrone
Brad Sewell	Hawthorn		Justin McMahon	Tyrone
Kade Simpson	Carlton		Michael Meehan	Galway
Adam Selwood	West Coast	Vice-captain	John Miskella	Cork
Dale Thomas	Collingwood		Aidan O'Mahony	Kerry
Scott Thompson	Adelaide		Pearse O'Neill	Cork
Daniel Wells	North Melbourne		Tom Parsons	Mayo
Mick Malthouse	Collingwood	Coach	Killian Young	Kerry
			Paul Finlay	Monaghan
			Martin McGrath	Fermanagh
			Aidan Carr	Down	On Standby
			Rónán Clarke	Armagh	On Standby
			Conor Gormley	Tyrone	On Standby
			Kevin McCloy	Derry	On Standby

Notes:

Main sources for squads: BBC Sport Online^[5] and Hogan Stand.^[6]
Kerry's Tommy Walsh was named on the original Irish squad, but had to withdraw due to club commitments with Kerins O'Rahilly's. He was replaced by Paul Finlay.^[7]
Dublin's Bernard Brogan was named on the Irish original squad, but had to withdraw due to club commitments with St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh. He was replaced by Martin McGrath.^[8]^[9]
The match-day squad for both teams was limited to 24 players each.^[10] Thus Australia (who had a 25 man squad) had to drop one player for each test and Ireland (who had a 27 man squad) had to drop three players.^[10]

Ireland manager Boylan was criticised for including David Gallagher in his squad, as he was not then playing inter-county football.^[11]

Irish management team

Coach – Seán Boylan
Selectors:
Runner – Seán Marty Lockhart
Backroom team:
- Trevor Brennan (fitness & tackling)
- Mike McGurn (fitness & tackling)
Tour Manager – Seán Walsh
Assistant Tour Manager – Tommy Kilcoyne
Team doctor – Owen Clarke
Physiotherapist – Frank Foley
Masseur – Martin Regan
Kit manager – Owen Lynch
Waterboys – Ciaran Boylan and Pauric Gallagher

Notes:

Main sources: Hogan Stand^[12]^[13]

Refereeing team

Main referees – Pat McEnaney (Ireland) and Stephen McBurney (Australia)
Standby referees / linesmen – David Coldrick (Ireland) and Brett Rosebury (Australia)
Umpires – Gearóid Ó Conámha & John Bannon (Ireland) and Steven Axon & Peter Nastasi (Australia)
Video match referee – Ian Curlewis (South Africa)

Notes:

Main source: Hogan Stand^[12]

Matches

First test

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Australia	0.0.1	0.5.4	0.7.7	0.12.8	0.12.8 (44)
Ireland	0.1.6	1.2.7	3.5.8	3.6.9	3.6.9 (45)
Ireland won by 1 point

Match stats
Date	Friday 24 October 2008
Scoring (AUS)	Goals: Nil Overs: Marc Murphy 4, Matt Campbell 2, Scott Thompson 2, Leigh Montagna, Brent Harvey, Michael Osborne, David Rodan
Scoring (IRL)	Goals: Seán Cavanagh, Leighton Glynn, Steven McDonnell Overs: Seán Cavanagh 2, Paddy Bradley, Leighton Glynn, Kieran Donaghy, Ciarán Lyng
Best	AUS: Murphy, Selwood, Harvey, Simpson, Thomas, Osborne IRL: Glynn, Cavanagh, Gallagher, Joe McMahon, McKeever, Canty, Hanley
Reports	Campbell Brown (Australia) – yellow card (10-minute sin bin)
Injuries	None
Venue	Subiaco Oval, Perth, Australia
Attendance	35,153
Umpires	Steve McBurney (Australia) Pat McEnaney (Ireland)
AFL.com Match overview AFL.com Match report RTÉ Match report Hogan Stand report

Second test

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Australia	0.4.3	0.5.5	1.6.9	3.8.11	3.8.11 (53)
Ireland	0.3.3	2.6.6	3.8.8	4.8.9	4.8.9 (57)
Ireland won by 4 points

Match stats
Date	Friday 31 October 2008
Scoring (AUS)	Goals: Shaun Burgoyne, Marc Murphy, Drew Petrie Overs: Drew Petrie 2, Daniel Wells 2, Jared Brennan, Campbell Brown, Shaun Burgoyne, Michael Osborne
Scoring (IRL)	Goals: Benny Coulter 2, Kieran Donaghy, Enda McGinley Overs: Seán Cavanagh 4, Paddy Bradley, Benny Coulter, Kieran Donaghy, Paul Finlay
Best	AUS: Crowley, Simpson, Boyd, Harvey, Petrie IRL: Canty, Coulter, Cavanagh, Glynn, Bradley
Reports	None
Injuries	None
Venue	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Attendance	42,823
Umpires	Steve McBurney (Australia) Pat McEnaney (Ireland)
AFL.com Match overview AFL.com Match report RTÉ Match report

References

^ International Rules back on track as two dates confirmed
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Dan Silkstone (19 October 2008). "Through Irish eyes". The Sunday Age. p. 8.
^ Heaney, Paddy (23 October 2008). "Time for talk is over". The Irish News. p. 58.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Heaney, Paddy (23 October 2008). "The rules of engagement: A brief guide". The Irish News. p. 58.
^ "Ireland squad has nine Ulstermen". BBC Sport Online. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
^ "Aussies name youthful squad". Hogan Stand. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
^ "Finlay called up for Ireland duty". Hogan Stand. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
^ Duffy, Coilin (17 October 2008). "McGrath happy to grab his chance". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
^ "McGrath called up". Hogan Stand. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
^ ^a ^b Heaney, Paddy (24 October 2008). "TOUR sidelines". The Irish News. p. 57.
^ "Boylan tight-lipped on Meath vacancy". Meath Chronicle. 5 November 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Boylan names his selectors". Hogan Stand. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
^ "Rugby duo assisting Rules squad". Hogan Stand. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2008.

External links

Media related to 2008 International Rules Series at Wikimedia Commons

[1] International Rules back on track as two dates confirmed

[IrishEyes-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Dan Silkstone (19 October 2008). "Through Irish eyes". The Sunday Age. p. 8.

[time_for_talk-3] Heaney, Paddy (23 October 2008). "Time for talk is over". The Irish News. p. 58.

[rules_of_engagement-4] Heaney, Paddy (23 October 2008). "The rules of engagement: A brief guide". The Irish News. p. 58.

[5] "Ireland squad has nine Ulstermen". BBC Sport Online. 7 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

[6] "Aussies name youthful squad". Hogan Stand. 9 October 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

[7] "Finlay called up for Ireland duty". Hogan Stand. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

[8] Duffy, Coilin (17 October 2008). "McGrath happy to grab his chance". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

[9] "McGrath called up". Hogan Stand. 16 October 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.

[tour_sidelines-10] Heaney, Paddy (24 October 2008). "TOUR sidelines". The Irish News. p. 57.

[11] "Boylan tight-lipped on Meath vacancy". Meath Chronicle. 5 November 2008.

[boylan_selectors-12] "Boylan names his selectors". Hogan Stand. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2008.

[13] "Rugby duo assisting Rules squad". Hogan Stand. 24 September 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2008.

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