The 2013 International Rules Series (officially the 2013
Irish Daily Mail International Rules Series) was the 17th
International Rules Series
The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...
contested between
Gaelic football
Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
ers from
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
Australian footballers from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. Ireland entered the 2013 series as defending champions, whilst Australia were, for the first time in the series, represented by an exclusively
Indigenous team, known as the
Indigenous All-Stars.
The series was played over two Test matches, with Ireland winning both Test matches to take the series 2–0 and achieve a record aggregate win of 173–72 points. The
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...
announced the schedule for the series in February 2013, with
Breffni Park in
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...
chosen for the first Test match and
Croke Park
Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...
in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
chosen to host the second Test match. It marked just the second time that an
international rules match was played in
Cavan
Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...
, or for that matter at a venue situated in the jurisdiction of the
Ulster GAA
The Ulster Council () is a provincial council of the Gaelic Athletic Association sports of hurling, Gaelic football, camogie, and handball in the province of Ulster. The headquarters of the Ulster GAA is based in the city of Armagh.
The fir ...
.
Breffni Park had previously hosted the first Test in the
2006 Ladies' International Rules Series.
Broadcast and sponsorship
The
GAA announced as part of their management team selection in March 2013 that the ''
Irish Daily Mail'' newspaper would return as Irish team and series sponsor whilst
Irish-language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenou ...
TV network
TG4
TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond.
TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...
would again be the official broadcaster of the series in Ireland.
[Earley confirms backroom team for International Rules Series](_blank)
; In making the announcement,
GAA President Liam O'Neill stated that “TG4
nd the ''Irish Daily Mail''are...valued long term partners of the GAA and we are looking forward to working with them to bring the games to the widest audience possible.”
As part of their live coverage of the two Test matches, TG4 announced they would also provide replays of previous international rules matches in September and October for Irish audiences.
The
AFL announced as part of their extended squad selection in August 2013 that Australian supermarket chain
Coles and Indigenous health and wellbeing group National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) would be the official partners of the
Indigenous All-Stars. Both groups were featured on the newly designed team guernsey. Australian free-to-air TV network
7mate
7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...
was the exclusive broadcaster of the series in Australia, showing both matches on a slight delay and replaying them as well.
Background
Irish management and captain
In February 2013, the
GAA confirmed that former
Roscommon
Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...
footballer
Paul Earley would succeed
Anthony Tohill as manager of the Irish team. GAA President
Liam O'Neill said the Association was "delighted that someone of the standing and calibre of Paul Earley will lead the Irish challenge" and praised his extensive experience in both international rules and
Australian football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
, Earley having represented Ireland in the
1987 series and played briefly for the
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...
in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
. Earley announced his management team in March, appointing
Séamus McCarthy (Tipperary),
Jarlath Fallon (Galway) and
Tony Scullion (Derry) as selectors and former Cavan footballer and current
GWS Giants high-performance manager Nicholas Walsh as conditioning coach. On October 3, Earley announced that former All-Ireland
Donegal captain
Michael Murphy would be captain of the Irish side for the series. This created a headache for young Murphy, as the Series was scheduled to clash with the final of the
2013 Donegal Senior Football Championship, which his club
Glenswilly contested. On October 8, Earley announced an Irish squad of 29, with 15 of the national counties being represented in the side. This number of counties represented was reduced to 11 when Earley named his final 23-man match-day squad for the first Test in Cavan. Despite having a club county final scheduled the following day, captain Michael Murphy was named as a starting player. Ahead of the second test, former Irish vice-captain
Ciarán McKeever and veteran
Kildare
Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...
footballer
Johnny Doyle were included in the squad, replacing the injured
Finian Hanley and
Mayo footballer
Aidan O'Shea, who had club commitments.
Australian Indigenous team
In May 2013,
AFL CEO
Andrew Demetriou confirmed to
Channel 9's ''
The Footy Show'' that the AFL was considering the possibility of sending an all-Indigenous team made up of exclusively
Aboriginal footballers to Ireland for the 2013 series. Previously, an
all-Indigenous team made up of some of the best such players in the AFL has competed in pre-season exhibition matches in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
to relatively little public exposure. In late May, respected sports journalist
Caroline Wilson penned an article in ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' claiming that the plan now "seemed certain" as a result of support from star Indigenous players
Adam Goodes
Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...
and
Lance Franklin. The decision was made official in July, when the AFL announced that the
Indigenous All-Stars would indeed represent Australia, with Deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan justifying the move by contending that the series needed reinvigoration and that the commitment of senior indigenous players had been significant in forming the new concept.
The AFL announced a 33-man extended squad on 29 August, which included high-profile names such as
Daniel Wells and
Shaun Burgoyne
Shaun Playford Burgoyne (born 21 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Burgoyne was the first Indigenous Austral ...
alongside multiple All-Australian winners Franklin and Goodes; however, on October 8, the squad was trimmed to a touring party of 21 and featured a rather makeshift lineup of both high-profile Indigenous players and several lesser-known players who were not included in the original squad Lance Franklin, who would otherwise have been captain, was ruled out of the second Test due to commitments in Australia.
Paddy Ryder may be a late inclusion in the team. – including two players who had never previously played a senior level AFL game.
Daniel Wells was the Australian captain;
Aaron Davey was vice-captain. Former
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...
and Indigenous player
Michael O'Loughlin coached and managed the team, with former Australian coach
Rodney Eade, former senior AFL and GAA player
Tadhg Kennelly, and ex–
Adelaide Crows and Indigenous player
Andrew McLeod joining him on the panel. Prior to the opening Test, the Australian side defeated a combined Dublin universities team by a score of 62–23.
Squads
* Coach:
Paul Earley (
Roscommon
Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...
)
* Coach:
Michael O'Loughlin ()
''†These players have never played a senior AFL game prior to this series''
''**These players participated in only one of the two test matches''
Series results
See also
*
International rules football
*
Gaelic football
Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...
*
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
*
Indigenous All-Stars
*
Relationship between Gaelic football and Australian rules football
References
{{2013 AFL season
International Rules series
The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...
International Rules Series
The International Rules Series is a senior men's international rules football competition between the Australia international rules football team (selected by the Australian Football League) and the Ireland international rules football team ...
International Rules series
International sports competitions hosted by Ireland
October 2013 sports events in Ireland