The 2017 International Rules Series (officially the 2017

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, formerly known as Virgin Blue, is an Australian airline based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of two active airlines (the other being Virgin Atlantic) to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet ...

International Rules Series) was the 20th

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 by

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 ...

. The series was hosted by

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 The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

and Domain Stadium.

Fixtures

* First test match: Australia v. Ireland, 12 November 2017 * Second test match: Australia v. Ireland, 18 November 2017

Background

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 AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

and

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announced the dates of the two matches in November 2016. In March 2017 West Australian Football Commission (WAFC)

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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 Perth Stadium, commercially known as Optus Stadium due to sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Burswood, Western Australia, Burswood suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It was completed during late 2017 and officially opened ...

by the start of the 2018 season. On 8 August 2017, the AFL announced that the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

would host the first test and Domain Stadium in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia would host the second test. The series was broadcast live on the

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in Australia and on

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in Ireland.

Australian team

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 Luke Beveridge (born 23 August 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who played for Melbourne, Footscray and St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1990s. He is senior coach of the Western Bulldogs ...

, previous Australian coach

Alastair Clarkson Alastair Thomas Clarkson (born 27 April 1968) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and was previously head coach of t ...

, as well as former assistant coaches of the Australian team Chris Scott (eventual appointee) and

Ross Lyon Ross Lyon (born 8 November 1966) is a former Australian rules football player and the current senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously coached St Kilda from 2007 to 2011 and the Fremantle ...

. On 17 July, the AFL announced that Scott had been selected for the coaching position, who said the appointment was "a tremendous honour". Scott was joined by Lyon and brother

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

as assistant coaches. The initial Australian squad was announced on 12 October 2017. Among the squad were multiple All-Australians Gary Ablett Jr.,

Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Dangerfield (born 5 April 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2008 to 2015. He has s ...

Scott Pendlebury Scott Pendlebury (born 7 January 1988) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He served as Collingwood captain from 2014 to 2022. Pendlebury is a dual ...

and

Joel Selwood Joel Anthony Selwood (born 26 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a four-time premiership player ( including one time as captain), a six-ti ...

, and five players –

Michael Hibberd Michael George Hibberd (born 3 January 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, tall and weighing , H ...

Rory Laird Rory Laird (born 29 December 1993) is a professional Australian rules football player who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Adelaide with pick 5 in the 2012 Rookie Draft. Early life ...

, Zach Merrett,

Paddy Ryder Patrick Ryder (born 14 March 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the , and St Kilda Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Ryder was noted for his speed, agility and leap for someone of his size and i ...

and

Dayne Zorko Dayne Zorko (born 9 February 1989) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Zorko won a List of VFL/AFL premiers, premiership with the Brisbane Lions in 2024, and is a ...

– 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 Nathan Fyfe (born 18 September 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Fyfe is a dual Brownlow Medallist, dual Leigh Matthews Trophy recipient, three-t ...

Toby Greene Toby Greene (born 25 September 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer and the captain of the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with the 11 ...

, Hibberd, Laird, Merrett, Ryder,

Rory Sloane Rory Brandon Sloane (born 17 March 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Sloane is a dual Malcolm Blight Medallist, was selected in the All ...

and Zorko – have not represented Australia in

International rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

before. Only three players –

Eddie Betts Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played as a forward for Carlton Football Club, Carlton and Adelaide Football Club, Adelaide in the Australian Football League between 2005 and 2021. ...

, 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. Goddard was chosen to fill the goalkeeper position for the Australian team, while Greene was ruled out with a broken toe. An additional six players were selected to fill the squad on 2 November 2017. Only five days prior to the first test, Ablett pulled out of the Australian team, citing personal reasons. On 10 November, three-time Hawthorn premiership player

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 ...

was appointed captain of the Australian team. Ahead of the second test match,

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

midfielder

Shaun Higgins Shaun Higgins (born 4 March 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). Higgins played for the Western Bulldogs from 2006 to 2014, the North Melbourne Football Club from 2015 to ...

was brought into the Australian squad, replacing the injured Scott Pendlebury and Paddy Ryder.

Irish team

Joe Kernan, Ireland's manager for the 2015 series, returned to coach the Irish team for a second time, joined by

Pádraic Joyce Pádraic Joyce (born 1 April 1977) is a Gaelic football Manager (Gaelic games), manager and former player who played as a forward. He has been manager of the senior Galway county football team, Galway county team since 2019. Joyce won the All ...

Darragh Ó Sé Darragh Ó Sé (born 5 March 1975 in Ard an Bhóthair, Ventry, County Kerry) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer. He plays with his local club, An Ghaeltacht, and was a member at senior level of the Kerry county team from 1997 until he anno ...

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. In late September, Kernan stated that the final squad of 23 players would include three Irish

players,

Zach Tuohy Zach Tuohy is an Irish former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Tuohy grew up in Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland, and played ...

of , Pearce Hanley of and Conor McKenna of ; however McKenna sustained an injury in training and was ruled out of selection. 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 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2015 series, was announced as captain of the team whilst

Conor McManus Vincent Conor McManus is a Gaelic footballer who formerly played at senior level for the Monaghan county team. Often referred to as one of his county's best-ever players, he is Monaghan's top scorer in National Football League history. After ...

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

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 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 ...

were selected. Seán Powter of

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

and Niall Grimley of

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

were later added to the team, completing the final 23-man squad. After Pearce Hanley broke his hand in the first test match,

player

Darren Hughes Darren Colyn Hughes (born 3 April 1978) is a New Zealand former Member of Parliament between 2002 and 2011, first elected at the age of 24. He represented the Labour Party and was a Minister outside Cabinet in the Fifth Labour Government of Ne ...

flew out to Australia for the second test match, replacing Hanley's position in the squad. Additionally, former AFL defender Ciarán Sheehan was drafted into the Irish squad prior to the second test match.

Squads

* Coach: Chris Scott () * Coach: Joe Kernan (

)

Results

Notes

References

{{GAA 2017

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 Australia