As the GAA’s player of the match for the last two Tests, Conor McManus is understandably zealous about the merits of International Rules. Not that his interests are purely self-serving.
“To me it’s a no-brainer to bring a child up to Croke Park, to see the best of what Ireland has to offer,” he says. “I thoroughly enjoy playing it, but even as a young fella, I remember coming up to Croke Park to watch the likes of Pádraic Joyce, Peter Canavan, Kieran McGeeney, Darragh Ó Sé.
“And when you get the call to represent your country, I can’t see why you would say no to it. It’s a basic catch-and-kick game, and the skills of the game are rewarded. And if a good kick pass finds a man, and you get your hands on the ball, you take your mark and it’s free-taking after that really. So it’s a win-win from a forward’s point of view.”
Compromised
Indeed it may still be dubbed the compromise game, yet few players appear less compromised by it. The Monaghan forward – who earlier this month won his second All Star in three years – made his Ireland debut in the 2013 series, which Ireland won by a record aggregate of 101 points.
Australia’s challenge may well have been inhibited by selecting a team of all indigenous players, but McManus was still a class apart – scoring two goals and four overs in the second Test, earning himself the GAA player of the match.
Last year’s one-Test series in Perth certainly didn’t go to plan for Ireland, and even though they won the second half 39-21, still ended up at the end of a 10-point defeat (56-46): again, however, McManus thrived, scoring four overs. The first challenge in Croke Park, he admits, is to ensure Australia don’t get such a healthy head-start.
“We certainly left it late, probably too late in terms of getting a result. But once we got into the game and got a comeback going, the Irish crowd really found their voice and there was a fantastic atmosphere.
Complacent
“Last year was probably the best team that Australia had put out. But maybe we were just complacent in our approach in the first two quarters. At half-time we regrouped and went out and gave it a real lash. Hopefully we will not leave it as long to get started on Saturday.”
McManus also admits the one-Test series is not ideal, and that Ireland would certainly have relished a second go at Australia last year.
“The one Test adds to the occasion. But after the Test last year, and the way it finished up for us, there’s nothing you would have wanted more than a second Test in Melbourne or Sydney. I think it would have been a cracking second Test.”
And for all the talk of the Australians being fitter than their amateur opponents, it was Ireland who finished stronger last year.
“That was something that we maybe gave the Australians too much respect for,” says McManus. “I know that skills-wise, maybe we underestimated them. But from a physical point of view, maybe in the first quarter, we stood back and watched them. They are fairly imposing but once we got into them, I think it showed that we were well able to compete with them.”
