SportsViews

There is a curios link between Gaelic football played in Ireland, Australian football and American football. Australia and Ireland have created a new game called ‘International Rules‘ that combines the best of their codes into one game. Every year or two they play off against one another.

This has led to an interchange of players as Gaelic football players from Ireland are attracted (by big contracts) to move to Australia and play professional football. Gaelic football is very much still an amateur sport. The players play out their contracts, sometimes renewing or moving to another club, before returning home to once again play their home version of the game. The skills they pick up in Australia are in great demand back home.

Australian football and American football. Australian football is fast paced game that required supreme fitness, particularly in the legs. As footballers get older their ability to run the length of the field reduces so they look elsewhere. What do they find? It appears the punting ability of Australian football players is carefully looked at by many of the US football clubs for their special teams. There are a half dozen former Australian football players contracted to various US football clubs.

What will be curios is whether or not we will see the day when a Gaelic football player from Ireland takes up Australian football before finishing his career in the US playing American football. That would make then a true intercode professional athlete.

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