SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE..
Kernan fears Rules series won’t return
JOE KERNAN has urged the GAA to fight for the future of the International Rules Series.
The AFL contacted Croke Park bosses on Saturday to pull the plug on this year’s two-game series, which was scheduled to take place in Ireland in November.
It was rumoured that the first game would take place at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, while the second was pencilled in to be the curtain-raiser for the Dublin v Tipperary football fixture to commemorate the centenary of Bloody Sunday.
That commemoration is still expected to go ahead, possibly with another game added.
Similar to the GAA season, the AFL campaign has ground to a halt and Aussie Rules bosses are now scrambling to get the season finished by December.
With that in mind, the AFL took the decision to cancel the Australia squad’s training camp in New York and subsequent trip to Ireland and, according to reports Down Under, the future of the IRS is now in doubt.
The last time the series took place was in 2017 and, with this one postponed indefinitely, it will be the biggest gap between two series since the competition was revived in 1998.
“I hope this one goes ahead at some stage,” said Kernan, who was Ireland manager for the last two series.
“Hopefully an agreement can be made over new dates and the series does continue after this. It’s a great addition to our association. I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have until I got involved and had the great honour to lead my country.
“Obviously there are bigger things at play at the moment and there is a long way to go with this situation, it’s going to take months to get it sorted.
“So I can understand that, rather than dilly-dallying, the decision to postpone was taken.
“While disappointing, because we’d all love to look forward to matches at this stage, the AFL don’t know when they’re going to get their own games going again, and it’s the same with our own organisation – no one knows where the games will start and finish.”
Kernan is insistent that, if the series does return, he won’t throw his hat in the ring for a third go.
“There are a lot more people out there who deserve a chance to manage Ireland,” the 65-yearold said.
“I was very lucky, it was the icing on the cake after the club, county and province.
“But as of now, it’s a wise decision to postpone, anything else would be pushing too hard to get it done.”
He added: “After the 2017 series
(won by Australia), the Aussies were positive about the series continuing and hopefully that remains the case.”