Australian horse has bolted

The attempt by a number of counties to stop the International Rules Series on the grounds that the GAA will lose more players to the Australian game is like trying to close the gate after the horse has bolted.
The Australians long ago realised the potential of the Irish game to pick up talented young players and there is a history of Irish players travelling to Australia going back to at least the early 1980s.
However, what really made the Aussies sit up and take notice was the increased levels of physical fitness and strength of the Irish players who played in the second reincarnation of the international Rules series from the 1990s until the violent scenes of the 2005 and 2006 series.
Despite reports however in Australian media that professional AFL clubs are now more interested than ever in recruiting young GAA talent people here need to keep a little perspective about all of this.
There are only a handful of Irish players plying their trade in Australia and like the steady flow of young Irish players who go on trials to soccer clubs across the water only the very few will make it in the professional Australian game.
For many young men playing in the AFL would be a dream come true to be able to play sport on a professional basis in a different culture.
We should not be down on these young people and instead maybe the answer to keeping our best young athletes in our own game might be to pay them at home.